Reliable, rapid evidence and learning in development: Lessons from 6 years of K4D

The current global context is defined by crises, uncertainty, and complexity. Policymakers and practitioners are faced with emerging epidemics, climate change, and multiple conflicts. Decisions must be made quickly and be informed by reliable evidence and learning. Achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) requires agile approaches that can adapt to complex contexts and utilise current evidence to make informed decisions quickly.

The Knowledge, Evidence and Learning for Development (K4D) Programme has been doing just that for six years, and there have been a multitude of learnings about what works for evidence and learning in development.

What works for evidence and learning: The K4D model

K4D has been supporting the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) – formerly the Department for International Development (DFID) – and partners with evidence and learning for the past six years. We provided three key services which enabled FCDO and the people they work with to strengthen international development programming in challenging contexts.

The research helpdesk

K4D’s research helpdesk provided reliable, rapid evidence reports to FCDO. Based on models delivered by IDS and partners over the past twenty years (including Governance and Social Development Resource Centre (GSDRC) and the Health and Education Advice and Resource Team (HEART)), the helpdesk produced syntheses of current thinking on policy and practical challenges in international development, in response to requests from FCDO staff. Rapid evidence summaries, longer helpdesk reports, and more in-depth emerging issues reports, were produced by a team of dedicated researchers across the K4D consortium. At the end of September 2022, K4D had delivered 1,240 Helpdesk reports (an average of 17 per month) which have since received over 675,000 downloads.

In a newly published working paper summarising interviews with FCDO and K4D staff, and the lessons learned from the research helpdesk, author Brian Lucas outlines five features which contributed to its success, but also presented various challenges:

1. Engaging with the evidence: The ability of researchers to quickly pull information from various sources was useful to FCDO staff, although it was sometimes difficult to ensure evidence was comprehensive, especially for subject areas with limited online sources
2. Content, style, and presentation: The helpdesk report format was concise which made them easily readable, and a peer review process ensured that quality was maintained
3. The production process: A key strength of K4D was the speed of production, although this was sometimes affected by competing demands of the requesters, especially when unexpected crises occurred
4. Skills and subject knowledge: The consortium model meant that K4D had a variety of subject matter experts, and where this was a challenge external expertise was drawn on
5. Management of operations: Given the need for rapid evidence, training of helpdesk researchers was crucial, and managing workflows and resources was necessary

One of the reasons why the helpdesk was effective was that time was spent upfront in a meeting with the person requesting the report to discuss and finalise the research question and what kind of evidence they were most interested in. This gave the researcher direction and ensured their review covered the right bases. The research helpdesk also had clear operational guidelines, so the process was transparent, which created efficiency. Having a team of researchers with a range of thematic expertise available on demand was also instrumental in this.

Researchers faced challenges of managing workloads, dealing with the Northern bias of available evidence, and being able to evaluate evidence reliability rapidly. However, overall, FCDO staff members rated 71% of K4D Helpdesk reports as being ‘excellent’ or ‘very good’ quality. It is clear from the working paper findings that access to evidence on demand has been instrumental in improving development policy responses, something mentioned by FCDO staff and in the evidence collected when assessing the impact of the programme.

Learning Journeys

To complement the research helpdesk, K4D facilitated learning journeys to support interdisciplinary learning, dialogue and skills development for FCDO staff, other UK government departments, and partners. Learning journeys provided a space where people can reflect on experience and external sources of evidence, generate new knowledge, and adapt to changing contexts, contributing to organisational learning (OL). K4D learning journeys would be requested by FCDO staff, followed by thematic experts who would be brought on board to design a curriculum and delivery model, working collaboratively with the FCDO team and K4D learning manager.

Lessons learned from delivering learning journeys are explored in a new K4D working paper on a practical approach for supporting learning in development organisations. Jo Howard, Evert-jan Quak and Jim Woodhill draw insights from 33 K4D learning journeys, relating them to broader discourse on learning in development organisations. Seven key lessons learned emerged:

1. Unpacking the ‘black box’ of OL: There needs to be more recognition of how learning inputs and processes affect outcomes both directly and indirectly
2. Valuing the process elements of learning: Learning spaces play a role in fostering connections and bolster analysis of evidence, linking it to practice
3. Valuing the relational elements of OL: There needs to be investment in and resourcing of spaces in which staff come together to reflect on practice and evidence
4. Combining theory, evidence and practice: Looking at evidence reviews alongside practitioner insights is useful for bridging connections between policymakers and programme implementers
5. Capacity of the external learning provider: the consortium approach of K4D meant that there was a diversity of expertise to draw from, and created flexibility to adapt to changing needs
6. What’s needed internally to the learning organisation: Support from internal leadership is critical to enable staff buy-in and legitimacy of the learning provider
7. Facilitations include strong external communication and data systems: making sure learning content and outputs are accessible to the public through social media and web platforms is important for ensuring learning resources are sustainable

The K4D learning journeys illustrate that OL enables the provision of knowledge and connects individual learning, internal OL and learning with external partners and stakeholders. Key to this is the creation of spaces in which staff can come together to reflect on practice, discuss evidence, question or identify problems, and co-create potential solutions.

Learning products

Learning products were provided to accompany the research helpdesk and learning journeys, presenting evidence and learning in innovative and engaging ways. This aided the ability of FCDO and policymakers to digest information quickly, making development knowledge more accessible to non-experts and the general public. More than 300 learning products were produced over the course of K4D, including infographics, briefing notes, videos, blogs, podcasts and more. Some notable examples include a briefing pack on tax and gender, a podcast on water security co-produced with Chatham House, and a series of videos on working with civil society.

Adaptability is key

K4D has been able to provide support through uncertain and challenging times, including natural disasters, geopolitical uncertainty, a global pandemic, and conflict. The design of the K4D model ensured that agile, rapid, and reliable evidence and learning was able to support FCDO, other UK government departments, and partners during these times. The lessons learned from six years of facilitating the research helpdesk, learning journeys, and generating learning products, has indicated that adaptability is crucial. Being able to respond to changing requests, and improve processes when faced with challenges are key to successfully providing reliable, rapid evidence and learning in development.

A big thank you to our colleagues across the K4D consortium and FCDO for making K4D a successful and enjoyable programme over the last 6 years.

To explore the wealth of evidence and learning produced by K4D, visit the programme’s website: www.k4d.ids.ac.uk