The podcast ”Systems Practice in International Development” is produced by the Portfolio MEL (PMEL) programme in Nepal, funded by the British Embassy Kathmandu and implemented by Abt Global. Please note, the views expressed through this podcast reflect those of the hosts and guests only. We talk about systems practice through an action-oriented lens and see what has and has not worked in practice. The episodes will debunk complexities around systems thinking, portfolio approaches, adaptive management, PEA in action and evidence use for impact. In short, some of the deceptively simple or surprisingly complex approaches used today in our sector. We will be speaking with global experts and consciously trying to represent the Global South expertise adequately.
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The podcast ”Systems Practice in International Development” is produced by the Portfolio MEL (PMEL) programme in Nepal, funded by the British Embassy Kathmandu and implemented by Abt Global. Please note, the views expressed through this podcast reflect those of the hosts and guests only. We talk about systems practice through an action-oriented lens and see what has and has not worked in practice. The episodes will debunk complexities around systems thinking, portfolio approaches, adaptive management, PEA in action and evidence use for impact. In short, some of the deceptively simple or surprisingly complex approaches used today in our sector. We will be speaking with global experts and consciously trying to represent the Global South expertise adequately.
Welcome to the final episode of Systems Practice in International Development. In this episode, Alexandra Nastase (Programme Director, PMEL Nepal) speaks with Tara Bajracharya (Team Leader, PMEL Nepal) and Ankeeta Shreshta (Deputy Team Leader, PMEL Nepal) about learnings from this 5-year pilot programme which has asked some crucial questions: How can you achieve more with less? How can a portfolio learning function help a bureaucracy think more strategically, act more coherently, and learn fo...
Welcome to Episode 8 of Systems Practice in International Development. Our guest is Enrique Mendizabal, Founder and Executive Director of On Think Tanks (OTT). In this episode, we’re tackling some big questions: What does it take for think tanks to shape policies that make a difference? How do they balance independence while meeting funders' demands? And is there a better way to think about evidence – as just one piece of a bigger, messier puzzle? We’ll explore the evolving role of think tank...
Welcome to Episode 7 of Systems Practice in International Development. Our guest is Pallavi Roy, Professor of Political Economy at SOAS University of London. In this episode, we have a frank conversation about Political Economy Analyses (PEAs) in the international development sector today. PEAs have come some way, but there’s still a long way to go – and we delve into the balance between what is good enough and how to effectively apply it. This episode’s guest: Pallavi Roy i...
Welcome to Episode 6 of Systems Practice in International Development. This is episode 2 of a 2-part series with guests from The Asia Foundation, Nicola Nixon (Senior Director of Governance) and Gopa Kumar Thampi (Senior Governance Advisor at The Asia Foundation in Sri Lanka). In this episode, we zoom into the practical experiences in adaptive programming. We discuss learning from failure to the type of teams required to deliver this work, use of evidence for decision making and adapta...
Welcome to Episode 5 of Systems Practice in International Development. This is episode 1 of a 2-part series with guests from The Asia Foundation, Nicola Nixon (Senior Director of Governance) and Gopa Kumar Thampi (Senior Governance Advisor at The Asia Foundation in Sri Lanka). We discuss the state of adaptive programming in our sector today, their newly launched strategy testing workbook, lessons learned from ten years of implementing adaptive programming across geographies and technical sect...
Welcome to Episode 04 of Systems Practice in International Development. We are delighted to introduce this limited series produced by the Portfolio MEL (PMEL) programme in Nepal, funded by the British Embassy Kathmandu and implemented by Abt Global. We hope you enjoyed the first part of our conversation with USAID colleagues on their recently launched Local Systems Position paper. If you haven’t listened to it already, it is available on Apple and Spotify. In part two of this series, we’ll di...
System work is not about solutions; it’s about discovering and steering local pathways for change at a pace appropriate for our ability to learn and for what local communities can enact and absorb.” - Stanford Social Innovation Review This quote perfectly sets the tone for part one of our two-part series on USAID's Local Systems Position Paper. This paper isn’t just another framework—it’s a bold vision for reimagining development by prioritizing local actors within the system and locally-led ...
We hope you enjoyed the first part of our deep dive into portfolio practices in the British Embassy Kathmandu in Nepal and the British High Commission in Nigeria. If you haven’t listened to it already, it is available here: This episode is a continuation of our conversation with Federica and Craig, this time exploring how to work at the portfolio level beyond ODA, how to support a learning culture and the role of external facilitators in systems practice. This po...
We all know development challenges are complex and interconnected, and that’s where the Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) has taken a refreshingly practical approach to systems thinking by first getting its house in order. They’ve embraced a portfolio approach -At the heart of it is to learn from portfolio evidence, leverage synergies through coherence to maximize impact in a complex and fast-changing world. FCDO's Portfolio Monitoring Evaluation and Learning (PMEL) program...
Systems Practice in International Development This podcast is produced and hosted by the Portfolio Monitoring Evaluation and Learning (PMEL) programme in Nepal, funded by the British Embassy Kathmandu and implemented by Abt Global. Please note, the views expressed through this podcast reflect those of the hosts and guests only.
The podcast ”Systems Practice in International Development” is produced by the Portfolio MEL (PMEL) programme in Nepal, funded by the British Embassy Kathmandu and implemented by Abt Global. Please note, the views expressed through this podcast reflect those of the hosts and guests only. We talk about systems practice through an action-oriented lens and see what has and has not worked in practice. The episodes will debunk complexities around systems thinking, portfolio approaches, adaptive management, PEA in action and evidence use for impact. In short, some of the deceptively simple or surprisingly complex approaches used today in our sector. We will be speaking with global experts and consciously trying to represent the Global South expertise adequately.
