All Posts

<p>If you talk to a man in a language he understands, that goes to his head. If you talk to him in his language, that goes to his heart. – Nelson Mandela, former president of South Africa Evaluation without cultural context often becomes an empty effort that hinders positive change. That&#8217;s why understanding the cultural [&hellip;]</p>

<p>In a world where nothing is static and the face of research keeps evolving, it can be difficult to conduct an accurate, reliable evaluation. Diving deep into myriad theories and spearheading complex implementation calls for a vigilant evaluation at every major turn. It’s through this implementation that evaluation dictates the successes and failures of the [&hellip;]</p>

<p>Effective Evaluation makes or breaks a program or project undertaken by an organisation. The straightforward process of interpreting a program’s results while keeping in mind factors like its goals, resources, and present-day relevance to gauge the value or merit of the program is one of the key determinants in deciding the impact of your initiatives [&hellip;]</p>

<p>Sharing findings of the needs assessment study undertaken for the Cuffe Parade Slums in Mumbai.</p>

<p>“It is health that is real wealth and not pieces of gold and silver” – Mahatma Gandhi From policymakers to philosophers, health has always been used as a gold standard indicator for how well a country is developing.  For professionals working in the development sector, one of the most commonly used indicators to show the level [&hellip;]</p>

<p>Since the past few weeks I have been reading a lot on disabilities and how Persons with Disabilities (PwDs) form the world’s largest unheard minority. Being seen as the cursed ones, or outcomes of their evil past, PwDs have come a long way from there to be looked at as complete human beings. But is [&hellip;]</p>

<p>For over 24 years, Ambuja Cement Foundation (ACF) has been working to build prosperous communities by co-creating sustainable solutions to rural India. With the mission to energise, involve and enable communities to realize their potential, ACF has achieved a pan India presence built on long-term, robust partnerships. Water Resource Management &#8211; ACF&#8217;s flagship program, aims [&hellip;]</p>

<p>With the objective of building the already existing capacities of personnel in the development sector, specifically in the domain of bringing communities voices into program evaluation, 4th Wheel hosted a workshop on &#8216;Storytelling for Evaluation&#8217;. The aim of the workshop was: Provide a practical introduction to community based, participatory Monitoring and Evaluation Present methods, tools [&hellip;]</p>

<p>Here are a few fun and engaging research methods you could try the next time you undertake a Needs Assessment Study!</p>

<p>“We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them” –  Albert Einstein </p>

<p>One of the best moments of my recent trip to Bhutan was the pleasure of spending time and having fantastic conversations with Jim Rugh, co-author of the book ‘RealWorld Evaluation’. The RealWorld Evaluation approach was developed specifically to address the need for practical strategies on how to ensure the highest level of methodological rigour, consistent [&hellip;]</p>

<p>“Businesses can provide essential solutions and resources that put our world on a more sustainable path.” &#8211; Ban Ki-Moon, former United Nations Secretary-General What will be the potential positive impacts for businesses?  Enhanced company reputation Availability of skilled workforce Boost in organisation productivity Cost competitive business Good governance and transparency in the business environment Accelerated [&hellip;]</p>

<p>Recently, I attended a conference on Impact Evaluation hosted by the Community of Evaluators (COE)/ South Asia in Thimphu, Bhutan. The conference was all sorts of GREAT! Four days were divided into two days of pre-conference workshops, while the two-day conference saw several interesting panel discussions. This being one of my first international conferences on [&hellip;]</p>

<p>In every culture, stories are used to understand, entertain, transmit values, and mobilize action. Storytelling is an ancient human activity. Humans are natural storytellers and story-listeners. Storytelling has emerged as a popular and important strategy for capturing and communicating the results of a programme or organisation to various audiences. Traditional approaches to programme evaluations which [&hellip;]</p>

<p>Achieving social transformation is a challenging task. It requires the change of behaviour, mindsets, and trusted practices, which are sometimes hard to let go of. While technological innovations and advancements are often implemented top-down without cultural adaptations, social innovations are complex and do not follow market mechanisms to diffuse among a larger population. Let’s say, [&hellip;]</p>

<p>To deliberate on the possible way forward to achieve the ambitious and inclusive 2030 agenda and reflect on opportunities to integrate efforts to meet these aspirations, 4th Wheel undertook a workshop on &#8220;Achieving SDGs in India&#8217;. We believe that each one of us comes with a set of valuable experiences and knowledge of the development [&hellip;]</p>

<p>The third break-out session, which is part of Ambuja Cement Foundation’s event on World Water Day 2017, puts building capacities for water conservation at the centre of discussion. Considering that India sustains nearly 17 percent of the world’s population but is endowed with just four percent of global water resources, emphasizes the urgent call for [&hellip;]</p>