Blog: Sustainable Development
Continuing to Learn about Sustainability, Now more than ever
Continuing to Learn about Sustainability, Now more than ever Since 2024, foreign aid has taken multiple shocks (post-Covid): wars, climate shocks, and a widespread retreat from foreign assistance, especially among OECD countries: "Official development...
Localization and investing in what lasts: locally led development and ex-post learning
Localization and investing in what lasts: locally-led development and ex-post learning This year-end blog highlights learning from the Climate Investment Funds (CIF), IRC/ CARE, about what can work, what needs more resources, learning from what didn't, OCHA...
Sustain our planet: Sustained Impact, Return on Environment, Environmental Impact Continuum & MRV (M&E)
Sustain our planet: Sustained Impact, Return on Environment, Environmental Impact Continuum & MRV (M&E) I've been focusing on sustainability and reframing impact from the perspective of nature, thanks to lessons about the earth's carrying capacity and tipping...
Adaptive Sustainability lessons the Climate Investment Funds’ PPCR evaluation, including three ex-posts
Adaptive Sustainability lessons the Climate Investment Funds' PPCR evaluation, including three ex-posts I am excited to share our latest Climate Investment Funds (CIF) Adaptive Sustainability report including three ex-post evaluations conducted by our Valuing Voices...
Un-sustaining ‘Sustainable Development’ via USAID shuttering and other US learning losses
The draconian cuts to USAID in February 2025 ($40 billion in currently allocated aid assistance, $63 billion in 2024, $71 billion in 2023, Pew) to 120 countries around the globe) are said to address waste and fraud and re-align priorities. Elon Musk of 'DOGE'...
Grow the .002% of all global development projects that are evaluated ex-post closure for sustainability
Grow the .002% of all global development projects that are evaluated ex-post closure for sustainability It seems like 'fake news' that after decades of global development so few evaluations would have peered back in time to see what was sustained. While I was...
Fostering Values-Driven Sustainability Through an Ex-Post Capacities Lens (reposting a book chapter)
We all want our project results to be sustained, but without doing ex-post sustainability evaluations, we don't know if they are. However, ex-post evaluations can also teach us how to fund, design, monitor, and evaluate projects before they close. They also require...
Valuing and implementing for ex-post sustainability, evaluating natural capital and externalities
Valuing and implementing for ex-post sustainability, evaluating natural capital and externalities 2023 ends with two sets of excellent sustainability practices coming out of Valuing Voices. There are also unanswered valuation questions for us to address in 2024...
Evaluating global aid projects ex-post closure: Evaluability… and how-to via Sustainability (and Resilience) Evaluation training materials
Evaluating global aid projects ex-post closure: Evaluability, and how-to via Sustainability (and Resilience) Evaluation training materials: How do we evaluate projects ex-post, and are all projects evaluable after donors leave? How do we learn from project documents...
Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) – where have your ex-post evaluations, and learning from them, gone?
Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) - where have your ex-post evaluations, and learning from them, gone? A Linkedin colleague, Gillian Marcelle, Ph.D. recently asked me about ex-posts by the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) as more Caribbean...
Hard-wiring and Soft-wiring in Sustainability via health program examples
Hard-wiring and Soft-wiring in Sustainability via health program examples: by Laurence Desvignes and Jindra Cekan/ova Overview We all want things to last. Most of us joined the ‘sustainable development’ industry hoping our foreign aid projects not only do good while...
The Contentious Power of Evaluations, Guest Blog by Hanneke de Bode
THE CONTENTIOUS POWER OF EVALUATIONS or why sustainable results are so hard to come by…. A while ago, I reacted to a discussion among development aid/cooperation evaluators about why there are so few NGO evaluations available. It transpired that many people do...
Sustainability of what and how do we know? Measuring projects, programs, policies…
On my way to present at the European Evaluation Society's annual conference, I wanted to close the loop on the Nordic and Netherlands ex-post analysis. The reason is, that we'll be discussing the intersection of different ways to evaluate 'sustainability' over the...
“Promises made and promises unfulfilled: Focusing evaluations after COP26” 2021’s Climate Conference reblog from the journal Evaluation
Reblogged from the journal EVALUATION,Volume: 28 issue: 1, page(s): 7-35, Article first published online: January 24, 2022; Issue published: January 1, 2022 Abstract for the Evaluation issue "What should evaluation learn from COP 26? Views of evaluation practitioners"...
Can We Assume Sustained Impact? Verifying the Sustainability of Climate Change Mitigation Results (reposting a book chapter)
So excited to have our chapter verifying the 'sustainability' of the Global Environment Facility Trust Fund (GEF) funded projects through examining two tranches of evaluations. My co-writer colleague Susan Legro did a brilliant job pointing out GreenHouse Gasses (GHG)...
Follow our path on Ex-Post Sustainability and Resilience Seasonal Joy
Follow our path on Ex-Post Sustainability and Resilience Seasonal Joy Rarely do we get to teach, innovate, learn, and expand a hidden corner of one’s field. This is what is I am experiencing, and the Fund is sharing. Here is the Adaptation Fund’s ex-post project...
5 Ways to Foster Sustainability and Resilience to Climate Change
5 Ways to Foster Sustainability and Resilience to Climate Change by Omar Abdou, M.A. and Jindra Cekan/ova, Ph.D In the global climate change graphic, the blue are countries that contribute very few emissions to #climatechange. They are also those who suffer the most...
Aid providers: More puzzle pieces, including unexpected outcomes; ours is not the whole picture
Aid providers: More puzzle pieces, including unexpected outcomes; ours is not the whole picture When we did our first ex-post evaluation/ delayed final evaluation in 2006 in Niger for Lutheran World Relief (LWR) funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (pg75...
Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), Funding and Accountability for sustainable projects?
Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), Funding and Accountability for sustainable projects? What are Sustainable Development Goals? " the United Nations adopted the new post-2015 development agenda. The new proposals - to be achieved by 2030- set 17 new 'sustainable'...
Valuing Voices Better Ex-Post Evaluation White Paper: Nordics & the Netherlands
Donors often talk about #SustainableDevelopment, and we know they try. But do they return #expost to #evaluate it? Here are lessons from #Nordic (#Norway, #Finland, #Sweden & #Denmark) and the #Netherlands in our #ValuingVoices #WhitePapers. Let us know what you...
Who is accountable for the ‘sustained development’ of those who suffer, and for how long? US/Czech and Kenyan Views
Who is accountable for the ‘sustained development’ of those who suffer, and for how long? Some of the rarely discussed myths of ‘sustainable development is that the aid we donors and implementers bring will help everyone, and that recipient governments can take...
“What IS Sustainability?” It depends on whom you ask: OECD, the UN, or Harvard Business School
“What IS Sustainability?” It depends on whom you ask: OECD, the UN, or Harvard Business School Recently I’ve had conversations where I had to define which sustainability we were talking about. Was it: ex-post-project sustainability of outcomes and impacts,...
Reblog:Ex-post Eval Week: Are we serious about project sustainability and exit? By Abu Ala Hasan
Ex-post Eval Week: Are we serious about project sustainability and exit? By Abu Ala Hasan Published on the American Evaluation Association AEA365blog series:...
Upcoming Jan Webinar: Lessons from Nordic / the Netherlands’ ex-post project evaluations: 14 Jan 2021
Upcoming Webinar: Lessons from Nordic / the Netherlands' ex-post project evaluations: 14 Jan 2021 In June-August 2020, Preston Stewart, our Valuing Voices intern, conducted through government databases of the four Nordic countries – Norway, Finland, Sweden, and...
Interview repost: Why Measure & Evaluate Corporate Sustainability Projects?
Interview repost: Why Measure & Evaluate Corporate Sustainability Projects? A CSR firm in Central Europe asked me to talk about sustainability, evaluation, and Corporate Social Responsibility. We had a terrific interview - please click thru to:...
Reblog: ITAD/CRS “Lessons from an ex-post evaluation – and why we should do more of them”
Reblog: ITAD/CRS "Lessons from an ex-post evaluation – and why we should do more of them" Reposted from: https://www.itad.com/article/lessons-from-an-ex-post-evaluation-and-why-we-should-do-more-of-them/ Even as evaluation specialists, rarely do we get the chance to...
What makes it Difficult to Evaluate Projects Ex-post: Lessons from WWF
What makes it Difficult to Evaluate Projects Ex-post: Lessons from WWF The World Wildlife Fund (WWF) generously shared lessons from two ex-posts and in particular what they felt should not have been done in terms of organizational learning. They originally...
Interactive Webinar: Sustained Exit? Prove it or Improve it! (Nov 6 2020)
Sustained Exit? Prove it or Improve it! (reposted from Medium https://jindracekan.medium.com/sustained-exit-prove-it-or-improve-it-702ac507e2a5) Do we exit global development projects knowing our impacts are sustained? We hope so. As Professor Bea Rogers of Tufts said...
Sustainability Ready: what it takes to support & measure lasting change webinar
On June 24th under GLocal's UNConference, "Co-creating our future stories of hope and action", Jindra Cekan, Holta Trandafili, and Isabella Jean presented their work on sustainability evaluations and exit strategies via local voices. We chaired a 2-hour discussion...
Sustaining “Sustainable Development”
Sustaining "Sustainable Development"? As a global development industry, we have almost no evidence of how (un)sustained the outcomes or impacts of 99% of our projects because we have never returned to evaluate them. But from early indications based on...
Learning from a river of ex-post project evaluations, tools and guidance… Thanks USAID!
Learning from a river of ex-post project evaluations and tools... Thanks USAID! Dear ex-post aficionados. It's raining ex-post project evaluations. Here's hoping learning from such evaluations in water/ sanitation, maternal/child health and even capacity building/...
“Impactful” Investments? Will investments change lives or just bottom lines?
"Impactful" Investments? Will investments change lives or just bottom lines? Needs are growing in the developing world and blended finance, including Impact Investing, with the “intention to generate positive, measurable social and environmental impact...
Holiday Hallelujahs and my Wish List for Sustained Impact(s)
"Passport Couture" There are six bright Hallelujahs on the sustained impact journey this Holiday. I’ve paired each of them by a wish, so appropriate this Holiday Season. 1. Netherlands Greatness! The government of theNetherlands has recently started talking with their...
Assuming Sustainability and Impact is Dangerous to Development (+ OECD/DAC evaluation criteria)
Assuming Sustainability and Impact is Dangerous to Development (+ OECD/ DAC evaluation criteria) We all do it; well, I used to do it too. I used to assume that if I helped my field staff and partners target and design funded projects well enough, and try...
Public and Private paths to Sustained Global Development Impacts
Public and Private paths to Sustained Global Development Impacts (Reposted from: https://medium.com/@jindracekan/public-and-private-paths-to-sustained-global-development-impacts-9b7523891fce) Six years. That’s how long ago I began researching proof of sustained...
Setting a higher bar: Sustained Impacts are about All of us
Setting a higher bar: Sustained Impacts are about All of us Global development aid has a problem which may already affect impact investing as well. It is that we think it's really all about us (individuals, wealthy donors and INGO implementers) not all of us (you, me,...
Investing in Youth for Project Effectiveness and Sustainability
Investing in Youth for Project Effectiveness and Sustainability One out of every six people on earth is between the ages of 15-24, says the UN. That is 1.2 billion youth. As one young leader says, “if the world’s problems are to be solved, it’s not going to happen...
Reblog: The Name of the Game is “Sustainability” but Does the Last Player Count?
The Name of the Game is “Sustainability” but Does the Last Player Count? by John Lowrie, Reblog from https://www.scribd.com/document/11621086/The-Name-of-the-Game-is-Sustainability-but-Does-the-Last-Player-Count-by-John-Lowrie Today, it is obligatory to answer the...
Local Accountability and Transparency… During and Post Project?
Local Accountability and Transparency... During and Post Project? Local development partners? Check. Long-term transparent and accountable investments through them as “local solutions” partners? Not so much. While President Obama and former United States...
Impact Investing – International Development’s New Holy Grail?
Impact Investing - International Development's New Holy Grail? There are so many things I love about the private sector such as Forbes 18 Dec Quote of the Day: "You’re going to be wrong a fair amount of times. So the issue is, how do you be wrong well?"...
Can’t wait to learn from post-project sustainability evaluation? If not why?
Can't wait to learn from post-project sustainability evaluation? If not why? A colleague who has been promoting ex-post sustainability evaluation in her organization questioned my claim that doing them had “benefits” for future programming. It was an...
How ‘new’ are our projects… and who is aiming at the right outcomes?
How 'new' are our projects... and who is aiming at the right outcomes? Valuing Voices exciting news is we have received research grant funding from the esteemed evaluator, Michael Scriven's Faster Forward Fund. We're looking into the value-added of...
Leading in Challenging Times: Sustained and Emerging Impacts Evaluation (SEIEs)- reposted from Medium.com
Leading in Challenging Times: Sustained and Emerging Impacts Evaluation (SEIEs) Some American organizations are retrenching, focusing more attention on domestic rather than international programming. Some are pulling back from critique of international...
Making up your mind. Prioritizing and making it happen
Making up your mind. Prioritizing and making it happen * As Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. said, "every man must decide whether he will walk in the light of creative altruism or in the darkness of destructive selfishness". ...
Embedding Sustainability Everywhere – All Five Slices Now
Embedding Sustainability Everywhere - All Five Slices Now It has been a tumultuous year, and next year does not look like we will have much stability as a respite. As domestic concerns grow larger in two huge economies, US and UK, the question of the...
Jindra Cekan, Ph.D. has used participatory methods for 30 years to connect with participants, ranging from villagers in Africa, Central/ Latin America and the Balkans to policy makers and Ministers around the world for her international clients. Their voices have informed the new Sustained and Emerging Impacts Evaluation, other M&E, stakeholder analysis, strategic planning, knowledge management and organizational learning.