1. Gretchen Rossman & Ash Hartwell Center for International Education University of Massachusetts Amherst Presentation at the Comparative & International Education Society meetings March 3, 2010, Chicago, IL

2.  Citizen agency initiative  East Africa: Tanzania, Kenya, Uganda  Consortium of funders  Works through partnerships http://www.twaweza.org When exposed to the ferment of information and ideas, and having access to practical tools, pathways and examples of how to turn these ideas into actions, ordinary citizens can become the drivers of their own development and act as co- creators of democracy.

3.  Increased access to and use of information  Enhanced sense of agency – ‘I/we can do it’  Information animates ferment of ideas and imagined possibilities  Public debate and action  Holding government accountable  Citizens become ‘drivers of change and co- creators of democracy’ – ecosystem of change  Ultimately, improved basic services

5. Information Imagined possibilities Sense of agency Working with others Taking action

6.  Information fosters imagined possibilities  Ideas bubble and ferment  Social actors take up ideas – they ‘stick’ – attractors  Public debate  Citizens take action – agency  Tipping points – emergent shift  Ecosystem of change – citizen action + government response

7.  Access to information – making meaning  Sense/capacity that making change is possible  Imagining other worlds  Individual and collective – intermediaries and brokers  Perceptions of risk  Voicing/expressing in public sphere  Taking actions  material difference

8. PRINCIPLESCHANGE STRATEGY Emergence – there is no grand change master Don’t plan social change, catalyze processes that lead actors to change Co-evolution with environment Small solutions change contexts to create new opportunities through iteration in a spiral of change Heterogeneity is the genesis of creativity Maximize diversity, ambiguity, paradox, pursuing multiple strategies No optimal condition Use appreciative inquiry to find and grow what works Simple rules  Grow by chunking & iteration Begin with simple, easier change (water points) and grow by reinforcing agency and action Connectivity When social actors become connected (through information exchange) they distribute and gain confidence and power

10. Mobile phones Radio/TV/ newspapers Religious organizations Commercial goods Trade unions - teachers

11.  Uwezo – citizen volunteer assessment of learning – all three countries  Daraja – citizen assessment of waterpoint functionality – SMS or other mobile phone use – Tanzania  Shujaaz FM – radio programs and comic books targeting youth agency and livelihoods – Kenya  DalaDala TV – small bus TV studio – current affairs news program ‘on the ground’ – Tanzania  Tracking school attendance – pupils and teachers – SMS information system - Uganda

12.  Broad effects and changes in society – ecosystem effects  Access to information by ordinary citizens  Citizen agency  Service delivery  Shift away from traditional measures of outputs  Focus on changes in society: water, health, education  Open and transparent tools and processes  Twaweza’s commitment to evaluation for learning – emergent change  Wide dissemination through various media  Regular solicitation of critical feedback on design and tools

13.  What changes have taken place among men, women, and youth, as individuals and as citizen groups, in relation to their:  access to information on basic rights and public services?  perceptions of agency or self-efficacy: the extent to which they feel they have the ability and opportunity to voice their concerns and influence decisions that affect their lives?  How do individuals, groups view risks, freedom, power?  engagement in actions to bring about improvements in use of public resources and/or functioning of basic services?

14.  What changes have occurred in the access to and quality of essential public facilities and services?  Basic education: teacher attendance, availability of learning materials  Primary health care: availability of health workers, basic medicines  Safe water: access to clean water  What stories are narrated about the evolution of these changes?

15.  If changes occur, how do citizens describe and understand the evolution of these changes?  What stories do citizens narrate about emerging agency?  What role does social networking play?  What are the processes of emergent change?  How has Twaweza contributed to these changes in the public sphere?  Does Twaweza’s theory of change work?

16.  Baseline study  Baseline surveys – household, facilities, community  6 case studies/country – community and group focused  Secondary analyses  Existing databases – eg, DHS, Afrobarometer, TI  Conceptual framing  Scholarly research, policies, essays, blogs  Annual case studies and targeted studies  Micro survey – mid-term  Follow-up panel surveys

17.  Defining key constructs  Information?  Agency?  Action?  Design  Focus for case studies?  Tensions  Maintaining independence while being critical friend  Flexibility in design vs. accountability  Contribution or attribution