1. Water Land and Ecosystems CGIAR Research Program:
Uptake Strategy
Elizabeth Weight, IWMI Global Uptake Coordinator

2. Contents Overview of WLE at a Glance
Overview of WLE Impact Pathways and Impact Pathway thinking
Fitting in Comms/KM into impact pathways
Assignment

3. WLE Goal: Sustainable intensification of agricultural development
WLE Uptake Framework: CGIAR SLOs and WLE IDOs
CGIAR System Level Outcomes
Reduce rural poverty
Increase food security
Improve nutrition and human health
Sustainable management of natural resources
WLE IDO: Risk Management
Increased ability of low income communities to adapt to environmental and economic variability, demographic shifts, shocks and long term changes
WLE IDO: Gender
Women and marginalized groups have decision making power over and increased benefits derived from agriculture and natural resources.
WLE IDO: Income
Increased and more equitable income from agricultural and natural resources management and ecosystem services in rural and peri-urban areas
WLE IDO: Productivity
Improved land, water and energy productivity in rainfed and irrigated agro-ecosystems
WLE IDO: Equity
Increased resilience of communities through enhanced ecosystem services in agricultural landscapes.

4. WLE Future Impact Pathways
RRR
Salinity
Landscape degradation
Information Decision-making
Flagship Thematic Impact Pathways
Focal Region Development Challenges with integrated work from different SRPs
Mekong
Indus/Ganges
Nile-East Africa
West Africa

5. WLE Current Reality
More than 160 projects, mapped into SRPs and aligned to activity clusters
No coordinated work in the Basins

6. WLE Uptake Framework: CGIAR/ISPC Impact Pathways/Theories of Change
WLE research outputs
WLE research outcomes
WLE Intermediate Development Outcomes
System Level Outcomes

7. WLE uptake strategy: significant focus on the research client
WLE research outputs
WLE research outcomes
WLE Intermediate Development Outcomes
System Level Outcomes
Opportunity identification
Client analysis
Decision analysis
Partner engagement
Levers and incentives

8. Faecal sludge Nutrients for agricultural production
Example of client focus: WLE resource recovery and reuse
Issue: Urban areas are growing and consuming more resources. How do we recover nutrients and water at scale? Technical knowledge is available, but few projects go to scale. WLE seeks to change this by analyzing business models and returns on investment.
Clear client focus: the private sector, public private partnerships, and business schools
The research portfolio is designed for the client: analyze successes and test promising business models for replication at scale
Multi-disciplinary research team includes economists, business developers, and environmental scientists
Faecal sludge Nutrients for agricultural production

9. Supporting research client decision making through decision analysis
WLE research outputs
WLE research outcomes
WLE Intermediate Development Outcomes
System Level Outcomes
Opportunity identification
Client analysis
Decision analysis
Partner engagement
Levers and incentives
Accountability (M&E)

10. Example: the decision analysis process Northeast Kenya: Tap the Merti aquifer to pump water > 100 km to town of Waiir?
Identify risks and uncertainties in decision of interest
Engage decision makers
Make probabilistic cost/benefit impacts on different stakeholder groups of likely outcomes of decision
Compute value of additional information (uncertain variables with high information value = priorities for measurement)
Probabilistic outcomes (benefits/negative impacts) for different stakeholder groups
Applied Information Economics D. Hubbard, “How to Measure Anything”, 2010

11. Focused partner engagement, levers and incentives
WLE research outputs
WLE research outcomes
WLE Intermediate Development Outcomes
System Level Outcomes
Opportunity identification
Client analysis
Decision analysis
Partner engagement
Levers and incentives
Accountability (M&E)

12. Changing how decisions are use of dams in the Mekong are made
CPWF Mekong use of communication and knowledge management to improve dialogue
Mekong Forum to dialogue around research
Short targeted State of Knowledge studies– in all Mekong Languages
Use of Film and video
Study tours and exchanges
Face-to-face individual discussions with Chinese Dam operators, investors, policy makers
Convening Power and Trust
Changes in how some dam operators carry out relocation and livelihood schemes, manage flows
Can discuss issues without fear of getting “shut down”

13. Designing Impact Pathways
Client Analysis
Network Mapping
Assessing entry points
Design Impact pathway
Develop Outcome Logic Model
Develop Implementation Plan
Implement
Reflect
Revise assumptions
Identify new opps
Identify changes
Change agents, assumptions, strategies,
Research
Engagement
Budget
Resources
Capacity
Comms/KM

14. Types of KM Activities Adapted from Simone Staiger
Support Learning Culture
Open access of materials
Communication about the project
Sharing and discussing progress
Repackaging, co-creation
Comms for policy influence
Comms for development
Adapted from Simone Staiger

15. Integrating Communication & KM
Activities
Outputs
Outcomes
Impacts
Products into use
Repositories
Repackaging
Communicate about results
Comms/KM Processes
Engagement
Meetings
Advocacy
Research
KM on processes
Comms on what the project does
Engagement
Internal
External
Implementers
Partners
Users

16. Different approaches for different groups.
One-way communication - the complexity of the issue is low, the message; high certainty
Two-way communication - the issue is complex, the message difficult, no immediate guarantee
Participatory approaches - issue is highly complex, the messages not clear yet and there is yet no certainty that the action will lead to the desired outcome

17. Do we communicate to the right audience capable of taking the action we desire?
Context matters – what are barriers?
Who are the messengers (Not just products)
How will products support impact pathways.

18. Assignment
WE will take 4 draft impact pathways and transform them into Outcome Logic Models and then develop a KM/Comms plan for them
Global
Regional – Volta
Thematic – Landscape Degradation
Thematic – Information Decision-making
1hr developing outcome logic model
1hr developing draft plan for KM/Comms plan