Key Terms Explained

Appreciative Inquiry (AI) is a tool for organizational change. It focuses on what an organisation, group or community does well, rather than what it has problems with. An AI process asks what makes an organisation effective, productive and healthy, and seeks to appreciate and build on these strengths and assets. This in turn helps people to understand and value these positive aspects and to enrich their knowledge, curiosity and energy, allowing them to shape a better future.

Buzz groups are a technique most commonly used in workshops. Participants break into pairs or small groups and have a short, intense discussion on a defined question.

This versatile technique is often used as part of a participatory sequence. Participants note key points on cards, either in response to a presentation or a particular question, which are then collected and laid out on the ground. The whole group then engages in collective analysis by sorting the cards into different categories. This is a useful method for enabling participation, as many people feel happier writing than talking in front of a large group.

Citizen report cards are a way for public service users to report on service quality, adequacy and efficiency. They generate quantitative data which is used by civil society organisations to advocate for government accountability through media coverage and campaigning.

Civil society is a public space between the state, the market and the household, in which ordinary people can debate and take action. Civil society organisations (CSOs) include, amongst others, community groups, non-governmental organisations (NGOs), labour unions, charities, faith-based organizations, professional associations and foundations.

Community score cards are qualitative monitoring tools used for community-level monitoring and evaluation of services and projects, and to catalyse face-to-face meetings between service providers and community members.

Nuanced, tailored and adaptive approaches are essential to achieving the SDGs. National and sub-national contexts shift and vary, and societies comprise diverse individuals and households with different needs, capacities and priorities. Experience has shown that a single, static approach at scale over long periods does not always work: they do not reach everyone and often struggle to achieve sustainability.

As well as being nuanced, tailored and adaptive, programmes must also be area-wide, aiming to reach everyone across entire administrative areas. Area-wide approaches will require local (and national) governments to take the lead, display political leadership and match commitments with the necessary human and financial resources. More learning and thinking is needed to understand how to operationalise systems strengthening to enable this commitment.

To enable programmes to be designed to reach and meet the needs of everyone across entire areas, a thorough understanding of the context(s) is essential. Based on context analyses, appropriate implementation approaches and partners can be selected: it is likely that multiple approaches and partners will be required in any one area, and that these will need to be adapted and combined in different ways.

This evidence-based approach will also help identify communities and individuals at risk of being left behind. We have much to learn about how best to do this and programmes must remain flexible so that they can be adapted based on monitoring, evaluation and learning (MEL) as well as changing contexts.

Building strong MEL systems and rapid action learning (RAL) processes into programmes will support this process, helping to identify what works and what does not throughout every stage of the programme, and enabling adaptation and course correction. Investing in staff and institutional capacity to pivot, adapt and work with multiple approaches and partners is also key.