Dr. Yvonne Pinto addressed issues surrounding ‘system change’, and using a deliberate approach to monitoring and evaluation in a presentation to the April 2021 CONNECTED Online Seminar, which is now available to watch on the CONNECTED Vimeo channel.

Dr. Pinto is Managing Director of ALINE, an initiative dedicated to the improvement of measurement, learning and evaluation in development with a particular emphasis on the agricultural sector.

Her presentation focuses on the concept of ‘system change’, an increasingly-used concept, and how to use a deliberate approach to monitoring and evaluation in order to help individuals and organisations understand what is working and why.​

Dr. Pinto uses the example of the CONNECTED Network to illustrate how the monitoring and evaluation system developed by ALINE can be used to understand how change happens, to ensure organisations and individuals can become better at influencing positive change in their working environments.

In the Q and A session which follows, Dr. Pinto emphasises the importance of including impact monitoring in grant applications, because funders face a great deal of pressure to demonstrate outcomes. She speaks about the value of submitting proposals which set out the initial theory of change, but which are underpinned by flexibility, and which make clear that to ensure the applicant can deliver the required change, a meeting will take place soon after the grant is given so that all stakeholders can be brought together to develop a shared and co-owned theory of change.

CONNECTED Network members can watch Dr. Pinto’s presentation and the Question and Answer session which followed it, using this link. You will need to be logged in as a CONNECTED member on the device you are using.

In addition, you can see a PDF of Dr. Pinto’s presentation notes, containing additional information, here.