This document discusses how systems thinking can support sustainable development in monitoring and evaluation. It begins by defining sustainable development and the key aspects of sustainability. It then discusses theories of change and how they can be used to design for and evaluate sustained impact. Finally, it introduces systems thinking and how considering feedback loops, environmental conditions, adaptation, critical paths and other systems concepts can help create more sustainable programs and better evaluations by accounting for complex, dynamic systems. The overall message is that incorporating systems thinking into theories of change may help design more sustainable programs and conduct more useful evaluations.

1. Benita Williams benita@benitawilliams.co.za
Presentation to Bridge Community of Practice
20 October 2016
Systems Thinking in M&E:
How can it be used to Support
Sustainable Development?

2. Part 1: Sustainable Development
Part 3: Systems Thinking
Part 2: Theories of Change

3. Part 1: Why focus on Sustainable Development
and what does it mean?

4. My recent interest in sustainable development started with a twitter
exchange

10. What do we mean with sustainable
development?

12. Environmental Sustained Sustained
Sustainability Projects Project Results

13. So what does sustained project results look like?

16. Defining Sustainability

17. OECD DAC Criteria
• Sustainability
Sustainability is concerned with measuring whether the benefits of an activity are
likely to continue after donor funding has been withdrawn. Projects need to be
environmentally as well as financially sustainable.
When evaluating the sustainability of a programme or a project, it is useful to
consider the following questions:
To what extent did the benefits of a programme or project continue after donor funding
ceased?
What were the major factors which influenced the achievement or non-achievement of
sustainability of the programme or project?

18. School Technology Initiative

22. Part 2: Designing and Evaluating for Sustained Change

23. Inputs
Activities
Outcomes
Outputs Impacts
Theory of Change indicates which inputs and activities relate to different kinds of programme
results
Theory of Change

24. Direct Indirect
Participants Participants
Inputs
Activities
Outcomes
Outputs Impacts
Skills
Knowledge
Values
Attitudes
Behaviour
Systemic
Results

25. Direct Indirect
Participants Participants
Inputs
Activities
Outcomes
Outputs Impacts
Skills
Knowledge
Values
Attitudes
Behaviour
Systemic
Results

26. Direct Indirect
Participants Participants
Inputs
Activities
Outcomes
Outputs Impacts
Skills
Knowledge
Values
Attitudes
Behaviour
Systemic
Results

27. Direct Indirect
Participants Participants
Inputs
Activities
Outcomes
Outputs Impacts
Skills
Knowledge
Values
Attitudes
Behaviour
Systemic
Results
Embedded Practice
Established
Partnerships /
Post Project Actors
Budget for Inputs
embedded /
Externally Sourced

28. Embedded Practice
Established
Partnerships /
Post Project Actors
Budget for Inputs
embedded /
Externally Sourced
Sustained
Outcomes
Sustained
Outputs
Sustained
Impacts
Systemic
Results
Direct Indirect
Participants Participants
Theory of Sustained Change may help
to identify indicates which inputs and
activities relate to different kinds of
sustained programme results
Theory of Sustained Change

29. Direct Indirect
Participants Participants
Inputs
Activities
Outcomes
Embedded Practice
Outputs Impacts
Established
Partnerships / New
Post Project Actors
Budget for Inputs
embedded /
Externally Sourced
Skills
Knowledge
Values
Attitudes
Behaviour
Systemic
Results
Sustained
Outcomes
Sustained
Outputs
Sustained
Impacts
Systemic
Results
Direct Indirect
Participants Participants
Theory of Change
Theory of Sustained Change

31. Part 3: What is System’s Thinking and how can it help?

32. Feedback Loops

33. Environmental Conditions

34. Adaptation

35. Critical Paths or Elements

36. Aggregate of small changes in many programs

37. Distributions

38. Phase Shifts

39. Perhaps incorporating Systems
Thinking into our Theories of
Change, may help us to design
better, more sustainable
programmes, and do more useful
evaluations.