Water Land and Ecosystems CGIAR Research Program: Uptake Strategy

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 incomefrom 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 System Level Outcomes

7. WLE uptake strategy: significant focus on the research client System Level Outcomes

8. 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 System Level Outcomes 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 System Level Outcomes 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 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

15. Integrating Communication & KM 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