On January 16th, DeSIRA-Lift provided training in Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning (MEL) as part of a training program organised by Santés & Territoires, reaching out to a diverse group comprising three field staff members from Sénégal, four from Bénin, and three project managers from CIRAD.
The primary focus of the training revolved around Utilization-Focused Evaluation (UFE) and Developmental Evaluation within the UFE framework (UFDE). The session aimed to explore the potential applications of these methodologies in the context of multi-stakeholder platforms for innovation, such as Living Labs.
The workshop encompassed a comprehensive review of two case studies, complemented by an annotated bibliography prepared by DeSIRA-LIFT´s co-leader of Service 4: Ricardo Ramírez. The bibliography drew from a substantial body of literature provided by the European Network of Living Labs (ENOLL) and was shared during the workshop to provide participants with a well-rounded understanding of the theoretical and practical aspects related to the assessment of living labs.
A crucial aspect of the training also included a practical component where participants actively engaged in discussions. They delved into the application of UFDE within the specific context of their respective living labs, identified potential primary users for evaluation, proposed intended uses of the evaluation results, and formulated preliminary evaluation questions.
Looking ahead, there are plans to extend group mentoring to Santés & Territoires professionals on Utilization-Focused Evaluation and/or Developmental Evaluation in the forthcoming months.
Encouragingly, there has been expressed interest from the participants in Sénégal and Bénin to become part of the clusters that will benefit from
this training approach, with the sessions to be conducted in French.
While DeSIRA-LIFT covered the cost of the training itself, Santés & Territoires covered the travel expenses of the trainer as they wanted an in-person session. This collaborative effort reflects a commitment to understanding and applying the UFE approach within the context of Living Labs and innovation ecosystems.