Learning Alliances
Change at sector level, requires change by constellations of individuals and institutions. One of the important ways to support such change is to bring together people with a stake in the outcome and engage them in joint learning, planning and action. This is called a multi-stakeholder process.
'Learning alliances' are one way of organising such a multi-stakeholder process. They bring together representatives from government, civil society, universities and other research institutions and the private sector to do joint research, find solutions and apply them at scale.
In practice, the approach consists of connected multi-stakeholder platforms, created at key institutional levels (typically national, intermediate/district and local/community). IRC and partners are applying the approach in a range of projects in various countries.
Practitioners and researchers involved and interested in Learning Alliances are invited to share practical experiences and to further develop the approach.
How to make water cooperation work? lessons from SWITCH
The United Nations proclaimed 2013 the International Year of Water Cooperation. IRC International Water and Sanitation Centre supports this focus and has a wealth of lessons on improving water cooperation through learning alliances. At the UN Water Conference 2013 in Zaragoza, Spain IRC presented lessons on learning alliances for better water cooperation in SWITCH, a multi-country urban water project.
Learning Alliances in WASHTech
The WASHTech project is applying a learning alliance approach to carry out action-research and implementation work. Learning Alliances in WASHTech provides a framework to support reflection and documentation of the learning alliance process in the three WASHTech focus countries: Burkina Faso, Ghana and Uganda. Alliance facilitators in each country identify opportunities and challenges faced in 2011.
SWITCH in the City: putting urban water management to the test
In this book, you will read about some of the concerns that city planners, water sector specialists and researchers have for the future, but you will read rather more about their hopes. Each city learning alliance developed a vision for the future and those visions were generally optimistic rather than apocalyptic.
Read more or download SWITCH in the city.pdf (6.5 MB)
Learning Alliances: Scaling up innovations in water, sanitation and hygiene
This book brings together theory and practice to examine the challenges of widespread innovative change in a real-world setting. It is in the first place geared towards water sector professionals with an interest in strengthening the developmental impacts of research and innovation, the scaling up of innovative implementation practices, and new approaches for capacity development.
Read more or download TP47_LA_07.pdf (1.6 MB)
Learning alliances for better practice and policy in Uganda
Uganda is a frontrunner in WASH sector reforms in East Africa, but faces problems around household and school sanitation and hygiene. Previously, there was no learning mechanism on hygiene and sanitation at district level and limited trickling down of knowledge from the international and national level towards communities. To address this situation, SNV, IRC International Water and Sanitation Centre and NETWAS Uganda have partnered to facilitate a “Learning Alliance” at district level, by which sector stakeholders share experiences and agree on actions to improve sector efficiency and performance.
Learning alliance reflective meeting: Should we develop a framework for learning alliances and how?
A meeting held at IRC on 22 April 2009 helped further explore the learning alliance approach. The objective of the meeting was to define a framework for IRC’s learning alliance projects, building upon experiences and insights from three sources: Wageningen’s experience with sustainable agriculture, Russell Kerkhoven’s experience with facilitating a dialogue process between conflicting groups and Kathy Shordt’s experience with a framework to change people’s hygiene behaviours. The report covers principles and philosophy, the context in which learning alliances are built, working with multiple stakeholders, the role of agencies, issues of outcomes and impact and a table mapping some tools to understand and assess learning alliances.
20090423_Learning alliance discussion summary.doc (365.0 kB)
Attitudes and actions of participants in multi-stakeholder processes and platforms
Where multi-stakeholder processes (MSPs), tools and platforms are being used to address various aspects of water management and where they are implemented in conjunction with participatory process monitoring, the overall outcomes can be enhanced through continuous learning and adaptation, and the motivation that it fosters.
Learning Alliances Symposium
In June 2005, IRC and UNESCO-IHE hosted an international symposium on learning alliances. This folder contains the background paper, the proceedings and the symposium report of the event.
