evaluation

The main outcomes from the sub-group evaluations and filled evaluation forms are summarised below.

1. Hands-on work was found very useful.
2. People would like to work on more media/ tools, but found it useful to complete the whole process in one group from planning to producing products and reflecting on their usefulness.
3. Feedback and sharing was good. Sharing between the 3 groups was especially appreciated and the sessions on day 2 and 5 well evaluated very positively for the time and space created to share and discuss freely.
4. People appreciated the positive and open atmosphere in the group and all the work involved in getting so many people safely to Lodz.
5. The weblog was appreciated but participants had limited exposure and practice during the training.
6. The training sparked an interest in many related topics. Issues around the relation of PD and M&E and methods for organising information collected were evident from discussions and several participants mentioned they should be more explicitly introduced and be explored in the training.
7. The weblog and use of emailgroups were recognised as useful tools for organising information by some. Others pointed out that the use of a weblog or other web-based tools in some contexts can be limited. This relates to familiarity with the tool as well as technical issues of access.
8. Further discussion and planning would be appreciated by SWITCH LA facilitators on how P.D. should be planned and budgeted within SWITCH
9. A lot was done in a short period. Time restraints were mentioned in many of the evaluations, one suggestion was to make the course longer (7-10 days).
10. While the team tried to provide clear information and guidance in the course announcement, emails and during the training, some participants suggested more information about costs and objectives. Clear communication remains a key area of attention.
11. The materials provided were found useful. Providing more information beforehand would have helped participants prepare better and know who is who

training report

The final draft of the training report has been circulated to the Googlegroup.

Sharing experiences and outputs from the groups

session 8 general outline Day 5 brought the subgroups back together to share their products and discuss the process of developing them. Ton facilitated the plenary part of this session. There were presentations from the reporters in each subgroup and animated feedback and discussion. This presentation outlines the plan for the session.

training programme and poster

poster and programme for the training

Introducing Lodz city and SWITCH in Lodz

On Day 2, the Lodz team provided us with a general presentation of the city of Lodz and its past, the SWITCH project and its LA as well as the particular water challenges that the SWITCH project is trying to tackle in Lodz. This gave us inputs for the practical work documenting these processes in the following days.
Monika Dziegielewska Geitz (SWITCH Learning Alliance facilitator), gave a presentation about the LA.

Learning From Empowers

Presentation on P.D in practice by Buthaina MizyedPresentation by Buthaina Mizyed on her experience as Process Documentation Specialist in Palestine for the EMPOWERS project . She decribes the P.D and communication products and channels, obstacles encountered, lessons learnt, key findings and steps still to be completed.

Briefing Note on Process Documentation

Briefing Note Process Documentation, Ton Schouten This Briefing Note was written for the training in Lodz by Ton Schouten. Since the road to achieving project objectives is not straight but ‘bumpy and curvy’, process documentation is aimed to help us learn from the curves and the bumps on the project road – what happened there, how and why did it happen? Process documentation can help projects to be smarter, but also provides outputs and a structure to engage a wider group of stakeholders in the debate about important social
development processes. Planning is an important step in process documentation, and includes deciding what you will document how and for what purpose as well as how to organise the materials gathered. 

presentation: Introduction to P.D. (Ton Schouten)

Introduction to P.D. by Ton Schouten (Section Head Knowledge Development and Advocacy, IRC) This presentation was given by Ton Schouten on Day 1 of the training. It is based on the Briefing Note on Process documentation (provided in the handouts) and outlines what IRC sees as key concepts, questions, issues and ideas around process documentation. The Briefing Note goes more into detail and provides further references as well as links to the Empowers project where process documentation has been used as part and parcel of the 5-year project.

FACES AND SPACES

Slide show Photographs from Łódź, 1-5 July 2007

Lessons learned from the Lodz Learning Alliance

Learning for Learning Alliances
Capturing and sharing lessons learned from the Lodz SWITCH Learning Alliance through process documentation by Nadia Manning International Water Management Institute (IWMI). Output prepared from: ‘Writing and Voice Group’ During: ‘Training course on Process documentation of Learning Alliances and Action Research’ Lodz, Poland 1st-5th July 2007.