2018 CLA Case Competition Analysis

This analysis is part of a broader area of work known as the Evidence Base for Collaborating, Learning, and Adapting EB4CLA, spearheaded by USAID’s Bureau for Policy, Planning and Learning (PPL) and its support mechanism, the Learning and Knowledge Management mechanism (LEARN). Through the annual CLA Case Competition, PPL and LEARN invite USAID staff and implementing partners from around the world to submit examples of collaborating, learning, and adapting (CLA) approaches that have added value to development programming. In 2015, 60 cases were submitted; by 2018, annual submissions had more than doubled with 127 entries. PPL and LEARN recognized that this collection of cases provided an opportunity to examine and synthesize learning about CLA that would be relevant to wider USAID, implementing partner, and donor audiences.

In 2015, LEARN conducted an analysis of a sample of CLA cases, exploring patterns among CLA approaches, as well as their contributions to organizational change and/or development outcomes. In 2018, LEARN conducted a new CLA Case Competition Analysis, taking a fresh look at a larger sample of cases submitted from 2015-2017 to reassess key findings and explore enablers and barriers to CLA contributing to organizational and/or development outcomes. The analysis revealed a total of 10 overarching results chains that demonstrate how CLA practices and approaches can contribute to specific development and/or organizational outcomes.

While there are a variety of ways that CLA can be integrated into programming, the cases demonstrated a holistic approach to CLA initiatives: CLA practices were incorporated into some aspect of the Program Cycle (strategy, project, or activity design and implementation), and CLA integration was supported by enabling conditions (organizational culture, business processes, and/or resource allocation). Read the full report to learn more.