Policy and Program Design and Evaluation in Complex Situations

Overview

This course focuses on how to design interventions, whether these be policies, programs of projects in situations of high complexity where outcomes cannot be determined with certainty or where the intervention seeks an innovative outcome which, by definition, cannot be clearly defined upfront.

These situations occur both in FCVAS (Fragile, Conflict and Violence Affected Areas) as well as in development in relatively stable but complex situations where many actors are present and are linked by dynamic and constantly changing interconnections and relationships. The course is designed to be very practice oriented, but adequate theory is included to ensure that participants new to this kind of thinking can have a sound understanding of the principles in order to be ready for the practice.

Topics

• Understand the nature of VUCA (Volatile, Uncertain, Complex, Ambiguous) social and economic situations
• Appreciate the characteristics and principles of complex adaptive systems
• Design Programs in VUCA situations
• Design Policies in VUCA situation
• Evaluate programs and policies in VUCA situations

Audience

• Public servants, NGO staff, and graduate students working with complex conflicts, humanitarian relief, early recovery, or in more stable development situation, but seeking to design or evaluate innovative approaches in these contexts, will find these ideas and tools of immense practical value in their work.

Duration

12 hours

Cost

• $1095 (plus tax)

Featured Instructor

Naresh Singh, Ph.D. is currently Professor and Vice Dean of the School of Government and Public Policy and Director of the Centre for Complexity Economics, Applied Spirituality and Public Policy at the O.P Jindal Global University. He is also visiting Professor, School of International development and Global Studies, University of Ottawa. He is a former DG/Acting ADM at CIDA (Federal Government of Canada) in Policy then Partnerships as well as Principal Adviser on Poverty and Sustainable Livelihoods at UNDP, New York. Over the last 9 years as an international consultant, he has designed policies and programs as well as conducted evaluations in complex situations such as in Afghanistan, Iraq, Yemen, and in countries affected by the Syrian conflict. He has also led high evaluations for UNDP, FAO and ILO. He was visiting professor at several Universities in Canada and US and is widely published.

Sessions