Developing a Theory of Change: Workshop Guidance Notes

Who would find this resource useful?

ToC locates a project/programme within a broader ‘bigger picture’ analysis of how development happens, acknowledges that change is complex and rarely, if ever, linear and considers all the factors necessary for it to come about.

An organisation would use this resource when…

ToC is a starting point used to support programmatic and organisational learning and adaptation processes.

How can this resource help?

It is an ongoing process of reflection and a framework through which we continually explore the change(s) happening, whether it is actually happening as we thought and why, and what this means for the role we are playing and difference we are making in that context.

The paper also suggests four key principles of a ToC approach: 1. focus on process, 2. prioritise learning, 3. be locally led, and 4. ‘think compass, not map’. As a fifth, we would add 5. ‘be political’