Managing for Sustainable Development Impact
M4SDI is an integrated, results-oriented management approach, which can be used across a range of sectors and domains in a variety of contexts, and aims to contribute towards the Sustainable Development Goals.
It seeks to integrate ideas and practices from a range of approaches and methodologies for planning, monitoring and evaluation, using appropriate methods or tools that engage people in a process of learning and adaptation. It is specifically aimed at strengthening the readiness of leaders, decision-makers and development practitioners to effectively manage their initiatives/organizations in complex settings.
M4SDI belongs to a special niche of management approaches, providing relevant perspectives on what makes for effective management for those directly involved in managing initiatives/organizations and wider groups of stakeholders.
Many of the people trained in M4SDI have become believers and practitioners of the approach because it addresses several of the most serious concerns in development, such as the difficulty in reaching primary stakeholders, designing effective strategies and related monitoring and evaluation (M&E), focusing on capacity development and change management, and achieving sustainable development impact.
The strength of M4SDI lies in its people-centred approach and how it seeks to integrate management processes within a complex environment.
Wageningen Centre for Development Innovation
Wageningen Centre for Development Innovation (WCDI) uses its M4SDI approach across a range of sectors and domains in a variety of food system related contexts, contributing to the Sustainable Development Goals.
Our approach helps address some of the most complex developmental issues by taking a systems perspective in understanding and responding to a changing context. This requires engaging stakeholders in learning processes, designing effective strategies and related monitoring and evaluation (M&E) processes, and focusing on capacity development.
An integrated approach and service
We promote an integrated approach to planning and M&E processes in order to have a more sustainable impact. This involves ensuring that people are engaged in those processes via learning and adaptive management.
WCDI assists clients and partners in establishing better strategic planning and M&E processes which inform decisions for change in a complex context. This involves the active engagement of relevant staff and stakeholders. We offer support to many organisations, programmes and projects in developing theories of change. These lead to:
- the development of M&E policies, plans and related learning agendas;
- better ways of thinking through data collection methods and analyses;
- support for sense-making and decision-making processes.
- strengthened staff and organisational M&E capacity
Wageningen Centre for Development Innovation also carries out external (impact) evaluations for a range of clients to find the robust evidence and useful information needed for informed decision making. We encourage engagement among staff and stakeholders in the evaluations to make them utilisation-focused.
This is achieved based upon the rich experience within Wageningen University & Research in both theory and practice, combined with our close contacts with international evaluation experts and with a solid background in a range of methodologies fit for various evaluation purposes.
M4SDI 