Workshop: Bridging the Gap: Designing and Implementing Outcome-Driven Development Projects. A hands-on field course designed specially for headquarters’ staff of donor and NGO organizations.

Bridging the Gap
Donor and NGO staff are invited to participate in a workshop in Guatemala where they will combine theory with practice by working in the field designing and implementing a development project. You will develop a range of skills, including how to facilitate participatory needs assessments, implement impact evaluations, and how to design and execute outcome-driven projects. Working side-by-side with villagers in the true context of a rural development project, you will experience firsthand real-life needs of community members and the varied challenges faced by implementing NGOs.

What you will do:
Learn how to increase the impact of projects that you fund or implement in developing nations
Practice participatory techniques for identifying community need
Discover the importance of including impact evaluation plans into project planning
Bridge gaps in communication between actors in the development chain
Understand how knowledge can be transferred appropriately between stakeholders
Improve project effectiveness by utilizing evidence-based best practices garnered from impact evaluations
Design and initiate a community-centered, sustainable development project

Bridging the Gap will allow you the opportunity to design and implement a community-centered project from the ground up in an actual development context: a remote mountain village. We will work with community members assessing need and developing a project strategy. Your project design will incorporate evidence-based best practices, and include a series of community workshops. Participants will receive copies of the background materials, activities, handouts and exercises.

This hands-on field experience will expand understanding for staff from headquarters about the complexity of rural development in a way that will allow them to make better mission-driven project decisions for increasing the impact of their programs. Workshop modules include:

1. Overview of community centered, impact oriented rural development
2. Conducting a Participatory Needs Assessment
3. Project design Phase I: Designing a community centered, impact driven project using evidence-based best practices
4. Presenting the community-centered project concept to the community
5. Project design Phase II: Designing a list of workshops and activities for the project: where to get ideas
6. Writing the lesson plan for the first workshop in the series and developing the workshop materials
7. Presenting the first workshop to the community
8. Snapshots of: grant proposals and project design/project execution; impact evaluation and randomized control trials
9. A review of the week’s work and assessing the impact and sustainability of the project

Participant Profile
This workshop was specially designed for the staff of donor and NGO organizations who would like to learn more about what their project investments are capable of accomplishing on the ground and experience what it is like to work hands-on in the field. The workshop is also open to all individuals with an interest in rural development. You need not have a strong background in M&E as the course will focus less on theory and more on incorporating a plan within a community. Similarly, you need not have field experience, just a willingness to participate, learn, and have a lot of fun. This is an opportunity to get out of your office and into the field to see what your implementing organizations do.

Time Frame and Venue
Duration of the workshop will be 8 days, excluding travel time to and from Guatemala. The training will alternate between paradise – a beautiful tropical farm – and a remote mountain village in southern Guatemala – both on the flanks of 11,670 ft. Volcán Atitlán. The workshop will be conducted in English; interpreters will be used for clear communication with the community members.

Costs
Participants are responsible for travel costs to and from Guatemala. The cost of the course is $1,800.00 which includes 9 nights’ accommodation, 8 days’ ground transportation, meals (one exception) and training materials. See application for full details.

Contact Us for Further Information
The workshop will be facilitated by Tim Magee who has over 30 years experience in both working with nonprofits and leading training workshops.

The workshop syllabus can be downloaded here. The website for the Center for Sustainable Development is available here.

For more information please contact the Center.

202-657-4760  Washington, DC
909-532-5135   Los Angeles
011-502-5411-4978 Guatemala