Theory of Change and the logframe

Theory of Change (ToC) is an approach that tries to capture the complexity of societal change in a given context. Based on a thorough analysis if this context and the different parties that (could) influence the desired change - both positively and negatively - the Theory of Change can help an organisation to identify its own role and contribution to a higher and shared goal. As an organisation, you will be able to see the Pathway of Change: the things you can do to contribute positively to change, their relative importance and the order in which to do them. It will help you decide on what type of interventions you can do or shouldn't do. And it will help you to surface the assumptions that you as an organisation and as individuals implicitly made about the environment you work in, the change that you seek and the ways that you do it.

For some organisations, Theory of Change is an exercise that helps them to develop their strategic framework. This framework allows them to elaborate their interventions into concrete projects using logical framework methods. Others use ToC to design and manage the projects, replacing logframe approaches by ToC. In other cases, ToC is used retrospectively during evaluations of the impact of interventions, when baseline data of indicators is not available for instance.

In this series we'll have a closer look at the Theory of Change: what is it, what is its place in your organisation's strategic and operational decision making and does it really replace logical framework approaches?

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