Sorry, you need to enable JavaScript to visit this website.
Search Hamburger menu
Search

Popular Searches

Search Expertise

Search Services

Search Content

Podcast Series: Systems Practice in International Development

UKAID Logo
UKAID Logo
PMEL logo
PMEL logo

Click on a link below to listen to the following episodes on Apple and Spotify:

 

Welcome to Our Podcast Series!

A practical account of system practices in international development. Deceptively simple or surprisingly complex?

The podcast series Systems Practice in International Development is produced by the Portfolio MEL (PMEL) programme in Nepal, funded by the British Embassy Kathmandu and implemented by Abt Global Britain. Please note that the views expressed through this podcast reflect those of the hosts and guests only.

Through this podcast, Abt’s hosts Alexandra Nastase and Ankeeta Shreshta talk about systems practice through an action-oriented lens to see what has and has not worked in practice. The episodes debunk complexities around systems thinking, portfolio approaches, adaptive management, PEA in action and evidence use for impact. In short, some of the deceptively simple or surprisingly complex approaches used today in international development.

See links to individual podcast episodes below. You can also subscribe to the podcast newsletter: https://www.linkedin.com/newsletters/systems-practice-in-global-dev-7265023548367290370/

YOUR HOSTS

  • Alexandra Nastase is the Lead Technical Director for Abt Global Britain and the Programme Director for the FCDO-funded Portfolio Monitoring Evaluation and Learning (PMEL) programme in Nepal.
  • Ankeeta Shrestha is the Deputy Team Lead for the FCDO-funded PMEL programme implemented by Abt Global in Nepal.

Listen to the Latest Episode

Episode: From Learning to Adaptation: Lessons Learned from Adaptive Programming and Use of Strategy Testing. A conversation with the Asia Foundation (Part 2 of 2)

In this episode, the second of a two-part podcast, we zoom into the practical experiences in adaptive programming. We discuss learning from failure to the type of teams required to deliver this work, the use of evidence for decision-making and adaptation, and addressing the most important currency in this type of work – trust.

Listen to the episode here:

This Episode’s Guests:

  • Nicola Nixon is the Senior Director of Governance at The Asia Foundation (TAF). She specialises in inclusive and participatory governance, and has over 25 years of practical and research experience in Eastern Europe and South and Southeast Asia. She has worked with universities, private foundations, donor and United Nations agencies, and non-government organizations (NGOs). Nicola has published widely and has presented research to government, development, and academic audiences in numerous international forums, often looking at the politics and practices of international development cooperation. In her current role, she supports TAF programs across the Asia Pacific in areas such as subnational governance, public-sector reform, knowledge-to-policy, civil society strengthening, and law and justice. Nicola has a PhD in History and Social Theory from the University of Melbourne.
  • Gopa Kumar Thampi is a Senior Governance Advisor at The Asia Foundation in Sri Lanka. Over his career, he has worked across 25 countries in Africa, Central Asia, East Asia, South Asia, West Asia, and Eastern Europe, collaborating with development partners, state institutions, public agencies, and civil society organizations to address governance reforms, public accountability, and capacity building. He played a key role in establishing the Global and South Asia hubs of the Affiliated Network for Social Accountability (ANSA) based at BRAC University in Dhaka, where he managed both hubs from 2009 to 2011. Currently, Gopa co-chairs the Steering Committee of the World Bank’s Global Partnership for Social Accountability (GPSA), fostering collaboration between civil society and governments to address critical governance challenges. Gopa is a Visiting Fellow at the Centre for Peace and Justice at BRAC University, Bangladesh, and serves on the Advisory Board of ARUTHA, a Colombo-based policy think tank focused on economic research, public debt, and taxation. Gopa holds a doctorate in Entrepreneurial Studies from the University of Kerala, India, along with postgraduate qualifications in Economics and Journalism & Mass Communication.

Previous Episodes

Episode: From Learning to Adaptation: Lessons Learned from Adaptive Programming and Use of Strategy Testing. A conversation with the Asia Foundation (Part 1 of 2)

In this episode, the first of a two-part podcast, we discuss the state of adaptive programming in our sector today, TAF’s newly launched strategy testing workshops and the lessons learned from 10 years of implementing adaptive programming across geographies and technical sectors.

Listen to the episode here:

This Episode’s Guests:

  • Nicola Nixon is the Senior Director of Governance at The Asia Foundation (TAF). She specialises in inclusive and participatory governance, and has over 25 years of practical and research experience in Eastern Europe and South and Southeast Asia. She has worked with universities, private foundations, donor and United Nations agencies, and non-government organizations (NGOs). Nicola has published widely and has presented research to government, development, and academic audiences in numerous international forums, often looking at the politics and practices of international development cooperation. In her current role, she supports TAF programs across the Asia Pacific in areas such as subnational governance, public-sector reform, knowledge-to-policy, civil society strengthening, and law and justice. Nicola has a PhD in History and Social Theory from the University of Melbourne.
  • Gopa Kumar Thampi is a Senior Governance Advisor at The Asia Foundation in Sri Lanka. Over his career, he has worked across 25 countries in Africa, Central Asia, East Asia, South Asia, West Asia, and Eastern Europe, collaborating with development partners, state institutions, public agencies, and civil society organizations to address governance reforms, public accountability, and capacity building. He played a key role in establishing the Global and South Asia hubs of the Affiliated Network for Social Accountability (ANSA) based at BRAC University in Dhaka, where he managed both hubs from 2009 to 2011. Currently, Gopa co-chairs the Steering Committee of the World Bank’s Global Partnership for Social Accountability (GPSA), fostering collaboration between civil society and governments to address critical governance challenges. Gopa is a Visiting Fellow at the Centre for Peace and Justice at BRAC University, Bangladesh, and serves on the Advisory Board of ARUTHA, a Colombo-based policy think tank focused on economic research, public debt, and taxation. Gopa holds a doctorate in Entrepreneurial Studies from the University of Kerala, India, along with postgraduate qualifications in Economics and Journalism & Mass Communication.

Episode: From Projects to Portfolios: How FCDO is Shaping Collective Learning and Coherence (Part 1 of 2)

In this episode, the first of a two-part podcast, we delve into the merits and challenges of a portfolio approach as well as explore the pre-requisites for becoming a learning organization and, at the end, we’ll bust a few myths around evidence-informed learning and decision-making.

Listen to the episode here: 

This Episode’s Guests:

  • Craig Irwin is the Data, Evidence and Learning Lead for the British High Commission, Nigeria. Dr. Irwin has dedicated over 15 years to advancing the use of statistics, data, and evidence for the UK government with experience ranging from Defra, UK Department of Health, Department for International Development (DFID) Bangladesh, and FCDO Nepal. He was pivotal in shaping the innovative Portfolio Monitoring Evaluation and Learning (PMEL) programme in Nepal in its initial years and now serves as the lead for the British High Commission in Nigeria.
  • Dr. Federica Di Battista is the Evidence and Knowledge Team Leader at British Embassy Kathmandu and the FCDO. After obtaining her PhD in economics from the University of Rome ‘Tor Vergata,’ Federica worked on research projects at the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations and poverty estimation at the World Bank. She joined Innovations for Poverty Action as research manager for a portfolio of impact evaluation projects focusing on rural and agricultural development in Ghana. From 2018 she joined the FCDO as evaluation expert for the evaluation unit first and then for the Middle East and North Africa regional department. She is currently the evidence and Knowledge team leader at the British Embassy Kathmandu and the FCDO.

Episode: From Projects to Portfolios: How FCDO is Shaping Collective Learning and Coherence (Part 2 of 2)

This episode is a continuation of our conversation with Dr. Craig Irwin and Dr. Federica Di Battista. In this episode, the second of a two-part podcast, we explore how to work at the portfolio level beyond ODA, how to support a learning culture, and the role of external facilitators in systems practice.

Listen to the episode here:

This Episode’s Guests:

  • Craig Irwin is the Data, Evidence and Learning Lead for the British High Commission, Nigeria. Dr. Irwin has dedicated over 15 years to advancing the use of statistics, data, and evidence for the UK government with experience ranging from Defra, UK Department of Health, Department for International Development (DFID) Bangladesh, and FCDO Nepal. He was pivotal in shaping the innovative Portfolio Monitoring Evaluation and Learning (PMEL) programme in Nepal in its initial years and now serves as the lead for the British High Commission in Nigeria.
  • Dr. Federica Di Battista is the Evidence and Knowledge Team Leader at British Embassy Kathmandu and the FCDO. After obtaining her PhD in economics from the University of Rome ‘Tor Vergata,’ Federica worked on research projects at the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations and poverty estimation at the World Bank. She joined Innovations for Poverty Action as research manager for a portfolio of impact evaluation projects focusing on rural and agricultural development in Ghana. From 2018 she joined the FCDO as evaluation expert for the evaluation unit first and then for the Middle East and North Africa regional department. She is currently the evidence and Knowledge team leader at the British Embassy Kathmandu and the FCDO.