Welcome to the Interconnect Consulting blog! This is the place where we share our experiences, insights and ideas.
To kick this off, it seemed appropriate that the first post would introduce some of the background and thinking that underpins the work we do at Interconnect.
A dedicated consultancy focused on leveraging evidence for resilient livelihoods and inclusive social change.
Having spent the last 15 years in various roles in the rural development space in various parts of East Africa, South Asia and Southeast Asia, I felt the time had come to set up a consultancy firm to focus on strategy, MEL and Knowledge Management for resilient livelihoods and inclusive social change.
Complexity and socio-ecological systems
This work takes complexity as a point of departure for understanding the context of interventions and the way that interventions and context interact to produce secondary changes. In many cases, especially for multi-sector, multi-stakeholder interventions, complexity also characterises design and management of the interventions. Complexity raises a specific set of challenges characterised by uncertainty, knowledge gaps, dynamism and emergence.
It also takes, as a point of departure, the fact that social systems, are intertwined with (depend upon, impact upon, are affected by) ecological systems. In the current era of climate change, degraded natural resources and the increasing incidence and intensity of various shocks and stresses (economic, political, conflict-related), our dominant social systems are transforming the ecological systems on which they depend, largely for the worse. While ecosystems display adaptive characteristics, the nature and pattern of development introduces new risks and undermines this capacity. Social change – and specifically changes in the way livelihoods are organised – must, therefore, take ecosystems into consideration.
Social systems themselves, are made up of a wide range of interdependent actors, and are themselves part of an ecosystem. Addressing social change means engaging with the dynamics between ecosystems, infrastructure (buildings, transportation, energy, etc.) and institutions (governments, markets, communities, legal systems, norms/values, etc.). Unfortunately, existing institutions are undermining the ecological base and infrastructure is unable to equitably and sustainably serve the needs of all people. Established visions of development are left wanting.
Evidence presented by the IPCC on the impact of climate change, at the very least, reveals that significant instability can be expected in food production, market dynamics, conflict, etc. Vulnerability to shocks and stresses is unequally distributed across different sections of society in a manner that has distinct geographic, cultural and economic patterns. If livelihoods are to provide the means to secure the necessities of a dignified existence, then livelihoods must be resilient in the face of factors that may disrupt them. This requires creating solutions that are resistant to shocks and stresses, that are adaptive and that integrate institutions, infrastructure and ecosystems.
At the same time, the ability to secure to resilient livelihoods (i.e. livelihoods that can withstand shocks and stresses and that do not undermine ecosystem health) is very unevenly distributed. From ethnic or religious differences to those of gender, geographic location, sexuality and ability, patterns of exclusion are the bases of structured violence, from military conflict to harassment, discrimination and exclusion. All of these impact significantly on the ability of those who are affected to secure resilient livelihoods or indeed to survive, often with broader negative consequences (such as increased conflict and resource depletion). Combining the creation of resilient livelihoods with inclusive social change processes can thus help to orient development initiatives.
For a variety of reasons – logistical, political, cultural, financial and organisational amongst others – the kind of holistic approach outlined above, remains a challenge. Fragmentation and duplication are widespread. Many initiatives and interventions operate in isolation or even contain their own internal silos. Essential connections and exchanges between actors, technologies, resources, policies and services are often missed, despite the best intentions. This results in unsatisfactory performance and often means that interventions are not sustainable.
Where knowledge and evidence fits in
Knowledge and evidence have a central role to play in catalysing positive change at local, national and regional levels. Despite various requirements for accountability and even efforts to promote learning, capacities, tools, systems and mechanisms for generating and using evidence to inform responsive and adaptive change initiatives remain weak. Traditional approaches to M&E, for example, prioritise accountability rather than learning and organisational policies and systems often present obstacles to adaptive management, multi-stakeholder coordination and evidence-based policy engagement.
Interconnect Consulting aims to support groups and organisations to connect the dots between resilient livelihoods and inclusive change by supporting strategy, design and innovation processes, developing MEL and Knowledge Management systems and strengthening capacities of individuals, organisations and networks to generate and leverage actionable evidence.