Theories of change: A resource list
24 May 2011
Research to Action has developed a list of resources for researchers and organizations looking to develop a ‘theory of change’ for their work. The page is worth visiting for capacity development practitioners as many of the resources provide practical guidance on how to fit the different theoretical frameworks to a variety of practice contexts.
The following are among resources listed on the website that have a capacity development focus.
Theory of Change guide
: a guide to developing a theory of change as a framework for inclusive dialogue, learning and
accountability for social impact; and
Theory of Change template
: an interactive PDF template that allows you to input information directly into it to build
your theory of change (both developed by Keystone).
A
‘Systemic Theories of Change’ Approach for Purposeful Capacity Development
. This article by
Alfredo Ortiz Aragón and
Juan Carlos Giles Macedo introduces ‘systemic theories of change’ (STOC), for
organisational capacity development. It argues that capacity development should be understood as
systemic learning. The STOC approach promotes reflection on how individuals, organisations, and
broader social groups and societal configurations, understand how change occurs. This makes it
possible to build improved strategic and methodological clarity about how we might continually
develop the capacities to contribute more effectively to emergent, social change in highly complex
environments.
A Three-fold Theory of Social Change and Implications for Practice, Planning, Monitoring
and Evaluation
by
Doug Reeler of
CDRA. This paper lays out some very interesting theories of how social change
happens.
Capacity
Development, Institutional Change and Theory of Change: What do we mean and where are the
linkages
. This paper gives a good introduction to 3 major themes, Capacity Development,
Institutional Change and Theories of Change.
A
Case for Surfacing Theories of Change for Purposeful Organisational Capacity Development.
This article by
Alfredo Ortiz Aragón argues that the capacities that different organizations value
are conditioned by a mix of individual, organizational and societal worldviews, including deeply
held assumptions on the nature of change and one’s roles in affecting change. It posits that the
processes SCOs use to attempt to intentionally ‘build’ their capacities should surface these
worldviews in order to find more purposeful and systemic relationships between its internal
processes, systems and capacities and the complex change that an organization seeks to
support.
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