Challenges and key success factors to integrating learning and change in monitoring and evaluation of development projects.

Resumen

This paper addresses the challenges and key success factors of integrating learning and change in monitoring and evaluation of development projects, based on an action-research study carried out within an Urban Agriculture project in Cuba. The main challenge found was that the project team did not recognise M&E as learning tool. Instead, they tended to believe that the results could be used against their work: M&E was deemed as opening room for criticism to their performance, putting their knowledge and status were at stake. Another challenge observed was the lack of time for learning and knowledge sharing. Thus, additional time to reflect and learn from the experience was initially not well received. In order to tackle these challenges a learning process was launched among project team members, from which key success factors were identified. Resistance was addressed through dialogue, reflection and action, which led also to the empowerment of the team as a whole. Once the team members understood the causes of their fears, they were able to confront them proactively. Further, the role of an external facilitator, in charge of opening space for reciprocal feedback and the synchronisation of communication rhythms among participants, proved to be a key aspect to steering the learning process.