Our Expertise: Knowledge and Learning

Building the capacities of staff and partners to effectively share what they know, to learn together and to arrive at creative and relevant solutions is crucial to the success of our development work. By leveraging this core asset of people’s knowledge and commitment, Helvetas supports context-specific, sustainable development.

Why knowledge and learning matter

Development depends on the behavior of a wide range of actors who influence each other in a variety of ways. This leads to results which cannot be fully predicted or controlled. Under such circumstances, we need to effectively learn and innovate on an ongoing basis.

What we do

Through participatory approaches to learning and innovation, we can bring local and external knowledge together. This results in a richer appreciation of the contexts in which Helvetas works and the ways in which we – together with our partners – can improve our work.

We do this by creating and supporting opportunities for collective reflection on existing knowledge and experience, by producing outputs to support further learning, and by taking innovative action based on this learning.

Helvetas is committed to working in ways that foster collaboration, respect diversity, and promote state-of-the-art development practice. We build and develop such capacities at individual, team and organization/network levels – through knowledge sharing, innovative online and face-to-face approaches to facilitation, the tailoring of participatory tools and methods for context-specific needs, and thematic advice.

Tanzania Empowerment Woman GSE Training meeting © Helvetas / Christian Bobst

What we offer

Long-standing experience in Knowledge Management for Development
Support in developing and implementing Knowledge Management strategies to strengthen effective use of knowledge
Facilitation of deep collaboration through participatory processes in both online and face-to-face contexts
Training and capacity development in Project Cycle Management (PCM) to manage quality and increase the impact
Design and coaching for Monitoring & Evaluation: monitoring systems and plans; reporting; peer reviews; evaluations; impact assessments; capitalization of experience
Enabling capture of real-time experiences through Social Reporting / Multimedia Reporting (participatory or collaborative reporting)
Strengthening networks and projects through development, facilitation and coaching for e-Collaboration and web platforms
Maximizing competence development through blended learning approaches e.g. digital and face-to-face training, webinars, live streaming, coaching for staff and partners of Helvetas as well as for other organizations, projects and networks

Meet the team

Our multilingual advisory team offers wide-ranging thematic expertise and has in-depth experience in navigating complex processes. Helvetas’ work builds on over 60 years of experience in more than 30 countries.

Contact our knowledge and learning experts

Head Knowledge & Learning

Riff Fullan, MA, DPhil

riff.fullan@helvetas.org

Profile

Advisor Knowledge & Learning

Cesar Robles, BA

cesar.robles@helvetas.org

Profile

Senior Advisor Evaluation & Learning

Kai Schrader, MSc, PhD

kai.schrader@helvetas.org

Profile

Advisor Network Knowledge & Learning

Franz Thiel, MA

franz.thiel@helvetas.org

Profile

Selected projects

Helvetas develops and accompanies projects. To be sustainable, they must be locally embedded. We support our partners in effectively organizing projects and processes and consult local authorities to better assume their responsibilities.