Guest blog written by Nikhilesh Hari, Poona Verma, Sadashiv N., Vijay Siddharth Pillai This is a team of four development practitioners working for the PMRDF in India and an M.Phil student in the UK. They successfully completed the 15-week Practice of PDIA online course that ended in May 2019. This is their story. We began the course…Continue Reading Lack of Student Engagement in Bastar District, India
When is the next PDIA course?
written by Salimah Samji Over the past several weeks, the most frequently asked question has been, “when is the next PDIA course?” In the past 4 years, from November 2015 to June 2019, we have offered 11 online courses and trained 1,264 development practitioners in 87 countries! Our flagship PDIA online course has been an…Continue Reading When is the next PDIA course?
The Thrills and Bliss of Working on PPPs in Nigeria
Guest blog written by Alinnor Doris Chibumma, Daniel Ayako Filibus, Emmanuel Philip Chorio, Mohammed Barma Adam, Patrick Egie Ederaro, Felix. O. Ogbera. This is a team of six development practitioners working for the Infrastructure Concession Regulatory Commission (ICRC) in Nigeria. They successfully completed the 15-week Practice of PDIA online course that ended in May 2019. This…Continue Reading The Thrills and Bliss of Working on PPPs in Nigeria
Deconstructing ‘PDIA’ a Catchy Acronym in Development

Guest Blog by Lucy Peace Nantume, Robinah K Manoba, Maurice Olupot, Rebecca Kukundakwe. This is a team of four development practitioners working for the Democratic Governance Facility (DGF) in Uganda. They successfully completed the 15-week Practice of PDIA online course that ended in May 2019. This is their story. As employees of a donor agency aimed at building…Continue Reading Deconstructing ‘PDIA’ a Catchy Acronym in Development
The Mozambique School Lunch Initiative

Guest blog written by Cara Myers It was March of 2016 and the rains had completely failed for a second year in southern Mozambique. Farming families had no crops. Children were missing school to dig up river roots to eat. Teachers were sending students home because they were “too hungry to learn anything.” Even in…Continue Reading The Mozambique School Lunch Initiative
The problem with ‘best practice’: using PDIA to find solutions for Indonesian education

Guest blog by Mark Heyward Much is made these days of doing development differently, of adaptive programming, and thinking and working politically. Devpolicy Blog featured a series of articles on this topic in September 2018. But do these approaches work? One program that has embraced adaptive programming is Innovation for Indonesia’s School Children (INOVASI). The…Continue Reading The problem with ‘best practice’: using PDIA to find solutions for Indonesian education
Developing Country Education Systems that Learn
written by Lant Pritchett Change is hard. It is hard for individuals. It is extra hard for organizations. Change is especially hard for organizations when they have been successful. Organizations often develop strategies, norms, and practices that are tailored to produce success in a particular activity or context. When those strategies are successful, organizations have…Continue Reading Developing Country Education Systems that Learn
Disaster Risk Management in Tanzania
Guest blog written by Ignatus Jacob Matofali, Shamim Ahmed Zakaria, Catherine Peter Marimbo, Nyambiri Kimacha. This is a team of four development practitioners working for the Prime Minister’s Office, OPML, and the World Bank in Tanzania. They successfully completed the 15-week Practice of PDIA online course that ended in May 2019. This is their story. Development…Continue Reading Disaster Risk Management in Tanzania
Premature load bearing: a fresh look at the WDR 2011
Guest blog written by Paul von Chamier In 2011 the World Development Report shed some light on the extent of the challenges that drive premature load bearing, a concept discussed in earlier BSC blog posts. Among hundreds of figures presented in the Report was a simple table that showed how long it should take for…Continue Reading Premature load bearing: a fresh look at the WDR 2011
Youth Unemployment in Nepal
Guest blog written by Raunak Thapa, Sayujya Sharma, Shraddha Gautam, Srizu Bajracharya, Natasha Kafle, Sameer S.J.B. Rana This is a team of six development practitioners working for an NGO in Nepal called Daayitwa. They successfully completed the 15-week Practice of PDIA online course that ended in May 2019. This is their story. We first came…Continue Reading Youth Unemployment in Nepal