The module will focus on what can we learn from the experience of scaling up in different institutional settings. Scaling up is key to improve development effectiveness all over the world yet it is difficult to achieve. This is an important issue for Governments, the private sector, NGOs and the Donor Community. And each of these organizations has different ways to go about it. We will start by presenting an analytic framework for understanding scaling up and the reasons why this is important. Throughout the 12 classes we will discuss specific cases of scaling up by the private sector, the government, international agencies, social entrepreneurs and grassroots organizations. We will place especial emphasis on how learning and adaptation can be incorporated into a scaling process, as a key element of both design and engagement with system change. We will then draw the lessons from these examples, including cross cutting issues they have in common and what they mean for service delivery and development effectiveness. This will include when and how to use different tools, including, systems mapping and diagnosis, use of design thinking, development of theories of change, business plan development and the range of tools involved in an adaptive evaluation. Students will be asked to choose a scaling up challenge and work on it throughout the course, applying the lessons from the different cases which are presented, culminating in a specific, structured proposal.
