| Sumario: | Evidence and Lessons from Latin America (ELLA) was established as a programme in 2009 by the UK Department for International Development (DFID) as a way to synthesise research and policy lessons from Latin America and discuss them with a global audience – as part of a responsible exit strategy from bilateral aid to the region. The DFID conception of ELLA was “extracting” lessons from LA for the rest of the world and the regional centres developed knowledge topics that were pushed out to a network that was set-up to discuss the issues.
Practical Action led this work and identified that any “knowledge push” should be matched by demand. Working with KITE in Ghana on a 2 year inception phase - consisting of online surveys, structured interviews and desk-research - topics of interest to Africa and South Asia were identified that Latin America could offer learning on. The climate change agenda was a key demand topic.
Latin American partners consisted of regional centres of expertise across three broad areas of economic (growth) learning, governance, and environmental issues. However, inside the topic areas that have been introduced, participants themselves have come together to co-construct learning through an online platform and local meetings of participants with video-conference links to Latin American interest groups, and through learning tours.
This is an example of a constructed network that was reasonably well resourced to gather and synthesise knowledge to “push” to networks of interested groups around particular topics. There is a sense here that this is more of an individual rather than network approach to learning through “knowledge transfer” – in particular when considering knowledge to implementation. However the networks are evolving. Within the constructs of the network, there are examples of group level learning occurring which stem beyond the materials pushed in to the network and there is emerging evidence that new alliances have been formed focused on South-South learning and implementation projects. What remains to be seen is whether the ELLA constructed networks or any spin off learning alliances will continue significantly after the formal end of the project – and of the funding that supports it.
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