Notes from Outcome Mapping (OM) workshop
21-25 February 2005, Lebensgarten, Germany
Attended by Enrique Mendizabal and Ben Ramalingam

The workshop was led by Sarah Earl of IDRC with support from Beatrice Briggs and Agnieszka Komoch of the International Institute for Facilitation and Consensus (IIFC).

There were around 20 participants, including representatives from Northern donors (SDC and Sida), multilaterals (ILO), a range of NGOs, civil servants from the North and South, researchers and independent consultants.

There were in fact two parallel training courses held over the week. The main one covered the Outcome Mapping (OM) methodology developed by IDRC, and was presented by Sarah Earl, one of the original developers of the approach. There were also shorter sessions on facilitation techniques that could be used to support the application of OM. These sessions were led by Beatrice Briggs, of the International Institute for Facilitation and Consensus, who are partnering with IDRC on OM training and dissemination.

In general, there was a clearly stated interest in OM as a tool to promote evaluation for learning purposes. There was also recognition that the methods and tools needed to be adapted to specific conditions. Concerns focused on the compatibility of OM with other approaches; specifically, results-based approaches and log-frame analysis which were seen to be geared towards evaluation for accountability purposes.

The links below provide more information:

• What is Outcome Mapping?
• When can I use Outcome Mapping?
• What are the components of Outcome Mapping, and how do I work through them?
• What does Outcome Mapping aim to measure?
• What useful examples are there of using Outcome Mapping?
• Is Outcome Mapping compatible with the LogFrame?
• What can be done to convince disbelievers of the value of Outcome Mapping?
• What did the participants think?
• What useful contacts were made?
• Useful Resources and Links

For further information contact Ben Ramalingam or Enrique Mendizabal