The Water Policy Programme aims to maintain a flexible approach in our work: we are involved directly in research, but also support capacity building to carry out research. We help donor agencies develop new approaches, for example in livelihoods analysis and political economy approaches, but also help them in the application of approaches on the ground. The common strand is an emphasis on high quality, independent analysis and academic rigour. 

Evaluation, training, and advisory services
In addition to applied research and policy advice, the WPP also offers a consultancy service that includes monitoring and evaluation, the development and delivery of tailored training courses, and communications and knowledge management. Our experience in many countries and settings has brought an in-depth understanding of water sector policy and practices.

Evaluations
WPP conducts evaluations of specific water, sanitation and environment programmes as well as reviews of sector processes and financing approaches. Recent examples include evaluations of:

• Sector-wide approach for the environment in Colombia, for Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Netherlands
• UK Environment Agency’s International Programme
• Aid effectiveness in the water sector in Bangladesh, Ethiopia and Uganda, for DFID
• The Water Demand Management Initiative for the Middle East and North Africa (WaDImena), for the International Development Research Centre

Training and advisory services
WPP offers tailor-made training sessions on a range of water, sanitation and environment themes. These have included:

• Sanitation policymaking, for the Water Supply and Sanitation Collaborative Council. Please contact Peter Newborne p.newborne@odi.org.uk for more information
• Participatory training on qualitative research methods for assessing the planning and implementation of rainwater management approaches in Ethiopia, in conjunction with ILRI and IWMI, and a follow-up workshop on critical analysis of qualitative data under the Challenge Programme on Water and Food - Nile Basin Development Challenge project. Please contact Josephine Tucker j.tucker@odi.org.uk for more information
• Research design, for study on irrigation and household income. Please contact Josephine Tucker j.tucker@odi.org.uk for more information
• Research methodology workshop to students - Climate Champion Expedition in China. Please contact Michelle Kooy m.kooy@odi.org.uk for more information
• Development of a research framework on Adaptive Capacity, the Local Adaptive Capacity framework (LAC) and guiding questions on behalf of ACCRA. The framework is currently being used in field research in Ethiopia, Mozambique and Uganda. We provided training to researchers on the framework, the underlying hypotheses, and the guiding questions, and modified them to suite specific research contexts. A detailed research protocol, including questionnaires tailored to specific stakeholders and a suite of participatory assessment tools such as community walks, seasonal calendars and hazard rankings was developed with support of ACCRA researchers. Please contact Eva Ludi e.ludi@odi.org.uk for more information
• A seminar on linking research and policy for students of the MSc Water Science, Policy and Management at Oxford University, discussing strategies for achieving policy influence through research, including demand-led research, the role of learning platforms, stakeholder analysis and research communication and uptake strategies, illustrated with examples from WPP’s portfolio. Please contact Josephine Tucker j.tucker@odi.org.uk for more information
• Website development and web content user training for Hararghe Catholic Secretariat (Ethiopia), ODI’s consortium partner in the RiPPLE project. Please contact Anu Liisanantti a.liisanantti@odi.org.uk for more information