Evidence & BEYOND is an Africa-rooted thought and technical partner bridging research, policy and practice. We work alongside organisations to design, strengthen, evaluate, and scale solutions that are grounded in evidence and make sense where they will be used.
An answer can be well supported by research and still be unsuited to the setting in which it is used. Priorities compete, resources differ, and existing systems, implementation experience, and the people closest to the issue can reveal possibilities or constraints that research alone may not capture.
Each source of knowledge contributes something different. Research Evidence helps us understand what is already known and what has been shown to work. Practice-Based Knowledge brings the lessons, judgement, and practical insight of people who design and deliver the work. Lived and Contextual Knowledge helps us understand how the issue is experienced, what matters to people, and the realities of the setting in which a solution must work.
What research and data tell us.
What implementation and experience have taught us.
What people closest to the issue know about their realities.
We bring these different forms of knowledge together throughout our five-stage approach, using them to understand the challenge, make informed choices, design with the people involved, test and strengthen solutions, and build the capability and ownership needed to carry the work forward.
Organisations come to us at different points. Some are trying to make sense of a fragmented evidence base. Others understand what the evidence suggests but need to determine how to apply it. Some are learning as they implement and need to strengthen or adapt their approach. Others are deciding whether a promising programme is ready to expand or scale.
Wherever you enter the process, Evidence & BEYOND works alongside you to clarify the decision at hand and determine what is needed to move forward. That could mean strengthening or adapting a programme or strategy, using emerging learning to improve implementation, or making an informed decision about expansion or scale.
The support needed may draw on one or several of our four interconnected service areas.
Organisations come to us at different points. You may be trying to make sense of fragmented evidence, determine how to apply what is already known, strengthen work that is underway or decide whether a promising programme is ready to expand or scale.
Wherever you enter the process, we help you clarify the decision in front of you and shape the combination of support needed to move it forward.
Generate and strengthen the evidence that informs the decision.
Turn evidence and learning into practical, context-driven solutions.
Strengthen the people, organisations and systems carrying the work forward.
Put evidence and learning to work in policy, practice, and decision-making.
We bring specialist depth in five areas that often intersect across the lives, organisations and systems our partners are working to strengthen.
Research evidence helps us understand what is already known and what has been shown to work. But deciding what makes sense in a particular setting also requires the knowledge gained through implementation and the perspectives of people closest to the issue.
What research and data tell us.
What implementation and experience have taught us.
What people closest to the issue know about their realities.
We bring these different forms of knowledge together to build a fuller understanding of the challenge and a stronger basis for deciding what should happen next.
We begin by listening to understand the question, the context, the people involved and what is already known. We then bring research evidence, practice-based knowledge and lived and contextual knowledge together to build a shared understanding of the challenge.
That shared understanding guides the solutions we design, how we test and strengthen them, and how we embed and carry forward learning. As new evidence and learning emerge, we may revisit an assumption, deepen our understanding or strengthen an earlier decision.
Understand partner priorities, programmes, context and needs.
Bring together research, practice-based knowledge and lived experience.
Co-design with those who will implement, use and experience the programme.
Use implementation learning to test assumptions and improve the design.
Embed learning, strengthen partner capability and support adaptation and scale.
We bring specialist depth in five areas that often intersect across the lives, organisations and systems our partners are working to strengthen.
Here are three examples of our approach in practice: working alongside partners to understand complex challenges, shape and strengthen solutions, build capability, and turn learning into action across different contexts.
In partnership with the Kenya Conference of Catholic Bishops (KCCB)
We strengthened the capacity of KCCB and diocesan teams and worked alongside them to co-create a multilevel, faith-aligned school violence prevention programme. The programme is now being piloted and evaluated, with learning used to refine the model and prepare it for wider implementation.
In partnership with LVCT Health and the Directorate of Children’s Services, Government of Kenya
Evidence & BEYOND provided technical leadership for a national qualitative study exploring what contributed to changes in children’s experiences of violence between 2010 and 2019. The findings informed the revision of Kenya’s National Response Plan for the prevention of violence against children.
With Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ), through the Partnership for Prevention and the Southern African Development Community (SADC)
We supported the development of a contextualised regional GBV Prevention Handbook and helped translate it into practice through webinars, virtual learning and an in-person workshop for trainers and policymakers across SADC Member States.
We work with organisations across Africa, Asia and beyond, supporting work at national, regional and global levels. Our experience across diverse settings helps us ask better questions, recognise what changes with context, and work alongside partners to shape programmes, policies, and strategies that are relevant and workable in practice.
