Evidence and Learning Community of Practice – The Practices and Challenges of Measuring Systems Change
The Evidence and Learning Community of Practice will host “The Practices and Challenges of Measuring Systems Change“ online on 21 October.
Measuring systems change is one of the toughest challenges in philanthropy. How do we capture complex, shifting dynamics without falling back on overly simplistic metrics? What makes measuring systems change uniquely difficult compared to traditional MEL? What common pitfalls, mismatches, or limitations have people encountered? What do we still not know, and how can we learn together?
This session invites foundation professionals involved in measurement, research, learning and programme implementation to come together for a candid exchange on where we stand as a sector and what we still need to learn in this field. Following an input with a snapshot of the current approaches and initiatives in the sector, the session will provide space to identify the main challenges to explore as a community. Peers from across Europe will come together to exchange practices and co-shape a community dedicated to advancing Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning (MEL) in philanthropy.
The community has so far been an informal group of foundations, gathering professionals interested in discussing new paradigms and practices on various aspects of MEL. As of 2025/2026 the community is entering a more structured phase, with the aim of building a stronger group of foundations with the long-term commitment to exchange practices and advance the field towards more effective and streamlined approaches. The two thematic clusters for the upcoming period are firstly, understanding how to adapt MEL approaches to capture complexities of systems change, and secondly, developing more equitable and participatory approaches, to redress power imbalances in funder-grantee MEL relationships.
This interactive session is more than a one-off conversation, it’s a chance to connect with peers tackling the same challenges and shape the future direction of the Evidence and Learning community as it enters a new phase.
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