Essentials for Effective Planning, Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning

Dates:

E-learning self-paced: Starting from 21 September, to be completed on our e-learning platform (6 hours) On-location: 6-7-8 October 2026

Description: Designing a programme is one thing, making it truly work and showing its results is another. Many organisations end up building monitoring and evaluation systems that focus heavily on reporting, not responding enough to the needs of staff and stakeholders for decision making and programme steering and adaptation. Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning (MEL) should not be a burden. Done well, it provides clarity, supports decision-making, and helps adapting programmes and organisations to context and needs.

This 3-day in-person course gives you the essentials to make MEL both practical and effective. You will learn how to create a system that reflects your programme’s unique context, generates useful evidence, and fosters learning among all stakeholders. Through interactive sessions, peer exchange, and a hands-on demonstration programme, you will gain the skills to use MEL as a driver for results and growth.

**By the end of this course, you will be able to:**‍

• Use Theory of Change and Results-Based Management to design realistic result chains and appropriate intervention strategies
• Build a MEL system that meets the real information needs of your stakeholders
• Adapt MEL to your intervention strategies: choosing appropriate MEL methods and tools for raising awareness, empowerment, capacity strengthening, advocacy and policy influencing, partnership and network building, direct service delivery, and others
• Explore innovation: understanding good practice for complex programmes and making considerate use of AI
• Evaluate with purpose: from applying principles and criteria to drafting concise Terms of Reference and how to turn validated findings into useful conclusions and recommendations
• Use monitoring and evaluation to harvest lessons that support adaptive management.

Your profile

This course is for professionals involved in designing, managing, or supporting programmes across NGOs, donor agencies, foundations, and larger organisations. Whether you are a programme officer seeking to set up a solid MEL framework, a manager aiming to track progress without overburdening your team, or an advisor wanting to make evaluations more useful and actionable, this course will strengthen your ability to turn monitoring and evaluation into a practical driver of results and strategic improvement. It is also valuable for those working in complex, multi-stakeholder or international contexts, where learning and accountability go hand in hand.

Blended Learning Experience

This course offers a dynamic blend of online and in-person learning. Over the first two weeks, you'll engage with interactive and autonomous online content via our learning platform. Following that, we’ll come together for an in-person training in Ede, the Netherlands. The course features live, interactive sessions and group activities, ensuring a hands-on, high-quality learning experience. Our expert trainers will be there to support and mentor you throughout your journey.