If markets are open, complex and adaptive systems why do we still try to measure our impacts on them and their evolution as if they were machines that we can control and predict? A new M&E paradigm is necessary for field practitioners to perform better as facilitators of change, and for policy makers and donors to invest their resources where they will make the biggest impact at the lowest costs. This plenary will explore cutting edge thinking and enquiry around ways to improve the current evaluation paradigm and improved practice in measuring impacts in market systems. The plenary will explore ideas that support the construction and application of systemic approaches to M&E, the principles that should underpin this and how to make it practical for practitioners and policy makers. Check out this amazing line-up!

1.
Opening
Plenary
The
SEEP
Annual
Conference
opening
plenary
will
explore
cutting
edge
thinking
and
enquiry
around
ways
to
improve
the
current
evaluation
paradigm
and
improved
practice
in
measuring
impacts
in
market
systems.
When
considering
markets
from
a
systems
perspective,
it
becomes
crucial
to
recognize
that
markets
are
not
predictable
“machines”,
but
rather
complex
and
dynamic
“organisms”
that
are
constantly
learning.
Changes
in
complex
and
adaptive
systems
must
be
monitored
and
measured
using
approaches
that
embrace
complexity
and
facilitation
principles,
concepts
and
tools
rather
than
linear
and
deterministic
ones.
This
plenary
will
bring
together
practitioners
and
complexity
experts
to
explore
applications
of
complexity
science
in
inclusive
market
and
financial
services
development.
The
plenary
will
explore
ideas
that
support
the
construction
and
application
of
systemic
approaches
to
M&E,
the
principles
that
should
underpin
this
and
how
to
make
it
practical
for
practitioners
and
policy
makers.
Richard
Hummelbrunner
ÖAR
Regionalberatung
Austria
Richard
Hummelbrunner
is
Senior
Associate
of
ÖAR
Regionalberatung
Graz,
Austria
with
more
than
30
years
of
professional
experience
as
a
consultant
/
evaluator
in
the
fields
of
regional
and
international
development.
During
recent
years
he
has
been
active
in
promoting
the
use
of
systems
thinking
in
evaluation
as
a
practitioner,
trainer
and
author.
He
has
recently
co-­‐authored
a
new
book:
“Systems
Concepts
in
Action:
A
Practitioners
Toolkit”.
He
has
lectured
at
Universities
and
provided
training
on
systems
concepts,
as
well
as
evaluation,
to
private
organizations
and
public
authorities
in
several
European
countries.
He
has
been
a
regular
presenter
and
session
facilitator
at
the
Conferences
of
the
European
Evaluation
Society
(EES)
and
is
a
member
of
the
American
Evaluation
Association
(AEA)
and
an
active
contributor
to
its
Topical
Interest
Group,
Systems
in
Evaluation.
Dr.
Elizabeth
Dunn
Impact
LLC
Dr.
Elizabeth
Dunn
has
over
20
years
of
experience
designing
evaluations
and
leading
research
on
low-­‐income
households
and
factors
affecting
their
participation
in
market
systems.
She
has
worked
on
projects
related
to
micro-­‐
and
small
enterprise
development,
smallholder
agriculture,
inclusive
value
chain
development
and
microfinance.
As
a
thought
leader
in
the
evaluation
of
inclusive
market
systems,
Elizabeth
uses
concepts
from
complex
adaptive
systems
(CAS)
and
social
network
analysis
to
create
an
analytical
framework
for
evaluating
the
evidence
from
inclusive
value
chain
development
projects
and
improving
understanding
of
the
factors
affecting
smallholder
participation,
value
creation
and

2. value
capture
in
regional
and
global
market
systems.
Elizabeth
was
a
major
contributor
to
USAID’s
work
on
value
chain
development
under
the
AMAP
project.
She
provided
technical
leadership
for
a
wide
variety
of
evaluations,
including
a
longitudinal,
mixed-­‐method
evaluation
of
the
effectiveness
of
USAID’s
GMED
project
in
India.
For
the
World
Bank,
she
led
a
five-­‐year
impact
evaluation
of
3,300
micro-­‐
and
small
enterprises
across
nine
financial
institutions
under
the
Local
Initiatives
Project
II
in
Bosnia
and
Herzegovina.
She
was
Technical
Director
for
core
impact
assessments
under
USAID’s
AIMS
project,
providing
leadership
to
longitudinal
evaluations
in
Peru,
India,
and
Zambia.
Dr.
Dunn’s
leadership
in
evaluation
is
widely
recognized,
as
evidenced
by
invitations
to
serve
on
expert
panels
from
the
U.S.
General
Accountability
Office
(GAO),
National
Science
Foundation
(NSF),
Consultative
Group
to
Assist
the
Poor
(CGAP)
and
BASIS
Collaborative
Research
Support
Program
(USAID).
She
received
USDA’s
National
Exemplary
Evaluation
Award
in
2004.
Elizabeth
has
worked
with,
amongst
others,
USAID,
World
Bank,
International
Finance
Corporation,
Inter-­‐American
Development
Bank,
Government
of
Bosnia
and
Herzegovina,
DFID,
KfW,
ACDI/VOCA,
DAI,
IRIS,
AED,
ACCION
International,
Women’s
World
Banking,
Microfinance
Opportunities,
Monsanto,
CARE
and
SEEP.
Elizabeth
holds
a
Ph.D.
in
Agricultural
Economics
from
the
University
of
Wisconsin
and
has
field
experience
in
more
than
20
countries.
Dr.
Shamim
Bodhanya
University
of
KwaZulu
Natal
South
Africa
Dr.
Bodhanya
is
a
graduate
of
the
University
of
KwaZulu-­‐Natal,
South
Africa
and
Nyenrode
University
in
the
Netherlands.
He
is
a
trained
and
practising
engineer,
worked
in
the
corporate
sector
for
nearly
14
years,
serving
in
a
variety
of
functional,
professional
and
managerial
capacities
before
joining
academia.
Dr.
Bodhanya
was
a
founding
member
of
Equilibria
Consulting,
and
serves
as
a
Director
of
the
Institute
for
Natural
Resources.
He
is
based
at
the
Leadership
Centre
and
draws
on
inter-­‐disciplinary
research
to
work
with
complex
real
world
problems.
He
is
now
actively
involved
in
research,
programme
development,
module
development,
lecturing,
facilitation
and
consulting.
He
has
engaged
in
facilitation
in
a
variety
of
contexts
both
for
small
groups
and
large
groups.
Some
of
these
include:
strategy,
business
planning,
conflict,
union,
training,
skills
development,
youth
workshops
and
simulations
amongst
others.
His
work
in
complexity
theory
has
been
applied
in
the
public
and
private
sector,
NGOs
and
civil
society
contexts,
e.g.
sugar
cane
production
and
supply,
local
economic
development,
automotive,
rural
health,
and
rural
development.
Dr.
Shawn
Cunningham
(Moderator)
MesoPartner
South
Africa
Dr.
Shawn
Cunningham,
an
active
member
of
SEEP’s
Market
Facilitation
Initiative
(MAFI),
is
a
development
consultant
focused
on
ways
to
improve
the
performance
and
competitiveness
of
the
private
sector
in
developing
countries,
by
combining
a
bottom-­‐up
perspective
with
systemic
policy
advocacy.
He
develops
practical
diagnostic
instruments
by
integrating
insights
from
process
facilitation,
change
management
and
understanding
how
societies
evolve
and
develop.
His
qualifications
are
mainly
in
business

3. management,
entrepreneurship
and
change
management,
while
his
PhD
thesis
investigated
the
role
of
market
failures
affecting
transactions
in
knowledge
intensive
business
services.
He
has
published
books
on
several
topics
related
to
economic
development.
Dr.
Cunningham
started
his
career
as
an
entrepreneur,
but
soon
became
involved
in
the
promotion
of
entrepreneurship
and
economic
development.
He
works
as
a
consultant,
facilitator
and
moderator
on
topics
related
to
economic
development
and
private
sector
development
in
Africa,
Asia
and
Europe.
He
is
currently
working
on
several
assignments
ranging
from
the
fostering
of
closer
collaboration
between
industries
and
science
and
technology
institutions
in
the
Southern
African
region;
and
training
officials
and
experts
on
practical
development
methods
in
more
than
20
countries.
His
main
academic
research
and
consulting
practice
is
around
the
topic
of
upgrading
and
modernizing
economic
sectors
by
means
of
stimulating
sectoral
and
regional
innovation
systems.
He
is
a
partner
in
the
international
consultancy
Mesopartner
(registered
in
Germany),
whose
practical
development
instruments
are
used
in
more
than
70
countries
around
the
world.
He
holds
several
board
and
advisory
positions
and
directorships
in
businesses
and
developmental
institutions
in
Southern
Africa
and
internationally.
He
is
also
known
to
provide
his
time
and
expertise
to
a
variety
of
public
or
social
causes.
He
is
a
Post
Doctoral
Fellow
at
the
Vaal
University
of
Technology
and
a
Research
Associate
at
the
Institute
for
Economic
Research
on
Innovation
at
Tshwane
University
of
Technology.
Dave
Snowden
(Video
address)
Cognitive
Edge
Snowden
was
Director
of
the
IBM
Institute
of
Knowledge
Management
for
Europe
Middle
East
and
Africa
and
subsequently
founded
their
Cynefin
Centre
for
Organisational
Complexity.
He
is
currently
the
Founder
and
Chief
Scientific
Officer
of
Cognitive
Edge,
a
research
network
that
focuses
on
the
development
of
the
theory
and
practice
of
sense-­‐making.
One
of
the
founders
of
'Organic
Knowledge
Management',
he
is
an
acknowledged
expert
on
the
management
of
tacit
knowledge
and
has
developed
a
series
of
pioneering
methods
including
the
use
of
anthropological
techniques
for
knowledge
disclosure
through
the
ASHEN
model,
the
use
of
stories
as
an
advanced
form
of
knowledge
repository
(based
on
six
years
of
research
into
story
telling
cultures
around
the
world)
and
the
Cynefin
"Just
in
Time"
model
of
knowledge
transfer
between
formal
and
informal
communities.
He
regularly
consults
at
board
level
on
Knowledge
Strategy
with
some
of
the
Worlds
largest
companies
as
well
as
to
Government
and
NGOs.
Snowden
is
an
editor-­‐in-­‐chief
of
the
journal,
Emergence:
Complexity
and
Organisation.
Snowden
has
expertise
in
the
further
development
of
Story
Techniques
into
advanced
decision
support,
merger
and
acquisition
and
multi-­‐cultural
communication,
and
using
Complexity
Theory
to
link
concepts
from
Learning
and
Knowledge
Management.
He
has
authored
many
articles
on
the
subject
and
contributed
commissioned
chapters
to
two
forthcoming
books.
Dave
Snowden
has
an
MBA
from
Middlesex
University
and
a
BA
in
Philosophy
from
Lancaster
University.
He
is
honorary
fellow
in
knowledge
management
at
the
Universities
of
Surrey
and
Warwick
and
teaches
on
the
MBA
programmes
at
Warwick,
Sophia
Antipolis
and
Piacenza.