In this article, Mayne develops a typology and framework for behaviour change interventions.

The authors demonstrate the use of nested actor-based ToCs, using the case of an impact evaluation of a complex police-reform program in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Based on a literature review and expert interviews in the agricultural sector, this article reveals four challenges to mainstreaming ToC. Five recommendations arise to assist the mainstreaming.

This paper looks at the description of connections between events rather than the events themselves, because this is seen as a widespread ToC design weakness. Using examples six structural problems are described. Different solutions are suggested.

Systems change entails a holistic perspective. The conditions holding a social or environmental problem in place exist at three levels, the explicit, semi-explicit and the implicit, all of which may need to be shifted.

In this article the authors examine the elements that make up a ToC, how ToCs can be visualized, and how ToCs relate to other organizational tools. Several suggestions are put forward to strengthen the existing ToC practice.

This report identifies five common pitfalls that organisations fall into when using theory of change, and walks through five rules of thumb that will help organisations to use the approach to tackle complex problems.

The Actor-Based Change (ABC) framework provides a pragmatic approach to Theory of Change development in complex contexts. Unique about this approach is its focus on actors within a system.

The authors develop a framework to ensure alignment between the ToC of cross-sector partnerships and the complexity of the problems they aim to address.

This article discusses criteria for robust theories of change and how these can be used to undertake a vigorous assessment of a Theory of Change.

Despite a growing body of literature calling for more dynamic, flexible and “complexity-aware” approaches to monitoring and evaluation, few concrete examples exist of ToCs that take complexity dynamics within agriculture into account.

In this blog post, Theory of Change for learning is discussed; and how it offers social organisations a powerful basis for communication and stakeholder engagement.

Many managers do not have the tools to easily set out, document and communicate complex goals, activity strategies and intended outcomes. Developing a ToC can assist by supporting diverse stakeholders to work together and plan for outcomes.

This post looks more specifically at outcomes, and how they can be developed and written. It highlights the benefits of focusing on outcomes for project planning, implementation and evaluation.

This review aims to determine how ToCs have been developed and used in the development and evaluation of public health interventions globally. It proposes a checklist for reporting on the use of ToC to ensure transparent reporting.

In this webinar video, Patricia Rogers discusses Theory of Change, what it is and why it is important.

A simple one-page tool for thinking about the Theories of Change that underlie public policy advocacy strategies.

A poster from the Outcome Mapping (OM) Lab 2014 describing how Outcome Mapping is being used with Theory of Change to improve the design of a project developed with Logical Framework.

Can a Theory of Change approach also be useful for funders themselves; and how does the tool differ in this setting?

The paper describes the process of facilitating a set of workshops and the advantages and compromises needed in combining a ToC approach with Outcome Mapping.

This video presentation by the South African organisation DG Murray Trust, explains the reasons why a Theory of Change is important for the design and evaluation of social programmes or interventions.

What if the ToC has gaps, leaves out important things – or is just plain wrong? This post looks at the risks when a ToC is inadequate.

Synthèse bibliographique réalisée dans le cadre du groupe de travail F3E COTA "Agir pour le changement".

This blog post by Isabel Vogel compares working with assumptions with peeling back the layers of an onion.

This Working Paper provides a critical analysis of a series of CV&A cases from the Mwananchi Governance and Transparency Fund (GTF) programme in order to form an analytical framework for developing theories of change (ToCs) for CV&A projects.

This paper provides an illustration of how Theory of Change can provide a basis for a coherent and integrated approach to developing skills and capacities of staff implementing a project.

This is a brief poster presentation by Patricia Rogers that highlights on aspects of Theory of Change to consider especially for evaluation purposes. It also offers discussions and recommendations that would be useful to adopt.

This brief reveals the need for Theories of Change in every aspect of a programme or project be it on poverty alleviation of disadvantaged people or teenage pregnancy prevention pogrammes.

This paper attempts to help read and thus navigate processes of social change. It reviews different theories of social change (emergent, transformative and projectable change) and seeks to bring them together into something that is more integrated.

Logic Models are a popular tool that can be used to help conceptualize your change effort. This site by the University of Wisconsin presents a variety of resources on logic models.

This document contains contributions by different authors. It provides an overview of Theory of Change - what they are, how and why they are developed.

This guide, written for small and diaspora organisations as part of the Common Ground Initiative Peer Learning Programme, aims to demystify theory of change and highlights a few useful resources for further exploration.

This article proposes ways to use programme theory for evaluating aspects of programmes that are complicated or complex.

An essay on Theory of Change on Beyond Intractability. This short essay provides a conceptual framework for articulating and mapping program’s theories of change, i.e. the core often implicit assumptions about how change happens.

A webinar presentation on Theory of Change on the what, why and hows. This event was organised by The Environmental Leadership Programme (ELP) as a way to share more value experience on the subject matter.

A short guide on ToC development from Nesta's Centre for Social Action Innovation Fund (CSAIF).

Twenty six essays on Theory of Change, written from various perspectives by experts from the evaluation field.

After reflecting on the shortcomings of ToC and program logic in practice, the author proposes Program Design Logic (PDL) as an accessible and incremental innovation that may be used to determine if a program makes sense 'on paper' and 'in reality'.

This booklet presents the notion of "theory of (responsible) scaling". By applying ToC thinking to scaling, the authors provide guidance to think systemically and systematically, at an early stage, about how scaling happens and could happen.

In this blog Jos Vaessen examines what makes a good (program) theory and distinguishes between three levels: simple successionist causation, successionist causation with warrants, and causation with warrants and causal assumptions.

This working paper discusses a variety of concepts, approaches and tools for working with behaviour-based ToCs. It presents and discusses several different levels of detail for representing a ToC, including a new pathway-level ToC model.

This paper argues that a Theory of Change approach demands a radical shift towards more and better learning in development thinking and practice. It draws on the research and workshop held at the Overseas Development Institute (ODI) in April 2015.

This article reviews current debates around ToC and draws the conclusion that ToC can address shortcomings of the logical framework.

The authors present a behaviour-based generic ToC model for both straightforward and more complex interventions. Examples are presented and the use of it during different stages of interventions are discussed.

Gender inequality manifest itself through a complex web of forces, socially, culturally and historically entrenched in societies and relationships and cannot be changed by isolated interventions. Theory of Change thinking might be a helpful framework

What is the link between Theory of Change and the logical framework way of thinking and approach? What is the difference with a Theory of Action?

In response to the growing interest in and demand for ToCs, critique is also emerging. A list of the most commonly heard critiques is presented below. The post also includes an article by G. Albert Ruesga that takes a critical look at ToC.

This post defines a number of elements to indicate the quality of ToC thought and practice. Quality is a combination of the content, how it was constructed and its use.

This article/toolkit is especially relevant to gender analysis in ToC thinking. It presents a toolkit for the coffee industry.

This note provides key tools and methodologies used in international development and humanitarian assistance. It provides a brief and practical introduction to theory of change which draws from experiences from other organisations.

A report on gender relations in ToC practice.

This document describes the Theory of Change approach and explains why it is a good fit for climate change adaptation programming. It highlights its differences with the more familiar logic model / logical framework (‘logframe’) approaches.

This document focuses on the role of visualisation in the ToC process.

This report gives reflects on assumptions in a ToC process and offers practical pointers to identify the most critical ones.

This article presents three generic, complementary purposes of ToCs.

A report that seeks to define ToC.

A review on ToC in practice based on interviews with staff from 25 different development organisations, nine donor agencies, seven international NGOs and nine research and training organisations.

This report was commissioned by Comic Relief. It aims to draw together Comic Relief staff and partners’ experiences in using theory of change; to identify others in development that are using theory of change, to capture learning to promote debate.

This guide to understanding and developing a ToC shows how a ToC helps to configure the conditions needed to achieve desired change, using the experience of a given context. This is done partly by making assumptions explicit and by analysing them.

A book that has been seminal to ToC practice. It has a wealth of clear examples and is very helpful in clarifying some recurrent debates on planning and M&E terminologies.

This report reflects on the desired level of detail of a ToC.

This case provides an illustration of a ToC for gender equality commitments.

This paper presents the case of capacity building within schools in England. It shows how a ToC approach can deal with complexity. Such involved fundamental shifts in what outcomes were valued and the roles of actors and evaluators.

This brief guide explains why grantmakers use Theories of Change to guide their questioning, unearth assumptions that underlie their work, establish common language, and develop strong action plans.

Why do people see the Virgin Mary on a cheese sandwich or hear demonic lyrics in "Stairway to Heaven"? Using video and music, skeptic Michael Shermer shows how we convince ourselves to believe — and overlook the facts.

Two articles that look at a range of types of change processes and how they can be represented. It starts with linear processes and ends with network processes. The second article elaborates further on a network perspective.

The key message in this article is that individuals encountering a ToC for the first time should be open minded and should see the extent to which it can help them to be better strategic thinkers, and not think of it as only a planning tool.

This paper present thirteen elements to institutionalise gender, which can be used as a basis to develop a ToC that addresses gender changes.

Two articles by Srilatha Batliwala on building a stronger M&E practice as a way to reach gender changes.

A section from "Reversed realities" presenting key questions to integrate a gender perspective in your ToC.