The Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR) has honed its capacity to transform research into change, according to its 2019 annual report.

Through a strategy that prioritizes integrated planning, monitoring and learning, the organization’s Research to Impact team measures development impacts in relation to the Strategic Results Framework of the CGIAR consortium of agricultural researchers and the U.N. Sustainable Development Goals.

In 2019, the team worked with researchers to ground their projects in strong theories of change, while using monitoring and evaluation systems to test underlying hypotheses and generate data in support of project management.

These efforts now help shape efforts emanating from such programs as FORETS, Governing Multifunctional Landscapes and Sustainable Wildlife Management, all of which incorporate impact monitoring activities.

As well, CIFOR researchers have learned more about the factors that influence and contribute to decision-making by evaluating thematic programs and individual projects, the report states.

Similar evaluations are ongoing, using different approaches, to help understand further how research influences policies and practices – and why – in different contexts, the report states.