Hello, AEA365 community, and happy Conference Week from Portland! The AEA staff have been working overtime to prepare for our biggest event of the year, and we’re excited to see all of you who can make it. Whether you will be joining us for the conference or not, you can keep up with our happenings via the AEA365 blog. See you around!
-Liz DiLuzio, Lead Curator
Hello! We are Nicole Walshe (Independent Consultant), Marta Arranz (Director, Climate SMILE Community of Practice), Amelia Abdelrazik (Director of Operations and Impact at 128 Collective), and Anna Ploeg (Community and Communications Manager, Climate SMILE Community of Practice). We have teamed up under the Climate SMILE Community of Practice to explore how climate funders can support collective learning and equitable knowledge for climate action, and we are delighted to share with this community what we have been learning.
The Climate Strategy, Monitoring, Impact, Learning, and Evaluation (SMILE) Community of Practice is a global community for SMILE practitioners working at the intersection of climate and philanthropy. We have grown to include over 70 members from more than 40 organizations worldwide, and connected with dozens of partners and allies that also work in this field with whom we engage regularly.
Our goal is ambitious: to increase collaboration to maximise the use of evidence and knowledge for climate action. We believe that by sharing what we know, learning from each other and from others, and working together, we can accelerate the innovation and collective impact needed to tackle the climate crisis. We are focused on amplifying learning opportunities, cutting down on duplicated efforts, and making sure that existing knowledge is accessible so that we can take meaningful, collective action. More than anything, we are committed to building spaces where trust, peer support, and genuine exchange can flourish.
As part of our efforts to stretch our thinking and practice towards new frontiers, we hosted a series of virtual conversations, the Sparking Dialogues series. The topic we explored in this first edition was Collective Learning and Equitable Knowledge Ecosystems for Climate Work. During four virtual sessions we heard from a diverse group of thinkers and practitioners across the philanthropic and development fields, who shared fresh and practical insights from their experience, and challenged the business as usual approaches that many philanthropies still use. Through these conversations we were invited to rethink aspects of our work to take steps towards more evolved, equitable and learning-oriented practices to build a new norms and practices in our field.
Lessons Learned
Several lessons learnt emerged from the conversations, including an emphasis on the importance of adopting an ecosystems approach to knowledge sharing, placing relationships at the center of learning, and valuing the often-unseen processes of design and facilitation. Building trust and accountability through human-centered approaches, rather than relying solely on metrics, was highlighted as key for effective learning. The series also called for incorporating decoloniality and systems change as central drivers in shaping future learning systems, and valuing different ways of knowing. Additionally, participants stressed the need to rethink traditional power dynamics between funders and grantees, urging funders to embrace uncertainty, decenter themselves, and include marginalized voices. Networks were viewed as dynamic, with knowledge brokers playing a crucial role in fostering collaboration and addressing systemic climate challenges. Flexibility in funding and supporting locally-driven approaches were seen as essential to adapting learning spaces and maximizing impact. Funders were encouraged to experiment with new ways of supporting collective learning and invest in building strong, diverse ecosystems to sustain ongoing collaboration and innovation?.
Rad Resources
To learn more and continue the conversation, do not miss these blogs, where we summarise the main takeaways for each session:
- Fostering Collective Learning in Organisations — How do we learn and adapt as, or, within philanthropic organisations working on Climate issues?
- Can grantees and funders learn together? Fresh perspectives for new possibilities
- Balancing voice, power, and resources in collective learning for climate work
- Learning in Networks: Perspectives on fostering connective tissue and enabling learning systems
If you’re curious to learn more or want to get involved, we’d love to hear from you! Reach out to us at climatesmile@gmail.com.
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