The ‘Learning and Innovating in the Face of Crises’ (APIC) project was designed and implemented by Groupe URD to support French and French-speaking NGOs through three successive phases between 2016 and 2026. It aims to strengthen the capacities, practices and collaborative dynamics of organisations involved in responding to crises and situations of vulnerability, both in France and internationally.
This study comes at a key moment: after nearly ten years in existence, APIC has produced a range of resources, forums for dialogue and support initiatives which have contributed, directly or indirectly, to transformations within the sector. The aim of the evaluation is not merely to ‘count’ activities, but to understand what has changed, what has been consolidated, and what still needs to be strengthened so that these changes ultimately yield more visible operational benefits.
The study covers the three phases of the project (2016–2019; 2019–2023; 2023–2026) and focuses on four themes: environment and climate change, accountability, localisation and the Nexus. It involved a literature review, participatory workshops and more than 80 individual and group interviews. The analysis identified 115 impact statements, which were then categorised according to their level of change: (i) policy and institutional, (ii) practices and tools, (iii) networks and relationships, (iv) territories.
These effects have been analysed using a Change-Oriented Approaches framework, via the Outcome Harvesting method. Rather than starting with activities and deducing outcomes from them, the analysis begins with observable changes (policies, practices, networks, territories), and then examines the plausible contribution of APIC to their emergence or consolidation within a multi-stakeholder environment. This approach helps to highlight transformations that are often under-documented by traditional logical frameworks: learning, influence, shifts in attitudes, the structuring of networks, and the dissemination of best practice within the sector.