The Challenge
Development cooperation often struggles with a disconnect between policy creation and on-the-ground realities. While strategies and decisions are shaped in offices, the true test of their impact lies in the field. The Inclusive Green Growth(IGG) Department at the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs recognized this gap and sought to build stronger, experience-based learning across its teams. They designed Regional Learning Journeys (RLJs) to reconnect embassies and policymakers with the lived experiences of communities they support.
De oplossing
MDF ESA was brought into design and lead the learning element of these journeys, drawing on our track record of participatory facilitation and field-based reflection. The RLJs were structured as immersive, cross-country experiences that enabled Dutch embassy staff and IGG policymakers to engage directly with development projects in Kenya, Benin, and Egypt.
Rather than observing from a distance, participants were encouraged to interact, ask questions, and reflect both individually and collectively. The focus was on deepening understanding around core development themes such as systems thinking, locally-led action, and long-term sustainability, using real project examples from across sectors including water, agriculture, food systems, and energy.
The Process
Each journey followed a three-part structure, blending immersion, dialogue, and reflection:
Immersion in local practice - In each country, participants visited projects selected for their relevance to IGG priorities. They engaged with local practitioners, community members, and implementing partners examining, for example, the role of solar irrigation in Laikipia, fortified school meals in Cotonou, or scalable hydroponics in the Nile Delta.
Guided learning and group dialogue - MDF facilitated informal and structured reflection throughout the journeys. Conversations happened in many places: onsite, during travel, and in evening group sessions. Our role was to help surface insights, connect observations to policy themes, and encourage participants to think critically without losing sight of local nuance.
Capturing and sharing insight - Through tools like mobile surveys, group journaling, and facilitated discussion, participants recorded lessons daily. This built a living repository of reflections that helped transform experience into actionable learning. The use of simple methods such as sensemaking circles or failure-sharing exercises kept the process human and grounded.
What made this unique
Hands-on exposure: direct interaction with local stakeholders gave participants insight they couldn’t gain from reports alone.
Blended facilitation: MDF combined formal facilitation with informal group engagement, adapting to each setting.
Shared ownership of learning: embassies helped shape the field agenda, ensuring relevance and active contribution.
Cultural and contextual depth: each journey revealed not just technical challenges but also social, political, and environmental dynamics influencing development outcomes.
Outcomes and Legacy
While not without its challenges the RLJs achieved their goal: to root learning in real-world experience. Participants returned to their roles with stronger context awareness, new ideas, and a shared language informed by common field exposure.
For MDF ESA, this was a chance to demonstrate how participatory learning can drive meaningful reflection in policy spaces. The journeys also allowed us to refine our facilitation methods in diverse, high-level environments, proving that adaptive, human-centred learning still has a strong place in development practice.
The RLJs now serve as a reference model for experience-based learning that goes beyond observation to foster active, informed engagement among development professionals.
