AIDS Committee of York Region

The Aids Committee of York Region asked Eko Nomos to train staff:

• About the Sustainable Livelihoods Framework, a tool that is useful for understanding how people build sustainable livelihoods and what is effective practice in building livelihoods;
• How to integrate the sustainable livelihoods framework within the organization; and
• To use the sustainable livelihoods framework as a structure for program design and evaluation/research.

Eko Nomos was instrumental in adapting the Sustainable Livelihoods framework, developed by Robert Chambers in the UK, for the Canadian context. We have also adapted the framework for program evaluation, extending the day-to-day use of the tools to develop a basis for documenting results and assessing progress. We helped the AIDS Committee of York Region staff understand the importance of incorporating evaluative thinking into project planning and implementation, resulting in a dynamic and iterative process that provides ongoing feedback and opportunity for reflection while undertaking their work. It also builds evaluative capacity within the organization as well as within the sector and York Region. The Aids Committee of York Region is exploring next steps – developing a theory of change and logic models to guide the organization and individual programs.