ABSTRACT
The reflecting on Peace Practice Program 1 is dedicated to improving the effectiveness of peace practice. We have been exploring how a project, programme or initiative can reach beyond its stated goals to make a significant contribution to transforming the broader conflict, or ‘peace writ large’. 2 Our engagement with systems thinking approaches has been prompted by the questions this programme set out to answer: how do peacebuilding programmes and activities fit into the larger picture, and how can we use our limited resources to generate the largest possible positive impacts on conflicts? In this context, the reflecting on Peace Practice Program has been experimenting with the application of systems thinking to peacebuilding practice and evaluation, as systems thinking promotes an understanding of complex change that is crucial when working in conflict zones. Systems thinking tools can be used to assess impacts, even when direct or linear causal relationships cannot be established. This can be done despite the difficulty in isolating the effects of programmes from the various actors with which they interact and from other factors that influence a conflict. This chapter explores how this systems perspective has been applied to three evaluations of peacebuilding work carried out by the reflecting on Peace Practice team.
