Mid-Term External Review of the World Resources Institute’s 2023– 2027 Strategic Plan
Led by Agulhas Applied Knowledge and OpenCities (UK), this project is an independent mid-term external review of WRI's 2023-2027 Strategic Plan, focusing on assessing progress toward strategic objectives across People, Nature, and Climate goals. The evaluation examines WRI's effectiveness in driving systemic transformations across Food, Land & Water, Energy, and Cities systems, while evaluating the five internal organizational shifts and enabling systems of Economics, Finance, and Governance. Using mixed methods including document review, portfolio analysis, stakeholder interviews, focus groups, and deep-dive case studies in Ethiopia and Indonesia, the review will assess relevance, coherence, effectiveness, and efficiency of WRI's strategy implementation. The formative evaluation emphasizes organizational learning and adaptive management, providing actionable insights to strengthen delivery during the remaining strategy period while maintaining accountability to core donors and stakeholders.
Background
This Mid-Term External Review (MTER) evaluates WRI's progress at the midpoint of its ambitious 2023-2027 Strategic Plan, which aims to catalyze systemic transformations across Food, Land and Water; Energy; and Cities systems to address converging crises of inequality, climate disruption, and unsustainable resource use. The review responds to WRI's commitment to accountability, transparency, and continuous learning, building on the 2021 External Review and assessing how effectively the organization has implemented five internal shifts, advanced its three global goals for People, Nature, and Climate, and translated global ambitions into meaningful country-level change. With particular emphasis on organizational learning rather than solely accountability, the MTER will assess early signs of systems change, examine progress in Ethiopia and Indonesia through country deep dives, and evaluate two strategic pillars—Restore (Food, Land and Water) and Climate Resilience (Cities)—while providing actionable insights to strengthen delivery over the remaining strategy period.
Approach
The evaluation employs a rigorous, mixed-methods approach grounded in OECD-DAC criteria, combining document and portfolio reviews, 50-60 key informant interviews, focus group discussions, and field visits to Ethiopia and Indonesia to assess relevance, coherence, effectiveness, and efficiency. The methodology is hypothesis-driven and systems-focused, using Outcome Harvesting and Contribution Analysis to trace pathways of change and identify WRI's role in influencing transformational outcomes, while deploying participatory methods including an Evaluation Reference Group and potential beneficiary telephone surveys to center diverse voices and lived experiences. Data analysis integrates qualitative coding through MaxQDA and AI-enhanced tools with quantitative portfolio analysis, ensuring robust triangulation of evidence, while the entire process is designed as a collaborative learning journey with regular checkpoints, micro-learning outputs, and iterative stakeholder engagement to maximize uptake and adaptive management throughout the remaining strategy period.