Rebuilding Trust Before Rebuilding Walls: Social Cohesion Lessons from Irpin, Ukraine

by

Physical reconstruction alone will not restore Ukraine. Evidence from war-torn Irpin shows that without deliberate investment in civic trust, bricks and mortar risk becoming monuments to elite capture rather than pillars of democratic recovery. The German Platform for the Reconstruction of Ukraine recently hosted the event Reconstructing Trust: Social Cohesion and Recovery in War-Torn Irpin. … Read more

“Security First, Efficiency Second”: The End of the Free Trade Illusion for Europe

by

Maritime trade and security in times of geopolitical crises Reporting from the World Trade Dialogue 2026, Hamburg The waters of global commerce have fundamentally darkened. For decades, the European Union’s economic model relied on a simple premise: a rules-based order where maritime trade flows unhindered and cheaply across the globe. But at the World Trade … Read more

The End of the Old Order? Europe’s Wake-Up Call in a Fracturing Global Trade Landscape

by

Reporting from the World Trade Dialogue 2026, Hamburg For decades, the European Union’s economic engine has hummed to the predictable rhythm of a rules-based global trade order. But at the World Trade Dialogue 2026 today in Hamburg, the message from leading economists and industry giants was stark: the era of pure economic efficiency is over, … Read more

Supporting Internally Displaced Businesses

by

A methodology for stabilization and reconstruction, drawing on Ukraine’s experience, local economic development practice, and gender-responsive programming. Framing the Challenge When war displaces not only people but entire enterprises, the economic fabric of a country tears in ways that humanitarian aid alone cannot repair. Ukraine’s full-scale war since 2022 has produced one of the most … Read more

Beyond the Thick Report: Why Communication is the New Frontier for Impactful Evaluation

by

(TL;DR) Evaluations are no longer judged primarily by methodological rigor, but by how effectively their findings are communicated and used in decision making. In Germany’s current context of budget cuts, political polarization, and institutional reform, evaluation is gaining strategic importance as a tool for evidence-based steering, while also facing new risks such as political misuse … Read more

The Global Gateway Investment Climate Reform Facility: Linking reforms to sustainable investment

by
EU Global Gateway

The Global Gateway (GG) Investment Climate Reform (ICR) Facility is one of the most strategically interesting instruments at the interface of investment, reform and sustainable development. It connects Global Gateway initiatives with the often underestimated institutional side of economic transformation: rules, procedures and incentives that determine whether investment actually translates into growth, jobs and local … Read more

SCALED – Scaling Capital for Sustainable Development

by

SCALED is emerging as one of the most ambitious attempts yet to fix a stubborn problem in development finance: how to move from promising blended finance pilots to repeatable, large scale investment in sustainable projects across emerging markets and developing economies.Why SCALED matters now Despite a decade of rhetoric about mobilising trillions for the Sustainable … Read more

Communities of Practice: A guidebook that actually works in real life

by

Review: “Communities of Practice within and across Organizations. A Guidebook” (2nd edition) by Etienne Wenger-Trayner, Beverly Wenger-Trayner, Phil Reid and Claude Bruderlein Most books on organizational learning describe what communities of practice are. This one tells you how to run them. The second edition of the CoP Guidebook, co-authored by four practitioners across corporate, academic, … Read more

Post-2030 initiative from Germany: A North South Commission for the 21stCentruy

by

(TL:DR) Germany’s upcoming North South Commission sits at the intersection of two agendas: repositioning relations with the Global South and shaping a post‑2030 framework to succeed the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. It can become a strategic platform for rethinking partnerships and global rules, but it also risks ending up as a narrowly framed, low‑impact … Read more

New Tools for Feminist Evaluation Practice

by

The Feminist Innovation in Monitoring and Evaluation (FIME) Small Awards have produced something very tangible for practitioners: six concrete toolkits that cover the full evaluation cycle, from policy design and crisis response to relocation, community projects, impact investing, and evaluator training. They were developed in real-world settings and respond to gaps most of us know … Read more

Jürgen Habermas and the Case for Evidence-Based Policy Advisory

by
Graphic showing the thought landscape of Habermas

I wanted to honour the idea landscape that Jürgen Habermas left us for democracy, public debate, and evidence-informed policy and evaluation. Many of my senior colleagues trained in Germany are influenced by his work. For all others  I produced a little Habermas Toolbox. A Tribute to a Philosopher Who Shaped How We Think About Science … Read more

Consulting in the EU Global Gateway Framework: Opportunities for Independent Experts

by
EU Global Gateway

What Is the Global Gateway? The EU Global Gateway is Europe’s flagship external investment strategy, aiming to build smart, clean, and secure connections in digital, energy, and transport sectors while strengthening health, education, and research systems worldwide. Originally targeting EUR 300 billion in mobilised investment by 2027, the strategy has already surpassed that goal, reaching … Read more