Towards a Collective Agenda for Practice-Based Learning and Knowledge

On October 21, 2024, Raising Voices, the What Works 2 Programme, and the UN Trust Fund to End Violence against Women (UN Trust Fund) brought together over 90 practitioners, activists, researchers, policy-makers and donors at the SVRI Forum 2024 in Cape Town, South Africa, for a groundbreaking workshop on practice-based learning and knowledge (PBL/K). 

Importance of practice-based learning and knowledge

Too often, the knowledge and expertise gained by organizations addressing violence against women and girls (VAW/G) in the communities is overlooked, yet their experiences and knowledge are critical in shaping effective policies, programming and advocacy. The workshop set out to unpack and elevate PBL/K, explore its challenges and co-create solutions for further integrating it into the global knowledge base for ending VAW/G. 

Reframing knowledge 

Co-designed over eight months with input from 29 people across 14 organizations, the workshop championed PBL/K as key to challenging traditional hierarchies of evidence. By amplifying practitioners' insights, PBL/K enriches efforts to end VAW/G, decolonizes knowledge, contributes a feminist approach, and centres practitioners' voices and community expertise by telling a more inclusive story on prevention. 

The workshop focused on three key questions: 

• What is PBL/K and why is it essential? 
• How can we better document, resource and legitimize it? 
• What collective actions can advance PBL/K in policy, research and practice? 

Insights and actions 

Raising Voices opened the session by describing in detail how PBL/K involves an active and intentional learning process over time informed by direct experiences, observations, stories, informal reflections, monitoring processes, and more, while PBK refers to the knowledge that emerges. It complements academic research, capturing the “how” and “why” of effective community interventions while fostering innovation, accountability and inclusive feminist discourse. Raising Voices and a partner organization, the Center for Domestic Violence Prevention (CEDOVIP), illustrated how these principles work in practice.  

The What Works to Prevent Violence programme then talked about the opportunities and challenges of PBL/K, including the need for feminist approaches, South-South collaboration and women’s rights organizations to lead the process. Partner organizations such as Bantwana Initiative, Women Unlimited and MASUM showcased PBL/K's value in refining strategies, enhancing advocacy and informing programming.   

In the final session, the UN Trust Fund proposed five key collective actions to scale up PBL/K: 

• Consolidating practitioner insights into accessible formats. 
• Disseminating PBL/K through inclusive, creative platforms. 
• Building networks for peer exchange and mentorship. 
• Advocating for PBL/K’s integration into policies and programmes. 
• Resourcing PBL/K through dedicated donor support. 

Organizations, including CEPLAES Ecuador, Breakthrough Trust India, the Institute of Young Women Development Zimbabwe, Prevention Collaborative, SVRI Forum and the Safe Futures Hub, shared practical strategies for putting these ideas into action. 

The road ahead 

The workshop made it clear: PBL/K is essential for amplifying voices of practitioners working closely with communities and creating transformative change in ending VAW/G. However, several obstacles remain, including: lack of dedicated funding, resistance from some donors and academics due to misaligned concerns over bias and rigour, and difficulty integrating PBL/K with some M&E and donor-driven approaches remain obstacles.  

Participants also identified opportunities for collective and individual action to promote PBL/K, including: 

• Creating peer learning circles and communities of practice to share PBL/K experiences, resources and knowledge. 
• Using platforms like the SHINE Hub and SVRI Forum to sustain dialogue. 
• Building a collective business case for PBL/K to demonstrate to donors its value in ending VAW/G. 
• Advocating for more funding dedicated to learning and innovation, and sensitizing donors and policymakers to PBL/K’s transformative potential. 
• Capacity building and inclusive support, including training, fellowships and spaces for reflection. 
• Publishing joint articles, position papers and reports to amplify the importance of PBL/K. 
• Emphasizing the need to cultivate a learning culture within organizations and integrate PBL/K intentionally in programming.  

The workshop ended with participants committing to: 

• drive forward collective action on PBL/K; and 
• push for greater recognition, resourcing and uptake of PBL/K in efforts to end VAW/G worldwide.  

Stay tuned for a record of the workshop in English, French and Spanish. Stay engaged as we work towards a future where feminist, community-driven knowledge is valued, resourced and mainstreamed in our work to end VAW/G.