Organisational learning

INTPA is engaged in several initiatives aimed at creating, retaining and disseminating knowledge. The ultimate purpose is to translate expertise into operational reality, linking knowledge to processes, products and results.
Consequently, and given the geographic distribution of its staff, INTPA has long adopted digital tools to develop collaborative workspaces and methods. Three main knowledge hubs are available for INTPA operational managers: EU Learn, EU INTPA Academy and Capacity4dev.

EU Learn

EU LEARN is is the learning environment of EU institutions, agencies and other bodies. It is part of the EC's Learning and Development startegy and has been adapted to the 70:20:10 model: 70 per cent of what we learn is by doing our job, 20 per cent is from feedback given by managers and 10 per cent is from formal training.

EU Learn puts users in the driver's seat regarding their own learning. With easy access via an EU login, EU Learn is designed for both desktop and mobile devices. The platform provides access to courses, events and learning materials such as videos, e-books, podcasts, articles and print books.
At EU Learn, users can:

• browse courses, events and learning material;
• register for classroom training, events, conferences, on-the-job learning, e-learning and blended courses;
• access learning materials curated by experts;
• bookmark learning materials, courses and events for future reference;
• interact with other course participants via communities of practice.

EU International Partnership Academy

The EU International Partnership Academy - INTPA Academy - provides the public with access to online learning content. It has been part of an ongoing effort to open learning opportunities with and to Member States and partners including international organisations, civil society and partner countries.

The content available through INTPA Academy consists of e-learning courses, learning material and (increasingly) videos and webinars aimed at:

• providing implementing partners with access to required know-how;
• adding value to learning content initially produced for staff through sharing with others;
• helping to standardise development work by widely disseminating INTPA approaches;
• increasing the visibility of INTPA's work and methods of operation.

The Academy includes additional features such as the ability to provide live online courses (allowing staff in Delegations to participate) and links to existing communities of practice on the Capacity4dev platform. Most importantly, the Academy is open to the wider international development community, thereby promoting policy coherence and learning.

The learning offered on INTPA Academy is organised across different topics, so users can easily search for courses and other material of interest to them.

All content in the Academy is free of charge. Users simply enrol in a course and complete it for certification. They are free to use as many learning resources as they want, but course certification requires full completion.

Capacity4dev

Capacity4Dev is INTPA's official knowledge-sharing platform for development professionals set up by the Commission to capitalise on lessons learned through documentation and sharing of ideas and experiences. It is a community site where staff and development experts can share, learn and exchange methodologies and best practices through topic-based groups.

Users can discover a wealth of knowledge stemming from thematic communities, browse hundreds of knowledge pieces written by the platform's editorial team, join communities and connect with experts, manage projects or share their own experiences and gain recognition for their contributions. Online communities offer secure spaces with different access levels.

Capturing lessons learned is a way of identifying areas for improvement within an intervention and a way of helping similar interventions avoid similar obstacles in the future. Information that can be captured includes lessons learned from the management of risks, quality assurance, methods for engaging key stakeholders, outsourcing or contractor issues, work plan or time management issues, change requests, etc.

Through brainstorming sessions, reviewing intervention reports and monitoring information, the implementing partner, operational managers or any monitoring and evaluation actor involved in the intervention can identify and capture ideas that could be useful to keep and share. Lessons learned should be grouped and prioritised in order to understand key potential improvement areas. It is also good practice to share lessons learned with other development partners whenever possible. This may lead to improvements in processes, tools such as checklists and templates, and training.

There are other ad hoc repositories of lessons learned at the Delegation level with tailored databases primarily serving the needs of the Delegations in terms of knowledge, capitalisation and future operations.