The Scaling Scan: a practical tool to determine the potential to scale
Impact at scale is needed to address critical global issues like water availability, sanitation, food security, access to clean energy and environmental concerns. But at the same time we all seem to wonder what scaling actually means in practice: how can our policy or project activities contribute to reach impact at scale? The PPPLab, studied to what it realistically takes to scale, and developed a practical tool that helps projects to identify strengths and weaknesses of their scaling strategies. The Scaling Scan is designed for anyone involved in pro-poor and sustainable development programs looking to scale impact. They are mandated to scale responsibly with minimal negative side effects on environmental, social and other systems. Project coordinators, managers and teams who direct project resources and priorities will be those most able to take advantage of the Scaling Scan. Still, technical experts and implementing staff will still find the scaling perspective useful, especially if applied before a pilot ends. Furthermore, the Scaling Scan can be applied within a range of sectors, though it is based on experience from the agriculture and the water sector. Several tests have been carried out in the Netherlands, Mexico, Kenya, India and Nepal with project managers, scientists, agricultural extension agents and other development practitioners working in the agrifood and rural water supply sectors. The final version was developed in cooperation with the International Wheat and Maize Improvement Centre (CIMMYT).
You can download the Scaling Scan here.