Evidence review: Transformational change

Evidence review: Transformational change

  • Status Completed
  • Review start February 2018
  • Review completion December 2021
  • Co-funding agency Climate Investment Funds

This evidence review will combine two different evidence gap maps into one learning exercise on transformational change.

We will indirectly review the evidence on transformational change in two sectors where there has been demonstrable progress: in energy and in behavioural change in public health. The review will use causal evidence to assess how lessons about transformational change in these two sectors may inform broader climate change mitigation and adaptation investments. The evidence gap maps will inform the scope of a subsequent systematic review.

For the purpose of our review, we operationalize transformational change in the following manner:

A large depth of change: Transformational change requires a sizeable change. For the purpose of this review, we measure depth as the effect size of an intervention on outcomes.  

A large scale of change: Even with large effect size, and intervention only becomes an important contributor of transformational change if it is targeting many beneficiaries or covering a large geographical area.

Sustained change: For a change to be transformational, it must persist over time.

Key documents

Approach paper: A review of the attributes of transformational change in the energy and public health sectors

July 2020

The approach paper and approach brief detail the contours of the evidence review. We review the evidence on transformational change in two sectors where there has been demonstrable progress: in energy and in behavioural change in public health. The review uses causal evidence to assess how lessons about transformational change in these two sectors may inform broader climate change mitigation and adaptation investments.

Evidence gap map on behavioural interventions in public health

July 2020

The evidence gap map of behavioural interventions in public health details the landscape of studies and inform the scope of a subsequent systematic reviews.

 

Evidence gap map on energy

July 2020

The evidence gap map on energy details the landscape of studies and inform the scope of a subsequent systematic reviews. 

Protocol: A review of the attributes of transformational change in the energy and public health sectors

November 2020

The protocol details the saturated intervention/outcome cells selected and the approach to meta-analysis.

Systematic review: Scale, depth and duration - Examples of transformational change in the energy and public health sectors

May 2022

The final report and final brief offer examples of transformational change in the energy and public health sectors at scale, with depth and duration. We identify lessons on transformational change from these two sectors that are relevant to policymakers.