Learning approach

We support a participatory approach to learning and recognize the critical importance of peer-to-peer learning. We encourage each learner to take ownership over the learning process. We engage participants in the design, delivery and monitoring of our learning events, and build on their experience. We put emphasis on understanding how learning happens and also how it influences individuals and consequently their institutions.

    Our participatory approach to learning includes:

  • Ensuring that the learner is at the heart of the learning process. The CEF learning experts take the roles of curators, facilitators, moderators, co-creators and observers, helping learners voice their learning objectives and assist them in achieving them.
  • Using a wide range of learning methods and tools to maximize interaction between lecturers and participants, and among participants.
  • Incorporating participants’ feedback before, during and after the learning event.
  • Showcasing the skills and knowledge that participants acquire: how they have benefited personally, as well as their teams and institutions.

We also pay attention to understanding and keeping pace with the learning needs of individuals, teams, organizations, and regional reform agendas. Individual learning, team learning, and organizational learning contribute to building a learning and knowledge sharing culture, enhancing performance, and enabling organizations to adapt and thrive in a dynamic environment to deliver on their mandates. Effective knowledge sharing at all three levels is a prerequisite for the organization to become a learning organization.


  • Individual Learning:
    Individual learning focuses on the acquisition and development of knowledge, skills, and competencies by individual public officials. It supports the personal growth and professional development of the learners. We address individual learning through the regular learning formats of the CEF (workshops, webinars, online and blended courses), offering on-the-job training, job shadowing and secondments, study visits, self-study, mentoring, and coaching.

    Individual learning is important because it enables public officials to enhance their expertise, adapt to new methodologies and changes in the work environment, and improve their overall performance. It also fosters a culture of lifelong learning and improvement within the organization.

  • Team Learning:
    Team learning emphasizes collective learning and knowledge sharing among members of a team, group, or network. It recognizes that effective teamwork requires not only individual competence but also the ability of team members to collaborate, communicate, and learn together.

    In team learning, individuals come together to exchange ideas, knowledge, experiences, and insights. They engage in discussions, problem-solving activities, and joint reflection to gain a deeper understanding of the team's goals, challenges, and potential solutions. Team learning promotes shared understanding, mutual support, and the development of a cohesive and high-performing team. Team learning is being addressed through collaborative problem-focused learning of groups, team-building exercises, participative planning of horizontal and vertical processes in public institutions, collaborative projects, formal and informal networks, and the establishment of a supportive team culture that encourages open communication and learning from both successes and failures.

    The knowledge exchange in formal and informal networks is seen as team learning and can have various formats and learning modalities.

  • Organizational Learning:
    Organizational learning refers to the process of capturing, packaging, and sharing knowledge within an entire organization i.e., institution. It involves the collective learning and adaptation of the organization as a whole in response to internal and external changes and challenges. Organizational learning in the CEF constituency aims to facilitate the transformation of public institutions into learning organizations and integrates the CEF methodology for transforming public institutions into learning organizations. Organizational learning recognizes that an organization's ability to learn, innovate, and adapt is crucial for its long-term success. It involves not only individual and team learning but also the creation of new knowledge that enables establishing of effective systems, processes, and structures that facilitate the sharing and utilization of knowledge throughout the organization continually.

    Organizational learning can be fostered through knowledge management practices such as lessons-learned sessions, post-project evaluations, communities of practice, cross-functional collaboration, and a knowledge sharing culture that values continuous improvement and learning from mistakes.