As a utilisation-focused approach, OH values tailoring each harvest to the needs of its users and making each harvest unique. Rather than fixed rules, OH has a set of 9 principles that guide you in your application. This cluster will unpack the principles and we will share experiences on how these principles guide us in making design decisions.

From small NGOs to large international organisations, from peacebuilding to climate justice to governance reform, Outcome Harvesting is being applied in a diverse range of contexts worldwide. With that breadth comes a wealth of practical experience which participants will share in this cluster. It also brings shared challenges: questions about rigour, participation, sensemaking, and how to do this work with integrity in difficult conditions.

This cluster brings together sessions on the practical craft of Outcome Harvesting — the concrete choices, dilemmas, and techniques that practitioners navigate in their daily work. From harvesting approaches and maximising participation, to formulating complex or sensitive outcomes and substantiating them with credibility, these sessions dig into the how of doing OH well. We will also explore how to organise sense-making, how OH feeds into reporting, and what it means to apply OH through a feminist and power-aware lens. The Tool Market gives participants space to share and explore databases, analysis software, AI tools, guidelines and other practical resources.

Since its development, OH has been implemented both for monitoring as well as for evaluations in diverse and creative ways. Due to its added value in capturing unexpected changes, identifying smaller outcomes that can lead to significant impacts, and the ability to harvest directly from social actors, OH has been embedded in MEL systems by project or programme implementers. Its focus on behavioural change among social actors has proven useful when combined with other methods or approaches, such as causal pathways, contribution analysis, and systems change.

During this cluster, we will share experiences and discuss the challenges that have arisen when using OH for evaluations, as a monitoring tool, or in combination with other methods. For example, is there something like OH "light" — an application of OH that is less time-intensive, and can that be used at all? During the different uses of OH, have the OH principles always been followed? If not, is it OH, and does this matter? What are the core essentials of the method? If you were to link OH with other methods, what would you need to include so it remains OH?

We will discuss how participants have integrated OH into their MEL work. Participants will present specific challenges, and together we will address those important questions.