Programme

Outcomes-based financing (OBF) is emerging as an innovative financing approach in education aimed at enhancing effectiveness, accountability, and transparency in education programming. This panel discusses the critical role of collaborative learning amongst diverse actors in examining the opportunities and challenges of implementing OBF within the education sector.

Building strong partnerships among researchers, service providers, investors, and funders to engage in a collaborative learning process is an important avenue to enhance the global knowledge base on the complexities, challenges, and success of using OBF. Learning partnerships that foster open communication, trust, and collective meaning-making have the potential to better understand whether, how, and under what conditions the OBF approach is beneficial to improving education outcomes.

Featuring a diverse panel of researchers, service providers, investors, funders, and intermediaries, this discussion offers a comprehensive exploration of how diverse interests converge to provide equitable, inclusive, and quality education to all. Each panellist brings a unique perspective, enriching the discourse with their experiences and insights. The discussion will delve into the significant value that learning and research partnerships bring, the various models of engagement, the obstacles they face, and strategies to overcome these challenges. Furthermore, the discussion will focus on strengthening collaborative learning between different actors to benefit the global education community with a transparent knowledge repository on reflections and lessons learned on the use of OBF in education. The insights shared in the panel should be invaluable for stakeholders either considering OBF or who are already implementing education projects using OBF.

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Climate change and environmental degradation present challenges on a global scale. The need to increase funding for environmental programmes and to maximise the impact of that funding, requires cross-sector coordination among states, international organisations, and the private sector. At the same time, environmental policy must adapt to specific places, their communities and contextual characteristics. The voices of citizens, civil society groups, and local co-creation become requirements for policy sustainability. This session will explore cross-sector partnerships for environment and climate policy at multiple scales. Key themes include: Global climate finance and the impact of investment; varying definitions and metrics for results; stakeholder engagement and co-creation of ‘green’ solutions; governance and administration to support multi-scale partnerships.

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In this session, we will take global stock of the landscape of outcome-based investments in health. We will then explore the experience of the benefits and challenges in this field, as well as the tried-and-true solutions to mitigate risks. This will be informed by international case studies in Europe, Australia, UK, and Netherlands. We will investigate key questions which have relevancy for any stakeholder interested in the area of health.

Key questions:

• What are the barriers to investing in health outcomes?
• What is the value-add of new funding types for achieving better health outcomes?
• How can we overcome the risks perceived by different actors in investing in health at the system-level?

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This session will explore innovative ways of working with outcomes-based contracts and impact investing. From the first impact bond lunched in 2010, many lessons have been learned and new tools developed to that builds and expand an outcomes mindset. In this session we will delve into a number of growth paths for the outcomes mindset, from the creation of an outcomes marketplace, to developing microbonds, to creating repositories and capacity-building tools for a broader portfolio of approaches that may be more appropriate in different contexts.

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Outcomes contracts are designed around measurable impact. This session asks ‘measurable impact for whom?’, and explores the difficulties of providing beneficial services for vulnerable and marginalised people. From programmes for disabled children, to refugees, to survivors of domestic abuse, we will critically reflect on initiatives to include and support vulnerable communities within outcomes contracts. Key themes include: incentives to enhance inclusion; trust and sensitivity between providers and service users; developing community-centric definitions of outcomes and impact.

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This session will delve into the public procurement professional's role in relational public contracting for innovation, sustainability and VCSEs. By exploring the intricate relationship between procurement practices and relational contracting, we will highlight how professionals might drive social value through collaborative and responsible partnerships.

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Achieving outcomes requires different agencies and organisations to work together around aligned missions. Research suggests adopting a more relational approach to contracting and partnerships is critical to true collaboration. In this interactive session, we'll be sharing GO Lab and Public Digital's initial work on co-creating a framework to guide commissioners in establishing a relational contracting approach for complex outcomes-based services, and looking for people to share their experiences and insights as we iterate it together and test it in real-world commissioning challenges.

Hosted by Public Digital

In this session, we will take stock of women’s health. A new report from World Economic Forum found that every $1 invested in women’s health unlocks $3 in economic growth globally. In this breakfast, we will look at the experience of different partnership arrangements to catalyse at scale women’s health programs. This will be informed by international case studies that have had success at improving reproductive health, gender equity, and maternal health literacy. We will assess three key questions:

• Can we align common goals and different actors in the field to work together using partnership?
• Can we use innovative funding or new governance arrangements to put women’s health at the forefront?
• What are the barriers and evidence-gaps to investing in women’s health?

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Meeting ID: 339 135 905 129

Passcode: LgSuj8

Join us for an informal session focused on the unique challenges faced by early career researchers. This open discussion is designed to offer practical advice, peer support, and insights into navigating the early stages of a research career. Whether you're tackling your PhD or transitioning into postdoctoral work, this session provides a relaxed environment to connect with others, share experiences, and gather tips to help you succeed in your academic journey.

The benefits of practicing sport regularly are well understood and accepted. There is strong evidence pertaining to health and educational outcomes for participants, as well as improved social cohesion and well-being for communities and volunteers. Since 2017, UEFA has been quantifying the benefits in financial terms to strengthen the business case for government investment in recreational football. This has led to the development of Social Outcome Partnerships between football clubs, government and social investors.

In this breakfast we will discuss

a) How local sports organisations can design for greater impact, using outcomes based innovative finance models.

b) Whether frameworks such as CSRD/ESG reporting provide new opportunities for investing in sport for development (purposeship, outcome payments).

c) The case for blending public and private investment in sport so that better finance is linked to better outcomes.

Outcomes-based contracts have a strong focus on the measurement of pre-agreed outcomes. Learning and transparency efforts usually put their attention on the final outcomes (or long-term outcomes) achieved by projects. However, we know little about the processes that projects put in practice to achieve those final results.

What is the role of intermediate (or short-term) outcomes in outcomes-based contracts?

How can we measure those achievements that are not long-term outcomes agreed in a contract, but still relevant intermediate outcomes for the beneficiaries?

What do intermediate outcomes tell us about the complexity of the context in which they operate? How can we capture learning through the process?

Come and join us for a breakfast session where we will discuss ideas for assessing progress and intermediate and final outcomes from a contribution perspective.

Participants will explore the cutting-edge innovations in AI that are transforming the landscape of social service delivery. This session will highlight the potential of AI to revolutionise service provision, and discuss an example of how these innovations can be implemented effectively within organisations.

Interested in finding out how Beam is helping to change the face of frontline delivery across social care? Join our breakfast session to find out more and join the conversation.

This session will feature a deep exploration of the latest practice and evidence around the use of outcomes funds. To date over 20 outcomes funds have been launched and implemented, spanning diverse countries and policy areas of focus. What is the state of play globally with outcomes funds? Where are new funds being developed? What can we learn from the practice to date about how to design and implement outcomes funds effectively?

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Stability and social cohesion are the foundations of improved social outcomes. It is therefore little surprise that populations affected by violence and displacement often have weak services and poor outcomes. While aid to fragile and conflict-affected states has increased, the success of development spending in these contexts remains questionable. There is an urgent need to better understand factors that would constitute more effective support for vulnerable populations.

This session explores the theory and practice of cross-sector collaboration in fragile contexts. Key themes include: results-based partnerships; trust and inclusion; accountability and transparency.

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This session will showcase a number of initiatives where data on outcomes plays a key role in shaping decisions. Producing and using data on outcome metrics, targets and achievements takes time and effort. In this session, we will discuss what are the metrics and indexes that are used the most, how they feed further decision-making processes and the trade-offs that happen when data is transformed into action.

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We are delighted to be hosting an academic paper workshop for the first time at the Social Outcomes Conference. This will be an interactive session, providing an opportunity to gather with peers and workshop your academic paper.

If you are interested in participating, please contact Michael Gibson.

In this practice-focused session we will dive deep into the experience of some of the social outcomes partnership projects supported through the Life Chances Fund. We will look at projects across different policy areas to explore impact, success factors as well as implementation challenges. We will also reflect together on the projects’ sustainability plans and legacy.

The Life Chances Fund (LCF) is a pioneering £70m programme, launched by the UK Government in 2016. It supports 29 locally-commissioned projects focussed on supporting vulnerable individuals, and it is underpinned by an ambitious and innovative data and evaluation agenda. Find out more about the impact of the Life Chances Fund through this video.

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Join us for this session where we'll explore pioneering initiatives in social outcomes partnerships worldwide. Hear from experts representing diverse regions including the Middle East, Latin America, Africa, and Asia, offering invaluable insights beyond conventional Western paradigms. Gain fresh perspectives and innovative strategies to drive impactful change in social outcomes initiatives.

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This session will explore innovative strategies that empower local communities, engage service users and vulnerable groups, and enhance cross-sector collaborations for sustainable development and social impact.

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At SOC23, we examined the potential for formal relational contracting to support more effective contracting when the public sector seeks to source complex services from private providers. In this SOC24 session, we'll instead focus on the role of the public sector in formal relational contracts, examining (1) the particular challenges posed by the involvement of a public actor in the contract (e.g. public accountability, political pressure etc.) and (2) the public sector capabilities needed to overcome these challenges.

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