Welcome to the AES Blog

Australasia has some excellent evaluators. More than that, we have an evaluation community full of ideas and a willingness to share. The AES has long provided a place for us to come together, at regional events and the annual conference, to develop our community together. Now we’re taking it online! The new AES blog will be a space for AES members – both new and experienced – to share their perspectives, reflecting on their theory... If you have an idea, please contact us on blog@aes.asn.au. Please also view our blog guidelines.

Busting out of the box: a conversation with Zazie Tolmer on the MEL 360 Systems Guide

Practice Challenges

Monday, 05 January 2026

13 November 2025: Early on a dark Copenhagen morning, from a converted courthouse holding cell, systems-MEL thinker and evaluator Zazie Tolmer joined Squirrel Main for a lively conversation about the newly released MEL 360 Systems Guide.

Zazie, who many in Australia know from her years at Clear Horizon before moving abroad six years ago, now works with UNDP and Gates Foundation partners on systems and complexity-informed MEL.

This blog reflects highlights from their conversation, which you canwatch here.

What exactly is the MEL 360 Systems Guide?

Systems-informed MEL is a diverse and evolving field. As Zazie reminded us, there is no single method, no one right way, and no unified doctrine. Instead, it's a constellation of approaches that help us understand complexity, context, relationships and the conditions that shape long-term change.

The MEL 360 Systems Guide has a very specific purpose within that broader terrain: it's designed to bring people who usually work in programmatic MEL gently into the systems space without asking them to abandon familiar approaches.

Rather than forcing a "systems-only" way of working (which is nearly impossible inside dominant organisational and funding structures), the guide offers:

bite-sized tools
low-risk experiments
practical starting points
adaptable principles
a safe entry ramp into complexity-informed practice.

It's a public good that is open access, free to use, and intended to build comfort and fluency over time.

And what Zazie loves most?

"It's not pretending to be everything to everyone. It's just a really practical bridge to help you integrate small systems elements into work you're already doing."

A tiny shift can open a whole new door

One example came up during our session: using the "ecosystem-informed theory of change" piece on the MEL 360 website.

A small not-for-profit I was working with wanted to develop a theory of change for a deeply systemic intervention. We skimmed the MEL 360 tool and found a simple section on shifting the language:
from "activities and outputs" → to "spheres of control and influence"
from "outcomes" → to "systemic shifts".

It was small. It was subtle. But it changed the entire mindset of the evaluation team.

Sometimes one low-risk experiment is all you need to make a systems lens feel accessible rather than overwhelming.

Zazie loved this story: "That's exactly what we hope will happen — just start somewhere, get curious, try something."

The spiral: a different way to think about MEL planning

One of the most useful ideas in the guide is the MEL spiral.

Unlike traditional programmatic MEL where you define a multi-year MEL plan in advance, systems MEL acknowledges uncertainty. You don't have all the answers upfront. You shouldn't lock everything in.

The spiral represents:

Starting somewhere reasonable, not perfect
Learning from early insights
Adjusting
Deepening your understanding of the system
Evolving your MEL approach over time.

This invites a different view of rigour. As Zazie explained: "Systems MEL isn't evidence-light. It's evidence-over-time. You build understanding as you learn more about the system. Rigour shifts from pre-specification to continuous reflection and deliberate iteration."

Serious play, as she calls it.

The awkward dance with funders

Ah, funders. We all feel this one.

Many funders are interested in systems change but still operate with programmatic assumptions.

Zazie sees it as a two-steps-forward, one-step-back dance:

A funding body will open up exciting possibilities.

Then internal pressures or board expectations drag them back to linearity.

And it's not simple to navigate.

"People need time to shift their worldview. Systems MEL is almost existential."

We joked about those early "identity crisis" moments we all have moving into complexity:

Who am I? What is evaluation? Am I part of the system? Oh no…

Her honest takes: communicating clearly is crucial. Relationships matter more than methods. Evaluators often become documenters of systems change, bridging what is happening with what leaders need to understand to support it.

Most importantly: evaluators can help create patience in the system.

That is: building the evidence, stories and insights that help stakeholders stay committed long enough for systems change to emerge.

What's coming next for MEL 360?

A few exciting things are on the horizon:

1. A free, globally accessible training series
The first session has already run, with three more to come. Recordings are available, and Australians are warmly invited.

2. A Phase Two development push
UNDP and partners are seeking:

technical collaborators
funding partners (yes, more than one funder is better, Zazie notes)
practitioners willing to test, adapt, and feed back.

3. A growing MEL sandbox community
A place for practical systems-MEL experimentation — such as pivot metrics — where people can:

share real-world practice
adapt tools
offer insights
learn by doing.

The aim is not uniformity; it's adaptation, creativity and grounded experimentation.

Breaking out of the box

As our time drew to a close, Zazie looked around her tiny repurposed prison-cell-turned-meeting room and laughed: "Maybe this is actually quite symbolic — helping us all bust out of the old boxes we've been doing MEL in."

Exactly.

The MEL 360 Systems Guide doesn't demand that we abandon programmatic MEL. Instead, it invites us — gently, practically, playfully — to extend our practice, expand our thinking, and take low-risk steps toward complexity-informed learning.

It's an open door, not a prescription.

And it's already helping Australian evaluators experiment, adapt, and see their work through a more systemic lens.

----------------------------------------------------

The Systems Monitoring, Learning, and Evaluation Initiative, launched by UNDP Food Systems and Digital, AI, and Innovation Hub (previously known as "Strategic Innovation Unit") and supported by Gates Foundation. The Systems Monitoring Learning and Evaluation initiative, launched in 2023 by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Systems Transformation and Innovation Team and the Food Systems team, with the support of the Gates Foundation. The guidance was co-developed by Andrea Estrella Chong and Zazie Tolmer, together with Andrea Bina, Suzane Muhereza, Charles O'Malley, Ida Uusikyla, and Federica Fregolent. Communications from Davide Carrino, Lucia Caldeiro, Maria Fernandez Del Moral. Design by Rafa Poloni, Simone Uriartt, Valeria Estrella Chong, Beatriz Janoni. Editorial Support from Ngozi Finette. Initial Conceptualization by Charles O'Malley, Hannah Read, Søren Vester Haldrup. Project Coordination by Bianca Tejada. Project Direction from Andrew Bovarnick. Project Management by James Leslie (previously Christian Sieber), Xoan Fernandez Garcia.

-----------------------------------------------------

Zazie Tolmer is an evaluation and learning practitioner. She works with teams from governments, NGOs, foundations, impact investment funds, ventures, startups, and mission driven initiatives to design and implement purposeful learning and evaluation processes and products.

Squirrel Main is an evaluator with a passion for reducing inequity, mitigating climate change and improving outcomes for families. She has over 25 years' experience conducting and managing evaluations, building capability and facilitating emergent learning in the philanthropic, not-for-profit and government sectors.

We acknowledge the Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples of this nation. We acknowledge the Traditional Custodians of the lands in which we conduct our business. We pay our respects to ancestors and Elders, past and present. We are committed to honouring Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples’ unique cultural and spiritual relationships to the land, waters and seas and their rich contribution to society.

Share your ideas AES Blog