How Resurgence combines research, co-design, climate science and long-term partnerships to build early warning services people can actually use.
How it works
Resurgence’s methodology is built around one core principle: climate information only works when it reaches people in forms they trust, understand, and can act on.
Every programme starts with research into how weather and climate information is currently produced, understood (or interpreted) and used. From there, Resurgence works with vulnerable communities, community organisations, forecasters, telecoms and media partners to co-design services that respond to real needs, local realities and existing communication behaviours. This makes each solution scientifically grounded in data, community-led and built for long-term use.
Phase 1
Understand the landscape
Map the information ecosystem, identify risks, and establish how communities currently access, interpret and act on weather and climate information.
Phase 2
Co-design the service
Use surveys, focus groups, interviews and stakeholder engagement to shape services around trusted channels, real behaviours and local barriers.
Phase 3
Co-produce the service
Develop warning systems and communication campaigns, refined through feedback loops that keep communities and climate science at the centre.
Phase 4
Measure, learn and strengthen
Return with the same rigour at programme close to measure what changed, capture evidence of impact, and improve the next generation of services.
Measuring What Matters
Resurgence designs every programme with accountability built in from the start. Our research and evidence framework tracks not just what we deliver, but whether it reaches people, whether they understand it, and whether it changes what they do when extreme weather threatens.
How it works
How we design and deliver inclusive early warning systems.
Understand the System
Our proprietary Information Ecosystem Mapping (IEM) identifies how risk information flows between information providers and the community, and where the blockages are. Before we design anything, we map the landscape: who receives information, through which channels, in what form, and whether it leads to action.
Track What Changes
Community surveys, focus group discussions, key informant interviews, policy reviews, and social and mass media monitoring give us a layered picture of change, disaggregated by gender and vulnerability, so we know whether warnings are reaching those who need them most.
Learn and Adapt
Our Theory of Change is not a static document. It is a living framework, reviewed regularly against real-world conditions and community feedback. Continuous learning loops mean every programme makes the next one stronger.
We hold ourselves to the same standard as the services and partnerships we help build: trustworthy, consistent, and responsive to the people who depend on them most.
Frequently Asked Questions
Answers to some commonly asked questions.
How does Resurgence measure the impact of its programmes?
Every project begins with a baseline and ends with an endline assessment. This uses a mix-methods approach, combining quantitative and qualitative data. There are also targeted assessments at various points of the project implementation to track changes, which enables us to adapt our approach in real-time.
This allows Resurgence to measure changes in access, understanding, trust and action over time, producing impact claims that are evidence-based, verifiable and comparable across different contexts.
What does co-design mean in practice?
Co-design means communities, forecasters, city authorities, media partners and other stakeholders actively shape the service from the start. Resurgence does not apply a pre-packaged solution. It builds services around the people, systems and behaviours already present on the ground.
Resurgence uses multiple tools for this, including participatory spatial mapping, design thinking workshops and Climate Cafés.
How does Resurgence work across very different contexts?
The multi-hazard methodology is designed to travel. It has been applied across cities, coastal communities, small island contexts and fragile or conflict-affected settings, adapting to local realities without losing its scientific and participatory foundations.
How does Resurgence know whether information is actually reaching people?
Alongside household research, Resurgence tracks engagement across channels such as radio, television and social media to understand not only whether information is being issued, but whether people are seeing it, trusting it and responding to it.
What research framework does DARAJA use?
DARAJA uses a Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning (MEL) framework anchored in a robust quasi-experimental design to generate credible evidence of programme impact.
The framework combines quantitative household surveys with qualitative research methods, including focus group discussions and key informant interviews. This mixed-methods approach enables statistically robust measurement while also capturing the experiences, perspectives, and contextual factors that influence change.
Participatory Action Research (PAR) principles are embedded throughout the process, ensuring that communities actively contribute to learning, reflection, and decision-making. Together, these approaches support continuous learning and adaptive programme management.
Why are control groups important in DARAJA's approach?
A defining feature of the DARAJA framework is the deliberate inclusion of comparable control groups alongside project communities.
Control groups provide the counterfactual—an indication of what would likely have happened in the absence of the intervention. By comparing outcomes between project and non-project areas, DARAJA can more confidently attribute observed changes to programme activities rather than to broader social, economic, or environmental trends.
This strengthens causal inference, reduces bias, and increases the reliability and credibility of impact findings, providing greater accountability to communities, partners, and donors.
Does DARAJA have any gender, equity, disability and inclusion quality control?
A strong commitment to Gender Equality, Disability, and Social Inclusion (GEDSI) is also embedded in the DARAJA MEL system: data collected at the baseline, midline, and endline stages are systematically disaggregated by gender, age, disability status, country and other socio-economic characteristics. This ensures that differential impacts are identified, equity gaps are addressed, and programme benefits are inclusive.
How long has DARAJA been applying this framework?
Built and refined over the past decade, the DARAJA MEL framework is specifically designed to capture community-level impact with a high degree of analytical rigour. Together, these elements ensure a comprehensive, evidence-based understanding of programme effectiveness, while maintaining strong accountability for demonstrable impact in project areas relative to control groups.
See the approach in action
Explore the programmes, partnerships and evidence behind Resurgence’s work in climate resilience.
