UNDP Guide to Deep Listening

Listening to the Present, Designing the Future: A Guide to Deep Listening
UNDP, 10 March 2023

Since 2020, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in collaboration with Agirre Lehendakaria Center (ALC), has been supporting Social Innovation Platform (SIP) to strengthen governance, inclusive participation and foster socio-economic development at the subnational level. At the heart of SIP lies a people-centered approach that utilizes ‘Deep Listening’ to give voice to local communities and unravel insights into the state of things, and glimpses of what might be to come for more inclusive, participatory, and integrated development planning.

This guide provides step-by-step guidance, practical tools, and hands-on experiences on the process of Deep Listening, including systems mapping, rapid ethnographic research, sensemaking and analysis. It aims to help development practitioners to add a community listening perspective to their programming, which can lay the groundwork for further portfolio design.