Unlocking lessons, sharing impact: why the SEN is collating thematic learning briefs
Author/s: Margo le Roux
South Africa’s social challenges require urgent and sustained action. The Social Employment Fund (SEF) was established to harness the energy, creativity and institutional capability embedded in South African civil society – mobilising people in work for the common good. This is not just about creating jobs. It’s about enabling work that restores dignity, strengthens communities and builds a more inclusive economy. Since February 2022, the Social Employment Network (SEN) – convened by the Economic Development Partnership (EDP) – has played a pivotal role supporting the SEF’s implementation. As a learning network, the SEN has created a vibrant community of practice among the SEF’s Strategic Implementing Partners (SIPs), enabling strategic knowledge exchange, collaborative problem-solving and coordinated communication. This work has helped strengthen partnerships, surface practical innovations and improve overall effectiveness of the SEF.
Why learning briefs – and why now?
Learning together Strategic Implementing Partners at the 2024 annual gathering where they were able to deepen networks and learn from one another. The SEN Learning Brief series makes this learning more accessible in the sector for greater impact.
Facilitating shared learning at scale isn’t simple. SIPs operate in diverse contexts, focus on different themes and face unique challenges. Without a way to capture and synthesise what’s being learned, we risk losing invaluable insight, particularly the kind that doesn’t fit neatly into surveys or quarterly reports.
Tacit knowledge – the lessons drawn from lived experience – is often difficult to quantify, yet critical to understanding real impact. How do people experience their work? What makes that work meaningful, and how is it contributing to their communities? These are questions traditional monitoring and evaluation (M&E) frameworks struggle to answer.
This is where the SEN learning briefs come in. Launched this month, with the first focusing on Early Childhood Development (ECD), the briefs are a series of accessible knowledge products that document and share what SIPs are learning across different SEF thematic areas. Each brief highlights real stories, field-tested insights and practical lessons from programme implementation. This output surfaces the kind of tacit knowledge that helps us understand not just what is working, but why.
SEN: The right space to lead this work
Convening a learning network Kate Philips, programme lead of the Presidential Employment Stimulus, shares insights with Strategic Implementing Partners about the benefits of being part of the Social Employment Network, which strengthens mutual learning.
The Social Employment Network (SEN) plays a critical role in amplifying the impact of the Social Employment Fund (SEF). As a support and coordination mechanism, the SEN facilitates partnerships and co-learning among the SEF’s Strategic Implementing Partners (SIPs). and so develops local skills, strengthens agency and maximises the transformative potential of the SEF’s work by creating space for collaboration and shared learning.
As a learning network, the SEN is uniquely positioned to lead this work. The SEN is convened by the EDP and uses the EDP’s partnering practices to hold deep engagement with the SIPs. This engagement results in collaborative platforms for systemic change that are grounded in strong, trust-based relationships SIPs and well-established partnering practices.
Key partnering practices that enable a thriving learning network like the SEN include a shared vision that aligns partners around common goals and principles. Carefully curated learning experiences — such as peer-led sessions, thematic groups, and digital knowledge-sharing tools — foster ownership and responsiveness to partner needs. A culture of openness, mutual support, and co-learning is sustained through inclusive dialogue and regular engagement. Skilled facilitation by an independent intermediary ensures productive, conflict-sensitive collaboration. Lastly, long-term commitment and adaptability are essential to nurture trust, sustain momentum, and evolve with changing contexts.
In its role in supporting knowledge exchange, the SEN acts as a vital connector among SIPs and between SIPs and the Industrial Development Corporation. It is this collaboration that creates the conditions for sharing and capturing learning.
Capturing deep impact
Do you eat mushrooms? Participants at the annual Social Employment Network gathering re-engage with one another in person through a round of social bingo.
This series of learning briefs is more than a record of what’s been achieved through the SEF. It’s a living resource designed to inform and shape future programmes. These insights go beyond headcounts and employment figures; they explore how participants experience the dignity and meaning of work, how their efforts benefit the broader community, and why work for the common good is more sustainable than short-term jobs.
Crucially, the learning briefs complement and strengthen traditional M&E approaches. While data on job numbers and project delivery remain important, these briefs offer a richer understanding of the SEF’s transformative potential. They explore how people find meaning in work that contributes to the common good, and how that work builds community resilience and connection—laying the foundation for more sustainable, people-centred employment solutions.
In capturing this nuance, the SEN learning briefs make a compelling case: social employment isn’t a temporary fix to a big problem; it’s a model worth investing in for the common good.