Change from the beginning. The early engagement of all stakeholders leads to better understanding of the problem and builds important relationships for the change process. Next to meeting expectations, carving out the collective vision of the project can also be empowering and motivating for everyone involved.38 Another key element is to recognise the importance of identifying and understanding the concrete needs of suspected and accused persons, who are directly confronted by the criminal justice system, and especially those who are the most impacted by policing (marginalised communities, people experiencing poverty, migrants, etc). In order to continuously and critically reflect upon assumptions according to the changing circumstances, it is important to develop a framework to monitor the progress and to use and update a Theory of Change. For that purpose, it is helpful to consider the ‘loop model’, highlighting the importance of constant reflection and (self-) reflection. The process of intervention starts by gathering information, building hypotheses on how change happens and what we need to do to influence, planning and implementing the intervention and evaluating it, drawing lessons learned that then feed into the next loop of intervention.39 Intervention Planning interventions Building hypotheses Gathering information INTERVENTIONS PROCESS/LEARNING Figure 3: The systemic loop process model A systemic understanding of change, integrating multiple perspectives, carefully mapping, reflecting, and revising our assumptions and using them as our constant guidance in our change processes can seriously increase the impact of our work. At the same time, it must be acknowledged that developing and implementing a Theory of Change can be a complex and elaborate process. Many organisations do not have the resources to develop a holistic and participatory strategy. Moreover, the capacities in strategy development, implementation, and evaluation are often missing. The project partners confirmed the importance of investing time to elaborate strategic planning. The national roundtables provided an important first step by developing ‘action plans’ that contained the following questions: • • • • It Problem: Which challenges do you have and want to address? Goal: How should the situation be after the change? Need: What needs to be done to achieve the change/goal? What can you do? is important that these are properly followed up and expanded, prioritising the activities that are 38. Stachowiak, ‘Pathways to Change’ (2013) 1. 39. Roswitha Königswieser and Martin Hillebrand, Systemic Consultancy in Organisations: Concepts, Tools, Innovations (Carl-AuerSysteme Verlag 2016) 45. 18