Behind the Build: CGIAR’s universally available Innovation & Scaling Course
Client Context
The Innovation and Scaling team of CGIAR, in partnership with Wageningen University & Research, set out to create the first fully online eLearning programme on Innovation and Scaling for a global research and development audience. The client had deep expertise, extensive academic material and strong international demand — but no digital course, no structured curriculum and no internal capacity to build one.
They needed a partner who could take them from concept to completion: curriculum design, content development, online learning strategy, full production and ongoing digital support.
The Challenge
The client had a huge volume of material — lectures, conference papers, journal articles, field notes — but none of it was written for an online audience. They needed to translate years of research into a clear, engaging and accessible digital learning experience that would work for scientists, practitioners and policy actors across multiple regions and languages.
The challenge was to bring structure, clarity and instructional design rigour to a complex, content‑heavy subject, while managing stakeholders across two major global institutions.
Core Question
How do we transform a vast, highly technical body of academic knowledge into a modern, coherent eLearning course that is engaging, accessible and scalable worldwide?
Our Approach
We began by working with the CGIAR and WUR teams to establish a clear curriculum: what the course needed to deliver, why it mattered and who it was for. From there, we supported the client to navigate their existing materials — identifying what could be reused, what needed rewriting and what required fresh digital development.
Once the structure was set, we worked side‑by‑side with scientists and academics to write lecture scripts, reshape articles for online delivery, and build case studies grounded in real fieldwork. We also led the creative development, illustrating and producing all online lectures to ensure consistency in quality and visual identity.
We project‑managed the entire process end to end: coordinating contributors, managing third‑party suppliers, overseeing digital standards and guiding the selection of the most suitable eLearning platform.
Finally, we built the full course inside the chosen platform, integrating analytics, learner tracking and performance data so the team could monitor engagement and impact from day one.
How We Worked
We combined instructional design, facilitation and project‑management expertise. Our approach was collaborative and iterative — translating technical content into accessible learning, keeping academics engaged and supported, and ensuring decisions were grounded in what learners actually need.
We worked quickly, clearly and with a strong focus on quality. Every piece of content — text, graphics, examples, assessments, scripts — was built with clarity, simplicity and learner experience at the core.
Contribution from the Client
The CGIAR and WUR teams brought deep expertise, strong commitment and a huge appetite to build something world‑class. They shared materials generously, engaged actively in content reviews and remained open to challenging and rethinking how their subject matter could be taught online.
Their ambition raised the quality of the programme.
Key Findings
Several things became clear through the process. Expert content does not automatically make expert learning; it needs shape, narrative and accessibility. Collaborative project management across multiple institutions is essential. And high‑quality digital learning requires equal focus on pedagogy, design and production — not simply moving lectures online.
Emerging Impact
The course launched to immediate demand. It achieved over 1,000 enrolments in its first month, with numbers continuing to grow internationally. It has become both a flagship learning product and a proof point for the appetite — and need — for stronger capacity development in Innovation and Scaling.
Its success has led to wider ongoing work: translating the course into additional languages, supporting other CGIAR teams as they build digital content, and advising on broader capacity‑development strategy.
Why LEEWAY
We bring clarity, structure and practical expertise to complex subject matter. Our approach blends instructional design, facilitation, content development and hands‑on production — helping global research programmes turn technical knowledge into engaging, accessible learning that travels.
This course didn’t just share knowledge — it set a new standard for digital capacity development within the CGIAR system.