theIDLgroup believes in a process approach to development. No two situations are ever the same and theIDLgroup strongly believes that success in applying the SL approach depends on adapting the approach to the needs of particular situations and according to the strengths of partner organisations.
These ideas have been central to the SL work that IDL has been involved in:

• Supporting the process of pro-poor policy and institutional change - using the SL approach to explore how policy and institutional processes manifest themselves at local level and then working at all levels (national and international) to ensure policies and institutions respond to and reflect livelihood realities;
• Project cycle management - applying a SL approach to project and programme identification, design, monitoring, review and evaluation;
• Facilitating collaboration among agencies and sectoral partners - using the SL approach as a basis for promoting dialogue and encouraging engagement with a wider range of development actors;
• Using the SL principles and approach for improving the quality and relevance of strategic planning processes - country strategy papers, rural livelihood strategies, PRSPs, sector wide approaches etc;
• Training and facilitation - developing awareness of the strengths of the SL approach through practical workshops and innovative presentations; and