Copenhagen, Denmark | April 2026
How can antimicrobial resistance (AMR) projects be designed not only to achieve results during implementation, but to create impact that lasts long after project funding ends?
This question is at the heart of the Sustainable Impact and AMR Project, an ICARS-supported initiative led by the One Health and Development Initiative (OHDI) in collaboration with project partners. The project is developing an evidence-informed framework and practical toolkit to help AMR project teams systematically integrate sustainable impact throughout the project lifecycle.
In April 2026, representatives of the project consortium, including Dr Kikiope Oluwarore, Executive Director of OHDI and Project Lead, and Professor Benjamin Emikpe of the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST), travelled to Copenhagen, Denmark, for an intensive four-day engagement with teams at the International Centre for Antimicrobial Resistance Solutions (ICARS).
The visit represented an important milestone in the project: moving the Toolkit from development and initial testing towards deeper co-development, refinement, and integration within real-world AMR project processes.
Bringing Sustainable Impact into the AMR Project Lifecycle
The Copenhagen engagement brought together expertise from across ICARS, including its Science, Monitoring, Evaluation, Accountability and Learning (MEAL), implementation, and country advisory teams.
Rather than simply presenting a completed product, the sessions were deliberately designed as a co-development process. Participants worked through the conceptual framework and practical tools, examined how they could be applied at different stages of an AMR project, and considered how sustainable impact could be integrated into existing project development and management processes.
A central theme throughout the discussions was that sustainability should not be treated as something considered only towards the end of a project. Instead, project teams should begin thinking about sustainable impact from the earliest stages of project scoping and design, and continue doing so through proposal development, implementation, monitoring and learning, resource mobilisation, transition, and project closure.
This lifecycle approach is central to the Sustainable Impact and AMR Toolkit.
Working with the ICARS Science Team
A major component of the Copenhagen visit was an intensive onboarding workshop with the ICARS Science Team.
The engagement began with an introduction to the Sustainable Impact conceptual framework and the evidence and co-development process underpinning the Toolkit. Participants were then introduced to the different tools and guidance developed to help AMR project teams assess sustainability considerations, identify gaps, prioritise actions, and strengthen sustainable impact.
Over two days, participants worked in groups to examine and apply different components of the Toolkit. The highly interactive sessions provided an opportunity to explore how the tools could complement ICARS’ existing project development processes and how they could be made practical and accessible for project teams operating in diverse contexts.
One of the strongest messages emerging from the engagement was the importance of integration rather than duplication. Sustainable impact considerations should, wherever possible, strengthen existing project processes rather than create additional parallel requirements.
This led to important discussions around integrating sustainability considerations into existing processes such as Theory of Change and logic model development, stakeholder mapping, proposal development, risk management, work planning, monitoring and evaluation, and project transition.
Strengthening the Measurement of Sustainable Impact
The consortium also held a dedicated technical session with the ICARS MEAL Team to explore how sustainable impact can be appropriately measured without creating additional or burdensome reporting systems.
Discussions focused on distinguishing between what projects can directly control and the longer-term changes they can influence, as well as identifying practical output and outcome indicators that can help project teams monitor whether the conditions required for sustainable impact are being established.
The engagement helped refine the Toolkit’s approach to monitoring sustainable impact and strengthened its alignment with ICARS’ existing monitoring and learning systems.
Expert Review and Technical Reflection
The Copenhagen visit also provided opportunities for more focused technical discussions, including a dedicated engagement with Professor Sabiha Essack, Senior Implementation Research Advisor at ICARS.
The discussion provided an additional opportunity to critically examine the conceptual framework, Sustainable Impact Domains, enablers, challenges, and recommended actions. Particular attention was given to ensuring that the framework adequately reflects important considerations including governance, financing, equity, risk management, knowledge translation, systems thinking, and policy integration.
These discussions contributed to the continued refinement of both the scientific foundations and practical application of the Toolkit.
Preparing for Country-Level Application
Importantly, the Copenhagen engagement was not only about refining the Toolkit, it also prepared the project for its next phase of country-level application.
On the final day, the consortium met with ICARS Country Advisors supporting projects in Kenya, Ghana, Uganda, and Botswana, where the Toolkit would subsequently be piloted and used through dedicated onboarding workshops.
The discussion recognised that AMR projects differ considerably in their stage of development, institutional context, priorities, resources, and sustainability needs. Consequently, application of the Toolkit must remain flexible and context-sensitive rather than adopting a one-size-fits-all approach.
The country engagements would therefore provide an important opportunity to apply the refined Toolkit to real AMR projects, learn from project teams, and further strengthen its usability before finalisation.
A More Integrated and Practical Toolkit
One of the most important outcomes of the Copenhagen engagement was a clearer direction for simplifying and consolidating the Toolkit.
Feedback reinforced the need for a practical system that project teams can use without unnecessarily increasing their workload. This informed a move towards a more integrated Sustainable Impact Master Tool, bringing interconnected functions together while allowing other sustainability considerations to be incorporated into existing project processes.
The evolving approach covers sustainable impact planning and diagnostics, recommended actions, resource mobilisation and financial sustainability, Theory of Change and logic models, stakeholder engagement, risk management, monitoring and learning, and project exit and continuity planning.
The objective remains simple, which is to make sustainable impact something AMR project teams can actively plan for, implement, assess, and strengthen, not simply an aspiration discussed at the end of a project.
Moving Towards the Final Toolkit
The Copenhagen engagement marked another significant step in a development process that has combined research evidence, stakeholder consultation, practical testing, and iterative co-development.
Following the meetings, the consortium moved forward with reviewing and incorporating the feedback received, consolidating the Toolkit, and preparing for its application with ICARS-supported project teams in Kenya, Ghana, Uganda, and Botswana.
For OHDI and its partners, the process reflects an important principle underlying the entire Sustainable Impact and AMR Project: lasting impact is more likely when sustainability is deliberately considered from the beginning, continuously strengthened during implementation, and supported by the systems, institutions, resources, partnerships, and ownership required for outcomes to continue.
As the project progresses towards finalisation and wider dissemination of the Sustainable Impact and AMR Toolkit, lessons from Copenhagen and subsequent country engagements will continue to inform the development of a practical resource that can support AMR implementers in moving from successful projects towards sustainable, long-term change.
