This briefing paper was produced following a policy forum hosted by Engineers Without Borders Canada (EWB) in January 2014. The event brought together a small group of policy makers, development practitioners and thought leaders from Canada, the United States, Uganda, Ghana, Malawi, and the United Kingdom to explore and discuss models of aid that allow for the pursuit of complex, adaptive programme design while retaining the rigour and “value-for-money” aspects of the current convention i.e. results-based management (RBM).