Environmental Evaluation: Quality in an Era of Results-Based Performance
Date: June 7-8, 2010
Venue: Washington, D.C.
The Environmental Evaluators Network (EEN) will host its 5th annual Forum in Washington DC at The George Washington University on June 7,8 2010. The purpose of the EEN is to advance the field of environmental program and policy evaluation through more systematic and collective learning among evaluators and evaluation users. The 5th annual EEN Forum will bring together evaluators and users of evaluation to explore and articulate the significance of the emerging era of results-based performance on the quality of environmental evaluations.
The Issue:
Growing awareness of the interdependencies of our social, economic, and ecological systems requires more efficient use of scarce resources to evaluate complex problems. In this heightened era of accountability, recipients and funders of environmental programs want evidence of what works, and what does not, and better mechanisms for using real time information for decision-making. How will the era of results-based performance affect the quality of environmental evaluations? What must be done to improve the quality of environmental evaluations to meet the requirements and desire for better and more accessible evidence of program and policy effectiveness?
Theme:
Environmental Evaluation: Quality in an Era of Results-Based Performance
The American Evaluation Association’s 2010 Annual Conference will address the issue of Evaluation Quality. The EEN 2010 Forum will explore the practical and theoretical issues that affect evaluation quality that are most pertinent to environmental evaluators, including:
Balancing the need for accountability, transparency, evidence and improvement
Integrating measurement and evaluation into the design of programs and policies
The dispersed and disjointed nature of relevant data and information
Participatory evaluation vs. expert driven evaluation
The utility of logic models and other articulations of program theory
Communication in evaluation – social media and data visualization
Demonstrating short-term and long term results
Who for?
Environmental evaluators and users of environmental evaluation, both domestic and international, in government agencies, foundations, consulting firms, non-profit organizations, academia, and international institutions who are well poised to contribute to advancing the field of environmental evaluation.
Where?
The George Washington University, Washington, D.C.
When?
Monday and Tuesday, June 7-8, 2010
Sponsors:
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
National Fish and Wildlife Foundation
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
The George Washington University Trachtenberg School of Public Policy and Pubic Administration
Format:
One of the keys to the success of the 2010 Forum will be our ability to create a space for even more lively, cutting edge dialogue. Rather than a purely academic discussion, the 2010 EEN Forum will aspire to document, in a format useful to policy makers, the environmental evaluators’ perspective on the primary issues influencing evaluation quality. To achieve this and further improve the networking and access to the experience and knowledge of participants, the 2010 Forum will consider the value of integrating Web 2.0 social media and alternative facilitation approaches, such as Open Space Technology, into sections of the Forum.
For updates, networking and more on the EEN and this year’s Forum:
Join the www.LinkedIn.com Environmental Evaluators Network group!!
Check out www.nfwf.org/een for information on past events and products!!
Registration information soon to follow.
We hope to see you there and look forward to your participation!
Most Sincerely, Matt Keene & Matt Birnbaum
Matt Keene
Evaluation Support Division
Office of Policy, Economics, and Innovation
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Office 202-566-2240
Matthew Birnbaum
Evaluation Officer
National Fish and Wildlife Foundation
Office: 202-595-2461
Cell: 202-360-3969
Looks great Rick. Thanks for posting. For those interested, don’t hesitate to get in touch. See you in June!
Matt