Category: Types of Events

PERSPECTIVES ON IMPACT EVALUATION: Approaches to Assessing Development Effectiveness

An International Conference in Africa for policy-makers, program managers, evaluators, sponsors and other stakeholders in evaluation and development

Date: Sunday 29 March – Thursday 2 April 2009
Venue: Semiramis InterContinental Hotel, Cairo, Egypt

OUR INVITATION

How do we know when ‘development’ is truly successful? What can evaluations tell us about which policies, programs and projects work, why, for whom and under what conditions? How can such evaluations best be conducted to help to bring new hope and opportunities to many millions in Africa and beyond?

It gives us great pleasure to invite you to participate in one of the most exciting evaluation events ever held in Africa. The African Evaluation Association (AfrEA), the Network of Networks on Impact Evaluation (NONIE) and the International Initiative for Impact Evaluation (3ie) have joined forces to bring to Africa some of the best expertise from all continents on one of the most discussed topics among evaluation and development communities worldwide.

For the conference we define impact evaluations as those studies which concern themselves with determining and understanding the short, medium and long term outcomes or impacts of projects, programs and policies. We do not limit the term to any specific methodology in any particular discipline.
Continue reading “PERSPECTIVES ON IMPACT EVALUATION: Approaches to Assessing Development Effectiveness”

Online Training: Introduction to Social Audit

Date: Tuesday 28th October 2008 2.00pm to 4.00pm
Venue: Online

This two hour Social Audit introduction will include:

  • Why Social Audit
  • What type of organisation uses Social Audit
  • What are the benefits of Social Audit
  • The 4 stages of Social Audit
  • Social Audit Governance
  • Social Audit External View
  • Social Audit Internal View
  • Social Planning and Accounting
  • Presenting the Social Audit

This course is particularly suited to groups and individuals engaged in social enterprises, NGOs, development agencies and social economy organisations.

Freer Spreckley
Email: f.spreckley@locallivelihoods.com
Website http://www.locallivelihoods.com
Organisation Local Livelihoods

Michael Scriven teaches “An Introduction to Evaluation” online

Date: Oct. 11-12 and Nov. 1-2, 2008
Venue: Claremont Graduate University, California

Four Days of Evaluation Training with a Master in the Field: Michael Scriven teaches “An Introduction to Evaluation”

Dr. Michael Scriven, one of the founders of Evaluation Science as a modern discipline, will be offering two 2-day courses on the foundations, power, and practice of evaluation. These courses will be taught in a live virtual classroom environment, and are open to the public. Thanks to the online nature of the course, these are available to anyone anywhere on the globe.

Save Your Seat Today: Total cost: $350 for four sessions

Full course descriptions are available on our website. Don’t miss your chance to learn firsthand from this giant in the field!

Meeting Schedule: Oct/11/08 and Oct/12/08 (Part I)  Nov/1/08 and Nov/2/08 (Part II) 10 am to 1 pm PST

Technology Requirements: Computer microphone and speakers required. (Webcam not required, but can be a plus.)

Register Online Today! http://www.cgu.edu/pages/5164.asp

India Swearingen
SBOS Outreach Assistant
School of Behavioral and Organizational Sciences
Claremont Graduate University
outreach@cgu.edu

Upcoming training opportunities with Jess Dart of Clear Horizon

Date: 13-17th October 2008
Venue: Melbourne, Australia
Upcoming training opportunities with Jess Dart of Clear Horizon.

Build a People-Centred Monitoring, Evaluation, Reporting & Improvement (MERI) Framework AU$800
Two days: 13th & 14th October

Course Description: Increasingly, project teams are involved in designing monitoring, evaluation, frameworks. Having a strong program logic element, this people-centred approach uses targeted stakeholders as the organising construct to clarify project design and then develop an effective and meaningful monitoring and evaluation framework. This workshop follows a series of steps that provide a pathway for planning that takes into account clarification of program goals, articulation of how we expect these to be achieved and therefore how best to collect evidence on whether we are on track. This includes consideration of evaluation purpose, key evaluation questions, and appropriate methods for collecting information.

Most Significant Change (MSC) Technique AU$800
Two day workshop: 15th & 16th October

Course Description: MSC is a powerful tool for monitoring, evaluation and organisational learning. MSC goes beyond merely capturing and documenting participants’ stories of impact, to offering a means of engaging in effective dialogue. Each story represents the storyteller’s interpretation of impact, which is then reviewed and discussed. The process offers an opportunity for a diverse range of stakeholders to enter into a dialogue about program intention, impact and ultimately future direction. This two day workshop provides an introduction to MSC which includes designing your own MSC process.

Evaluator as Facilitator AU$500
One day workshop: 17th October

Course Description: This workshop explores the role of facilitator as evaluator when undertaking participatory evaluations. The course includes a reflection on the two roles and explores their overlap when conducting participatory evaluation processes. In particular we share our experiences and explain how to facilitate some key participatory evaluation methods such as program logic, Most Significant Change (MSC) technique and the evaluation summit. We discuss the underlying philosophies behind approaches to evaluation and facilitation and explore practical applications in a range of contexts.

Monitoring and Evaluation for Results – Vienna, Austria

URL: www.worldbank.org/wbi/evaluation/training/vienna2008
Date: December 2008

Join us in December 2008 in Vienna for a one-week course covering the fundamental issues of monitoring and evaluation (M&E) for programs and projects. The course is organized by the World Bank Institute Evaluation Group – with experience teaching over 4,000 participants across 60 countries in the last decade – and taught by senior evaluation experts. Combining both attention to M&E theory and practical applications, the 30 participants completing the course will gain knowledge and experience on M&E tools, techniques, and resources needed for M&E planning, organizing, and/or managing programs and projects.

1st offering: December 8 (Mon) – 12 (Fri), 2008 (available in English or Russian)
2nd offering: December 15 (Mon) – 19 (Fri), 2008 (available in English only)

IPEN Conference on “Ensuring effective performance through evaluation”

Date: 25-27 September 2008
Venue: Yerevan, Armenia

(via Xceval email list)

Dear colleagues,

we have the pleasure to inform you that the 2008 IPEN (International
Programme Evaluation network) Conference will take place in Yerevan,
Armenia, September 25/27. IPEN is the Evaluation network covering the
countries of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS).

The 2008 Conference theme is “Ensuring effective performance through
evaluation”. Fourteen parallel sessions facilitated by international-level
specialists from the region and worldwide are foreseen, as well as three
one-day Pre-Conference training.

The Conference programme, including the pre-Conference training, is now
available on-line (English and Russian) at
http://eval-net.org/view_konf.php?id=2008

Best regards

Marco Segone
Regional Chief, Monitoring and Evaluation
UNICEF Regional Office for CEE/CIS
Tel: +41 (0)22 909 5550
Fax: +41 (0)22 909 5909
Email: msegone@unicef.org
Web: www.unicef.org/ceecis

Measuring Effectiveness – Participation, Empowerment and Downward Accountability

Date: 25th-26th September
Venue: Melbourne

Greetings

The annual Measuring Effectiveness conference is now only 6 weeks away. Online registrations are open on the website : https://www.worldvision.com.au/learn/conferences/me/Register.aspx

The conference will be held on Thursday 25th and Friday 26th September, 2008 in Melbourne, Australia. This year the conference is being held in partnership with The Australian National University. The 2008 conference will explore the themes of “Participation, Empowerment and Downward Accountability.”

The sessions will include case studies & panel discussions on these themes as well as looking at geographical activities in Asia, the Pacific and Latin America/Caribbean.
The draft conference schedule and session summaries will be available on the conference website within the next few days.
Continue reading “Measuring Effectiveness – Participation, Empowerment and Downward Accountability”

Evaluation of Humanitarian Action with ALNAP (Active Learning Network for Accountability and Performance in Humanitarian Action)

Date: 29-31 OCTOBER 2008
Venue: near Brussels
This course is an introductory-to- intermediate level course and has the overall aim of making evaluations of humanitarian action more effective in contributing to the improved performance of interventions and to improve the quality of the evaluation process. The course is facilitated by Channel Research, Margie Buchanan Smith and John Cosgrave. It will be held near Brussels (La Converserie).

Download Course Description | Download Application Form

Training in Evaluation of Conflict Prevention and Peacebuilding Programmes

Date: 15-18 SEPTEMBER 2008
Venue: near Brussels

This course based on new guidelines established by the OECD, provides methodologies for carrying out assessments of conflict situations and, subsequently, evaluating the performance of peace-building and conflict prevention activities in a seminar format. The course is intended for those with experience in evaluations, and an interest in, and general experience of, conflict situations. The participants in previous years have come from both aid agencies (headquarters and field personnel), donor governments, consultancies and academia. The course is facilitated by Emery Brusset, Director of Channel Research, and Tony Vaux, an expert on conflicts, and will take place near Brussels.

Download Course Description | Download Application Form

Above information provided by

Annina Mattsson
Area Manager

Channel Research
Route des Marnières 45A
1380 Ohain

Tel: +32 2 6336529
Fax: +32 2 6333092
Mobile: +32 473235244
www.channelresearch.comDate:

4th UK Social Networks conference

Date: Friday 18 July 2008 – Sunday 20 July 2008
Venue: University of Greenwich, London

“The UK Social Network Conference offers an interdisciplinary venue for social and behavioral scientists, sociologists, educationalists, political scientists, mathematicians, computer scientists, physicists, practitioners and others to present their work in the area of social networks. The primary objective of the Conference is to facilitate interactions between the many different disciplines interested in network analysis. The Conference provides a unique opportunity for the dissemination and debate of recent advances in theoretical and experimental network research.”

Editor’s note: I have included this event because I think social network analysis tools are very relevant to the task of describing and evaluating development project plans and progress. See more on this issue here http://mande.co.uk/special-issues/network-models/

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