Category: Workshops

BOND Quality Group meeting: Managing partnerships

Date: 8 October, Time: 13.30 to 17.00
Venue: VSO International, Carlton House, 27A Carlton Drive, Putney SW15 2BS, London, UK

Topic: Managing Partnerships: what does it mean for quality and effectiveness?

Many INGOs operate in partnership with national and local NGOs. The tools we use to manage these relationships have a major effect on everyone involved, and the effectiveness, quality and relevance of our work. This session will offer an opportunity to engage with two initiatives which focus on making these relationships work better.

  • Tracey Martin will present the Barefoot Collective’s approach to supporting organisations to develop their potential to bring about change.
  • Natalia Kiryttopoulou will share Keystone Accountability’s feedback surveys which help organisations understand how partners perceive their work.

These approaches present exciting challenges to the way that we manage performance and measure results with partners. Come along to join the discussion!

This is an open event, for BOND members and others. Please pass this invitation on to others who may be interested.

BOND members can reserve their place online at http://groups.bond.org.uk Click on the ‘Quality Group’ then ‘Meetings’.

Non- members should send an email Ivan Kent at ikent@cafod.org.uk .

Follow the links below to find out more about these presentations:

Evaluation in the UK third sector: current issues, future challenges

Workshop Date: Thursday 8th October 2009 Time: 12.30pm to 4.30pm
Venue: Toynbee Hall, Aldgate, London

Twenty years ago, evaluation in the third sector was limited. There was very little support for third sector organisations wishing to evaluate their work, and self-evaluation was treated with suspicion by many. The situation in 2009 is somewhat different. Many third sector organisations routinely self evaluate and a number commission external evaluations. Although the prime motivators are still accountability and meeting the demands of funders and commissioners, many report the benefits of monitoring and evaluation for learning and decision making.

This timely event will enable presenters and participants to share their knowledge of existing evaluation practices in the UK third sector, and to explore some of the challenges facing us in the future. It aims to build networks of UK third sector evaluators (both self evaluators and external evaluators).
Continue reading “Evaluation in the UK third sector: current issues, future challenges”

Online workshop: Introduction to Monitoring and Evaluation

Date: 1st October and 1st of the month thereafter
Venue: Online at http://pcmitraining.com/course/category.php?id=2

Introduction to Monitoring and Evaluation is a four week interactive e-learning workshop for individuals who are new to the field of monitoring and evaluation or those who wish to formalise their existing understanding which has been developed through work based experience. The course considers important concepts and activities from inception through to outcome evaluation and additionally includes valuable project management and leadership techniques. The course is accredited and requires approximately 7.5 hours participant input per week, including assignments, and is priced at £750. The course runs once a month, starting on the 1st of each month. For further information and to enrol, visit:http://pcmitraining.com/course/category.php?id=2

BOND Quality Group – Debate on logframes

Date: 2-5.30pm 11th June 2009
Venue: NCVO offices, N1 9RL, London

For more information contact: Alex Jacobs <alex@keystoneaccountability.org>

Motion: this meeting believes that the logframe is the right tool for managing most NGO work

Logframes (Logical Framework Analysis) are very widely used in NGOs. But they split opinion sharply throughout the sector: some people love them, some hate them.

To their supporters, logframes provide a simple short way of summarising a project’s aims and activities. They force staff to map out the intermediary steps that link activities and overall goals. They can be applied at any level, from an entire organisation to one specific project. They help managers and donors alike by providing a guide to action and a set of indicators to monitor progress, which be can conveniently communicated to other people. Many different approaches can be used to create logframes, including participatory methods.

To their detractors, logframes force staff to think in an inappropriate way. They assume that complex social systems can be predicted in advance and that social problems reduced to a single problem statement. They do not take account of different people’s views and priorities (e.g. within communities), and they are based on an inappropriate linear logic (if A happens, then B will happen, then C). In practice, they are inflexible, creating a strait-jacket for relationships with partners and communities, which undermines outsiders’ ability to respond effectively to changing realities on the ground. They create bureaucratic paperwork, and are most useful for donors and senior managers.

What are the arguments and evidence for each side of the debate? Come along, listen to some expert opinion, debate the issues with your peers.

Speakers:

  • Proposing: Peter Kerby (DFID) & Claire Thomas (Minority Rights International)
  • Opposing: Robert Chambers (IDS) & Rick Davies (independent)

Presentations made by:

Voting Results (before and after debate)

Table 1: Votes before the debate
For Against Abstain Total
Women 9 14 1 24
38% 58% 4%
Men 3 5 1 9
33% 56% 11%
Total 12 19 2 33
36% 58% 6%
For Against Abstain Total
Large org 6 4 10
60% 40%
Small org 1 13 14
7% 93%
Total 7 17 24
29% 71%
Table 2: Votes after the debate
For Against Abstain Total
Women 6 13 1 20
30% 65% 5%
Men 2 4 1 7
29% 57% 14%
Total 8 17 2 27
30% 63% 7%
For Against Abstain Total
Large org 2 5 7
29% 71% 0%
Small org 2 11 13
15% 85% 0%
Total 4 16 0 20
20% 80% 0%

See also the summary of the BOND logframe debate, available at the BOND website

Impact Evaluation of Population, Health and Nutrition Programs

Date: October 5 – 16, 2009
Venue:  Public Health Foundation of India, New Delhi, India

USAID’s MEASURE Evaluation Project is pleased to announce the regional workshop on “Impact Evaluation of Population, Health and Nutrition Programs,” for English speaking professionals. The workshop is sponsored by the Public Health Foundation of India (PHFI), New Delhi, India in collaboration with MEASURE Evaluation. The two-week course will be held October 5 – 16, 2009 in New Delhi, India.
Continue reading “Impact Evaluation of Population, Health and Nutrition Programs”

A Regional Workshop on Monitoring and Evaluation of HIV/AIDS Programs

Date: August 3-14, 2009
Venue: Pretoria, South Africa

USAID’s MEASURE Evaluation Project is pleased to announce a training opportunity for the Anglophone Africa region. The School of Health Systems and Public Health at University of Pretoria in Pretoria, South Africa is offering a regional workshop on Monitoring and Evaluation of HIV/AIDS Programs. This two-week course will take place August 3 – 14, 2009, and will be taught in English.
Continue reading “A Regional Workshop on Monitoring and Evaluation of HIV/AIDS Programs”

a one day event designed to explore impact assessment …

Date: Thursday 2nd July 2009
Venue: London

EGO – Empowering Grassroots Organisations would like to invite you to…a one day event designed to explore impact assessment with leading speakers from the Third Sector

On Thursday 2nd July 2009 in London, empACT will take on three key areas; we will:

· explore the outcomes of impact assessment through sector wide funding and grassroots perspectives

· explore methods of assessment

· host workshops around proven methods and tools.

empACT will bring together speakers with wide-ranging expertise in the field to interrogate the real advantages and disadvantages of some of the methods explored.

Confirmed speakers include…

Sarah Alderson, Head of Projects – TimeBank

Isabel Ros Lopez, Inclusion Manager – United Response

Tanya Murphy, Independent Evaluation Practitioner

Samantha Beinhacker, Producer and Developer – Germination

For tickets: www.amiando.com/empACTconference or for further information please email maor@egonetwork.org.uk

Claremont Graduate University’s Evaluation Workshops Go On-Line

Date: August 21-2, 2009
Venue: Claremont Graduate University, Southern California

Professional Development Workshop Series

Claremont Graduate University is proud to offer our annual line-up of acclaimed workshops for professionals, academics, and students who seek to hone their research and evaluation skills.  Presenters from across North America will gather in beautiful Claremont, California, to teach participants from academia, research institutes and think tanks, for-profit and not-for-profit organizations, and the public sector.  As always, this year’s series offers several new workshops as well as long-standing favorites.

Each workshop lasts one full day.  Workshops in this series have consistently sold out in previous years, so save your seat in the workshops of your choice by registering online today.

Registration: On-Site Workshops

Registration: Online Workshops

The Claremont Evaluation Debates

Full List of Workshops

Undergraduate Fellowship Program

 About the Online Offerings

Daily Schedule

Location, Directions, and Lodging

Workshops Photo Album
For the First Time, Summer 2009

We will be offering one workshop each day via live webcast in a state-of-the-art virtual classroom environment. The virtual classroom offerings will include interaction with the live presenter and participants. Anyone with a high-speed internet connection, computer speakers and a microphone is able to participate. Use of a webcam is encouraged for maximum interaction.

Follow this link to register for the online versions of our workshops!

The live webcast offerings will include:

Training in Most Significant Change Technique (MSC) in Oxford, UK

Date: 28-29th July 2009
Venue: Oxford, UK

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 about what you are achieving. 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. MSC has much to offer your existing M&E framework being especially good at capturing that traditionally hard to capture information about what difference did you make in the hearts and minds of those your were targeting for benefit – but it has much to offer beyond merely reporting on outcomes! This two day training workshop provides an introduction to MSC which includes designing your own MSC process. Participants will be provided with experiential learning opportunities and examples of real applications of the technique. We will also share our experiences of adapting MSC for use in evaluation studies.

Where: Oxford, England (venue to be determined)

When: Tuesday 28th & Wednesday 29th of July Cost: £550

* To secure your enrolment download and return your registration form today: [url]http://www.clearhorizon.com.au/training-mentoring/training/training-courses/most-significant-change-uk/ [/url]

* Concession rates and multiple participant discounts available contact tracey@clearhorizon.com.au for more information

Training in Evaluation of Humanitarian Action

Date: 21st-24th June 2009
Venue: Belgium

Channel Research and the Active Learning Network for Accountability and Performance (ALNAP) are inviting participants for Training in Evaluation of Humanitarian Action, Belgium, 21st-24th June 2009 (actual training dates 22nd-24th June 2009).

This course is an introductory-to-intermediate level course and has the overall aim of assisting participants in the design of monitoring systems, and to be able to commission, manage, carry out and use small scale evaluations in humanitarian action. This 3-day training course will use the OECD-DAC evaluation criteria but also introduces new evaluation material specifically on joint evaluations and innovative learning processes as part of an evaluation process.

Continue reading “Training in Evaluation of Humanitarian Action”

%d bloggers like this: