M&E Conferences

The Evaluation Support Service is a Technical Assistance to the Directorate-General Development Cooperation of the European Commission, whose aim is to strengthen capacity in the evaluation field across the organization (including the EU Delegations in partner countries).

We are now organizing a cycle of lunch-break conferences on ‘Evaluation in hard-to-reach areas’ where evaluators and commissioners of evaluation from different horizons will present their experience in using methods such as use of geo-spatial data, surveys administered by non-specialised local enumerators, phone/tablet voice or data surveys, location tracking, communication through online platforms, etc.  The two last conferences will be respectively devoted to discussing conflict sensitivity in evaluating in fragile and conflict-affected states; and to the consequences on our traditional ethical rules of the use of these ‘innovative’ techniques.

The conferences can be followed via webstream; although they are mainly intended to an internal audience (managers of evaluation at the EC/DG DEVCO), all conferences are open to the public and the participation is free. The first of these conferences will take place on January the 4^th of February and the cycle will end in June this year.

The most updated version of the presentation paper of this cycle of conferences (which includes dates, presentation of the speakers, etc.) is available at https://web.tresorit.com/l#5ZZoMG3EfZ8MOThfLrDcPA

The Challenge:

Participation of stakeholders and citizens is increasingly recognized as a helpful and, in some circumstances, crucial ingredient when managing complex, adaptive socio-ecological systems. The scale, interconnectedness and ongoing dynamics of these systems require new approaches bringing together stakeholder knowledge and problem ownership with new complexity-appropriate tools. Such approaches have much to offer both ex-post evaluation and ex-ante policy appraisal.  However, methods for achieving effective participation are not well understood and often fail and participatory approaches for complex systems entail even greater challenges. Recently, there have been a range of interesting experiments and innovations involving aids to participation in complex adaptive systems ranging from immersive digital tools to “low tech” hands-on or experiential techniques.

CECAN Workshop:

We will be holding a workshop on 12-14 February, 2019, at the Barnett Hill Conference Centre, Surrey, UK, as a first step towards building an international community of those developing innovative, complexity-appropriate aids to participatory evaluation, to help people understand and steer their own complex systems and evaluate the effects of policies or other interventions.

Our focus will be on exploring and synthesising new approaches to collective understanding, experiencing and interacting with socio-ecological-technical systems in which numerous scales of dynamics and complexity are at play.  We will examine the value of such approaches and how they could be used in collaborative system design and co-management and policy evaluation and appraisal, in particular to allow ordinary people, rather than simply policy makers or experts, to understand, steer and evaluate change in their own complex social systems. This will be a highly interactive and focused small workshop in which we will share, generate and kick start ideas and collaborations and all attendees will be expected to participate fully.

Contributors Will Include:

Petra Ahrweiler, Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz, Germany

Luis Enrique García Barrios, College of the South Frontier, Mexico

Nigel Gilbert, University of Surrey, UK

Mizuki Oka, University of Tsukuba

Alex Penn, University of Surrey, UK

Pascal Perez, SMART Infrastructure Facility, University of Wollongong, Australia

Alex Smajgl, Deakin University, Australia

Sha Xin Wei and Brandon Mechtley, Synthesis Center, Arizona State University, USA

How to Apply:

If you are interested in participating, please apply by 22 October 2018 by email tocecan@surrey.ac.uk attaching a statement outlining your background, expertise and what you could bring to the workshop (500 words maximum). We encourage creative and interactive proposals for sharing your ideas and approaches.

The workshop will be held at the Barnett Hill Hotel in the Surrey Hills, an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. The hotel is within reach of London Gatwick Airport.  The registration fee of £550 includes all accommodation and meals at the Conference Centre from 11:00 on 12 February to 16:00 on 14 February.  Additional nights, before and after the workshop, can be booked at extra cost.

The workshop is being organised by the Centre for the Evaluation of Complexity Across the Nexus (CECAN) and is supported by the UK Economic and Social Research Council.

Administrative enquiries can be made to cecan@surrey.ac.uk, and enquiries about the programme to n.gilbert@surrey.ac.uk

The conference theme includes:

1. Results evaluation and SDGs: The potent power of partnership for peace, security, and sustainable development

2. Different milieus of interventions and results evaluation for peace, security, and sustainable development

3. Results evaluation in the private sector and emerging ventures - what's the real score?

4. Evaluation evidence and what's done to influence national policies and actions

5. The must to strengthen evaluation communities for advancing peace, security, and sustainable development

For more info please follow the conference website  http://apeaconference2019.com and follow the registration process below:

Intersectionality as Critical Inquiry, Method, and Practice: Beyond Categories and Dichotomies in Culturally Responsive Evaluation and Assessment

https://crea.education.illinois.edu/home/fifth-international-conference  

 Conference Focus Statement

Escalating domestic and global tensions in our social, political, and economic institutions require that we acknowledge the urgency as well as imperative to expand how we conceptualize our work, so that it does not continue the perpetuation of underrepresenting the issues facing People of Color. These issues should be apparent to most, passively acknowledged by some, and indignantly ignored by others. When we frame the issues and opportunities that define our work, understanding intersectionality is essential if we are to avoid inadvertently prioritizing the needs of some over the conditions of others.

Hosted by the College of Education, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

If you would like to be added to the CREA listserv for future conference announcements and other information, or have other questions please contact us at: crea@education.illinois.edu

Deadline for Submissions-September 15, 2018

Do you want to know how monitoring and evaluation can support the transition towards inclusive and sustainable food systems? Register now for our 2019 Monitoring & Evaluation on the cutting edge conference, and find out!

Understanding inclusive & sustainable food systems

In order to deliver on the 2030 SDG-Agenda, we need to improve on the performance of food systems. ‘Achieving the Sustainable Development Goals cannot happen without ending hunger and malnutrition and without having sustainable and resilient, climate-compatible agriculture and food systems that deliver for people and planet. (Source: UN Zero Hunger Challenge - ZHC).

Better understanding of and support for inclusive and sustainable food systems is needed for improved food systems. What effective role should monitoring and evaluation play in this? New evaluation approaches need to be developed to cope with the dynamic and complex nature of food systems, which feature multiple perspectives, multiple levels, multiple actors with multiple goals operating in multiple sectors.

Start Date: 2019-04-08 End Date: 2019-04-08

Register Now

A two-day interactive conference where you will walk out with increased skills and confidence, plus 'next-day' useable ideas and tools to evaluate systems change.

See the conference website: http://www.complexityandevaluation.com.au/

The theme of the 2019 UKES Annual Evaluation Conference is: Evaluation: A Diverse Field.

Further information on the conference can be found here: http://www.profbriefings.co.uk/ukes2019/

Download the conference flyer (PDF) here:
http://www.profbriefings.co.uk/ukes2019/UKES_Conference_2019_Flyer.pdf

The closing date for the submission of abstracts has been extended to 14 January 2019.  The abstract submission form can be found here: http://www.profbriefings.co.uk/ukes2019/ukes19abstracts.html

Dear colleagues,

Ee are pleased to invite you to this year's spring conference of the DeGEval-Woking Group "Methods in Evaluation" on Causality and Plausibility – Evaluation between Science and Practice. The conference will take place in Vienna on June 21st and 22nd and will be hosted by the Austrian Development Agency and the Department on Development Studies of the University of Vienna.

For further information please see: https://www.degeval.org/arbeitskreise/methoden-in-der-evaluation/aktuelles/view/action/spring-conference-2019-working-group-on-methods-causality-and-plausibility-evaluation-between-sc/

CALL FOR SYDNEY CONFERENCE PROPOSALS

We’re excited to invite you to submit a proposal for the conference and/or for a conference workshop.

With our future-focused theme of Evaluation un-boxed – we encourage you to share stories about opening up evaluation to end users, and drawing on the knowledge of communities and other disciplines to expand evaluation and ensure its ongoing relevance. Network and learn about what is happening in evaluation, and evaluation-related fields in Australia, New Zealand, the Australasian region, and across the world.

The conference will be held from Monday 16 September to Wednesday 18 September 2019 at the International Convention Centre Sydney. Conference workshops will be held on Sunday 15 September and Thursday 19 September.

Proposal submission deadlines

Conference workshop proposals: Monday 18 February 2019

Conference presentation proposals: Thursday 7 March 2019

Ignite presentations: Thursday 7 March 2019

Conference presenters will be notified of acceptance during May 2019.

Official website: https://2019.global-assembly.org/

All conference details can be found here: https://www.eval.org/page/evaluation-2019-theme

I invite you to address the following types of questions in our conference this year:

1. What frameworks, experiences, methods and practices best prepare us to address key issues of our time—massive migration (and the economic and social challenges that accompany it), climate change disasters, epidemic threats, and shifts in resources through economic globalization. In what way do our evaluations help our stakeholders understand the impact of these issues locally, in every evaluation we undertake?
2. How do we innovate and adapt our thinking, methods and practices to ensure our evaluations address the important societal challenges of today, and enable our communities to have informed and productive conversations?
3. How do we ensure our evaluation practices “leave no one behind,” as promised by 150 countries committed to the SDGs – i.e., how do we promote equity, diversity and the protection of human rights for all involved and affected by our evaluations?
4. How do we bring leadership competence to our evaluations? How do we prepare ourselves to be credible evaluators as we step into the controversial issues in our society or manage the anxiety our presence may stir? How do we stay independent and impartial, think calmly and creatively, act methodically and insightfully, consult all sides, include members of marginalized communities, and manage an evaluation that frames things systematically and provides credible answers to the most important questions?