Reimagening Learning & Evaluation

The unfulfilled potential of evaluation

Evaluation has been weakening in its ability to provide useful, representative, and credible evidence capable of influencing decisions and strategy adaptation at the highest levels of organisation’s decision-making.

Recently, the International Evaluation Academy (IEA) and its partners ran a survey based on a three-horizon approach, finding that “Evaluation is not effective in addressing the deepening polycrises and the transformations required for a just and regenerative planet.” Moreover, global trends like fake news and post-truth politics have added to the relevance and credibility crises in evaluation, thereby threatening the legitimacy of evaluation as such.

Perhaps at the core of the crises we face is the fallacy or assumption that evidence is the main driver of behavioural change and decision-making. Anyone who has worked directly with boards and executives knows that implicit knowledge and “gut” often drive strategies and innovations (usually mildly informed by landscape data).

Reimagining our Practice

We do not advocate for new technical and methodological solutions or other small improvements including (usually weakly implemented) forms of participatory or trust-based practice. We call for a drastic and radical evolution and reimagination of evaluation and the role of evaluators. Without significant transformation, we will fail to be of use in the expanding polycrisis we will continue to face.

Transformative change requires shifting evaluation’s positionality, power, and purpose towards:

Relational ontology and a practice with more heart and soul.

Enabling upwards accountability and power shifting.

A practice anchored in trauma-sensitive and culturally responsive practices to play a meaningful role in healing historical injustices and creating the enabling conditions for positive transformation.

We should measure the success of our evaluations not only by their degrees of rigour or evidence but by how much they are able to influence decision-makers and contribute to the mission of the foundation.

Join us!

We believe all of the above requires collective sense-making and solution-seeking. This is why we are inviting anyone interested to join our upcoming online discussions, a series of candid conversations with practitioners all over the world.

The discussions will be hosted by Yulye Jessica Romo Ramos (Director, Nexus Evaluation) in collaboration with Thomas Kelly and Penny Hawkins.

Here is a list of upcoming events you can join.