UKES CONFERENCE 2012: Evaluation for results: What counts? Who stands to gain? How is it done?

What does this mean for evaluators and those who commission evaluation? Does it reflect a legitimate concern with the productivity and efficiency of programme, as well as the capacity to secure gains and improvements against value for money objectives? Or, is this managerialism at the expense of process - an over emphasis on how results are achieved without due concern for the context and the values and ambitions of stakeholders?

There are other considerations too: how to capture secondary effects and 'unintended benefits' of programmes? Who stands to gain - the end user, individual, institution or the commissioner of evaluations? And, what counts as a worthwhile result given that not all programme achievements can be measured?

Against this background, conference participants are invited to contribute their own perspectives on the dominant issues they consider relevant to the theory and practice of evaluation. We anticipate a lively and informative debate to stimulate professional learning and to contribute to the improvement of evaluation practice and commissioning.