Seminar: Evaluations that make a difference: stories from around the world

Do you have a story about an evaluation that makes a difference? Can you identify what attributes of this work make it really valuable? Is it possible to distinguish the impact of the evaluation from the impact of the project itself? If you don’t have a story of your own, are you keen to hear inspirational stories from other fellow evaluators? If any of these questions intrigue you, then this session is for you!

‘Evaluations that make a difference: stories from around the world’ was a project funded by EvalPartners. It is a collection of 8 stories of evaluations that made a difference, not only from the perspective of the evaluator, but also from the commissioners and users. The project also looked at the factors that contribute to high quality evaluations that are used to improve programs’ and people’s lives. These stories were published during EvalYear 2015 and can be found at https://evaluationstories.wordpress.com/ in English, Spanish and French.

The session will focus on the lessons that emerged during the project about what makes an evaluation useful. Participants will be given the opportunity to consider how these lessons may inform their work.

Participants will also be encouraged to share their stories of evaluations that make a difference. The stories may come from work they have personally undertaken or evaluations completed by other people.

This will be an interactive workshop style session.