Activity Streams
We adopted the term activity stream as a more dynamic idea concerning the work we will undertake during the next two years. The streams connect with our strategic directions and express convergence between the interests and experience of the members of the board and their understanding of what is needed to energise our work.
Each coordinator will have a special although not exclusive responsibility to develop a plan of action for each activity stream. Our aim is to have a short statement to that effect by the end of July. Meetings will be virtual, although we aim to support meetings wherever we can, so a small budget for this activity should be prepared by each coordinator.
The following streams are not mutually exclusive. The expectation is that a coordinator of a stream will be encouraged to work with any other coordinator when required on joint actions. Their main function will be to ‘link’ the work of their activity stream to the board and to think strategically about their area of coordination.
Activity streams
1. Communications with particular responsibility for the WEB site and the newsletter ‘Evaluation Connections’
This area of activity is concerned with 'outward facing' work to communicate with our constituency outside the membership and put EES 'on the map’ and connect with other societies. Clearly our Website is an important part of this work but not the only part.
Coordinator: Karin Attström
2. Connections with other societies
This area was developed as part of the strategic need to address the changing nature of evaluation societies and associations within Europe and wider afield. It requires particular attention in order for the EES to provide a distinctive brokering and knowledge development role within Europe and is the natural home for actions that further its main aims of promoting and developing good practice across and within Evaluation Societies. It will build on initial work undertaken in Strasbourg and will build an agenda to be followed up in Lisbon (The European Evaluation Network).
Coordinator: Ian Davies
3. Professional Development and capacity building
This area is wider than training and is intended to capture the way in which we have a mission to develop good practice, exchange ideas, and to build capacity in emerging societies and individuals. We have an excellent strategy document which is still relevant to the work of this group.
Coordinator: Maria Bustelo
4. Resources and financial management
Given that one of our key strategies is to put the EES on a more stable financial footing, this area of activity is much more than simply presenting the budget at meetings on the basis of information from the secretariat (although the coordinator would be responsible for this). It should also include efforts to explore creative and sustainable ways in which we can procure funding streams and galvanise our fund raising efforts along with developing a strategy for how we can distribute resources for work within the society.
Coordinator: Peter Wichmand
5. Members and membership services
This area of activity will involve close collaboration with activity stream 1 but has a focus on members specifically, in other words it is ‘inward facing’. It might also lead thinking on how we can develop our membership base, in particular the recruitment of institutional members and what is the appropriate institutional membership package.
Coordinator: Maria Bustelo
6. Quality of practice, standards and accreditation
Building on existing work undertaken by the previous ‘standards group’ led by Thomas Widmar, this strand acknowledges the growing interest in these issues and will provide a forum for onward discussion, critical analysis, and an overview of relevant international developments.
Coordinator: Bob Picciotto
We welcome any member to contact the secretariat to become actively involved in the work of one of the activity streams.
