Since the early 1990s, there has been growing interest within the evaluation profession about our response to challenges presented by the rapid increase and recognition of diversity and difference in Canadian society. In turn, this has lead to increased recognition that evaluation has an important role to play in ensuring that equity and diversity are more than abstract goals, as well as a greater appreciation of societal differences of all kinds as they shape our profession, our practices, and the programs we evaluate.

We invite you to join us for CES Halifax 2012 as we engage in the collective exploration of what it means to value differences of all kinds in the profession and practice of evaluation.

Official website: http://www.ceshalifax2012.ca

26 - 27 April, 2012, Bucharest, Hotel Intercontinental, Room Ronda

The conference is organised within the project ‘’Development of the evaluation capacity for the evaluation units within the Managing Authorities and Authority for Coordination of Structural Instruments’’ that is implemented by the Ministry of European Affairs in Romania.

The target group is consisting of officials and experts commissioning and doing ex ante evaluations of future programmes. Programmers interested in making effective use of evaluation evidences and programme managers preoccupied by an efficient co-operation with evaluators during implementation are also invited. The target group includes also evaluation professionals and academics interested in the conference issues and non-governmental organizations still having an unexploited potential in evaluation partnerships.

The conference aims at providing a platform for participants to share their experiences gained in evaluation of Structural Instruments in terms of lessons learned and results achieved, but also difficulties and limitations encountered. The program includes 3 plenary sessions and 3 sessions, each of them including 3 parallel workshops covering a diversity of topics as seen in the attached tentative agenda. All workshops are intended to identifying the way in which evaluations evidences could contribute to the ex-ante evaluation of future programmes and to an improvement of their design and implementation, in relation to the Europe 2020 Strategy’s aim for smart, sustainable and inclusive growth. Each workshop will benefit by the presence of several well-reputed speakers who will deliver their presentations with a focus on evaluation evidences gathered and experiences of evaluations carried out. Translation Romanian-English-French will be ensured.

Preliminary programme of the conference and topics to be presented can be consulted here.
Please fill in the registration form by April 20th, 2012.

Contact person: Ioana STAN, tel. +40 751 299 928, email ioana.stan@aamconsulting.ro

Developing the evaluation capacity of the evaluation units within the Managing Authorities and ACSI
A project co-funded from ERDF through Operational Programme Technical Assistance 2007-2013

The presentations held during the conference can be downloaded from the conference webpage:

http://www.evaluare-structurale.ro/index.php/en/component/content/article/3-evenimente/121-conferina-internaional-qevaluarea-provocri-i-oportuniti-pentru-perioada-de-programare-2014-2020q

International Conference programme	Conference_programme_en_final.pdf		82.182 kB
Final programme	2012-04-26_Conference_agenda.pdf		630.136 kB

Dear Colleagues,

On behalf of the United Nations Evaluation Group, we cordially invite you to participate in this year’s Network of Networks on Impact Evaluation (NONIE) meeting. The meeting will be held from 19‐20 April 2012 at the United Nations Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO) Headquarters in Rome, Italy. It is open to NONIE members as well as interested evaluators and researchers, contingent upon the availability of space. Building on experience from past meetings and contributing to further advancing the impact evaluation agenda, the 2012 meeting will provide the forum to share and learn from recent exemplary work and to engage in healthy debates and discussions on further advancing impact evaluation agenda as a critical contributor to development effectiveness.

The themes identified for discussion are:

• Mixed methods/ alternative design approaches/ methods for addressing the challenge of attribution;
• Policy use/ how IE influences policy;
• The role of IE in M&E systems; and
• Guidance on and experiences of IE on normative and institutional support work.

A call for submission of abstracts is attached. We encourage your contribution, which will ensure the success of the meeting.

UNEG will be sponsoring a limited number of presenters from developing countries. Further information is available in the Sponsorship Application form.

Logistical information for the meeting (hotel lists, travel tips) will be available shortly. Participants requiring a visa are encouraged to contact their Italian embassy/ consulate as soon as possible. UNEG can arrange a standard letter of support for visa applications if required.

The NONIE 2012 website will also be launched shortly and you will be notified accordingly. Registration for the meeting will then open via the website. In the meantime, should you have any questions, please email Michelle Weston at contact.nonie2012@gmail.com.

We look forward to seeing you all in Rome and a successful NONIE meeting 2012.

Yours sincerely,

Margareta de Goys and Juha Uitto
Co-Chairs, UNEG NONIE 2012 Organising Committee

NONIE MEETING - Call for abstracts

EVALUATION AND ITS DISCONTENTS :
do we learn from experience in development?

March 26th, 2012
Conference Center Pierre Mendès-France
Ministère de l’Economie, des Finances, et de l’Industrie, Paris.

The Agence Française de Développement (AFD) and the European Development Research Network (EUDN) are organizing their ninth annual conference. It will take place in Paris, in the conference centre of the Ministry of Economics and Finance on March, 26th, 2012.

The issue of evaluating public policies is neither a new idea, nor a novel practice. It becomes increasingly essential, however, to determine whether the evaluation task is properly conducted. We need to discuss whether the way evaluations are undertaken produces an accumulation of knowledge that is accessible to decision makers, or whether the context in which development policies are implemented severely reduces the usefulness of past experiences for designing future projects.

Can we learn from our own and others’ experiences in the field of development? If so, how can evaluation contribute and how is it that we seem unable to translate these experiences into practice? If not, what are the factors hampering the learning process?

Such are the questions that will be addressed by top international experts in this joint AFD/EUDN conference.  Only to  mention a few speakers, Sir James A. Mirrlees (Nobel Prize winner), Paul Gertler (Berkeley), Jean David Naudet (AFD), Jodi Nelson (Fondation Bill & Melinda Gates), Michael Clemens (Center for Global Development) will present and discuss their work on the role of evaluation in development. The conference is open to all, and online subscription is mandatory to come to the event. You may subscribe through the following link:
http://www.afd.fr/inscription/formAddInscription.action?request_locale=fr&manifestationId=37

More detail on the conference here: http://www.afd.fr/EUDN2012

Live webinar¹ on

Detailed agenda and instruction on how to log in are available at MyM&E [http://mymande.org/sites/default/files/Hopson-Bledsoe_Mar15-2012.pdf].

Webinars are free and open to interested people. You may attend virtually from your personal or work computer anywhere in the world. In addition to watching live presentations, you will have the option to ask questions and provide comments. You just need a computer, high-speed internet connection thru cables, a headphone with microphone and the latest Java program installed. You do NOT need to register in advance. Just log in the day of the webinar. For a quick participants guide to Blackboard Collaborate (formerly Elluminate Live), the software used for this webinar, see Getting Started for Participants Quick Reference Guide.

Recordings and presentations for this new webinar series on “Equity-focused evaluations” by:
• Colin Kirk and Penny Hawkins on “Evaluation to accelerate progress towards equitable development”;
• Belen Sanz and Flaminia Minelli on “Human rights and Gender equality in evaluations”;
• Marco Segone and Michael Bamberger on “How to design, implement and use equity-focused evaluations”;
• Saville Kushner on “Case study and equity in evaluation”;
• Bob Williams and Martin Reynolds on “Systems thinking for Equity-focused evaluations”;
• Patricia Rogers and Richard Hummelbrunner on “Program theories and Logframes to evaluate pro-poor and equity programs”;
• Michael Quinn Patton on “Developmental Evaluation”;
• Donna Mertens on “Evaluation for Social Justice”;
• Jennifer Greene on “Values-engaged Evaluation”;
• Michael Quinn Patton on “How to evaluate interventions in complex dynamic environments”
are available at MyM&E: http://mymande.org/?q=equity_focused_evaluation&x=cl

Recording and presentations of previous webinars on “Developing national capacities for country M&E systems” by:
• Saraswathi Menon and Finbar O’Brien on “The role of the UN in fostering national ownership and capacities in evaluation”;
• Michael Quinn Patton on “Future trends in evaluation” and Marco Segone on “Moving from policies to results by developing national capacities for country-led monitoring and evaluation systems”;
• Caroline Heider on “Evaluating policies and their results” and Craig Russon on "The role of policy analysis in over-coming the implementation challenge”;
• Belen Sanz and Florence Etta on “Human Rights and gender in evaluation";
• Linda Morra Imas, Robert Picciotto and Jean Quesnel on "The Professionalization of evaluation";
• Oscar Garcia and Angela Bester on "Joint evaluation of the role and contribution of the UN system in South Africa. Lessons learned";
• Michael Bamberger on "Institutionalizing impact evaluation. A key element in strengthening country-led monitoring and evaluation systems";
• Hallie Preskill and Alexey Kuzmin on "Exploring effective strategies for facilitating evaluation capacity development";
• Michael Quinn Patton on "Utilization-focused evaluations";
• David Fetterman on "Empowerment evaluation"
are available at http://mymande.org/index.php?q=content/developing-capacities-country-monitoring-evaluation-system&x=cl

Recording and presentations of previous webinars on “Emerging Practices in Development Evaluation” by
• Zenda Ofir and Shiva Kumar on "Using a Developing Country Lens in Evaluation”;
• Fred Carden on "Emerging Practices in Evaluating Policy Influence”;
• Jared Raynor on "Evaluating Networks & Partnerships”;
• Charles Lusthaus and Katrina Rojas on "Evaluating Organizational Performance";
• Steve Rochlin on "Evaluating Innovation";
• Alastair Bradstock on "Evaluating Sustainable Development
are available at http://mymande.org/index.php?q=content/emerging-practices-in-development-evaluation&x=cl

Best regards,
Marco Segone

^{1The opinions expressed are the personal thinking of the contributors and do not necessarily reflect the policies or views of the organizing institutions or any other organization involved and named in this series of webinars.}

Evaluation in the Media

Conference presentation

------------------------------------------------
The aim of international conference „Evaluation in the Media" is to question the role of the media in the process of evaluation; they form an integral part of what may be termed the „culture", the „fever", the „mania" and the „explosion" of evaluation procedures observed in developed countries since the 1970s. While recognising that evaluation procedures  and the role of the media therein were not novel, this conference aims to explore how the evaluation process has became ever more linked to the media (press, radio, television, web) in contemporary society.

The conference will stress mechanisms of evaluation based on quantification or „evaluative measures" such as: „rankings", „winners", „tops", „lists", „league tables", „ratings", „barometers", „dashboards", „benchmarks". The conference will also pay attention to qualitative evaluation mechanisms that likewise flourish in the media: „prizes", „labels", „contests", „rewards", „trophies", etc. By focusing on such traits, the conference hope to throw light on the rise of impersonal evaluation mechanisms, that exist alongside the traditional journalistic genres based on the expression of personal opinion (editorial, op-ed piece, criticism,...); the media  appear to simultaneously fulfill  the roles of producers and co-producers, of relays and critics.

Four specific questions will be addressed. The first one is concerned with the origins, production processes and conditions social, economic, journalistic, material, technical and legal that underpin how the media become producers or co-producers of the evaluation process. Editorial and visual forms, ceremonies and events, and the communication processes in general that characterise evaluation mechanisms will be another theme of the conference. We consider here that these evaluation procedures are held not only to favour the production of „knowledge" but also to promote its dissemination and recognition. Media evaluation mechanisms also circulate more or less in various social spaces (media, political, economic, professional, civic, cultural, consumerist, ...). By analyzing the circulation of such evaluation mechanisms, the conference will attempt to shed light on both success and failures in the communicative process. Finally, the conference will address the effects of media evaluation.

The proliferation of evaluation procedures leads to an increase in the instances, mechanisms and numbers of actors involved in the overall process. In this regard, the conference is open to any field as long as the approach is in line with the general scientific guidelines outlined previously. The following list is indicative, not exclusive: the areas covered will include higher education and research, regions, culture, education, health, web, brands, capital, finance, communication, tourism, wine, sports, media, business, etc.

Proposals may come from the humanities and the social sciences: media studies and communication, semiology, sociology, history, political sciences, linguistics, economics, etc.

Proposals

------------------------------------------------

Submission deadline - June 24th, 2011

Scientific committee notification of acceptance - July 20th, 2011

Mailing address for submitting proposals - evalmedia2012@gmail.com

Content and framework of proposals: Proposals will include a maximum 6 000 characters. They will be structured in four parts:

a) argument, explaining the theoretical framework and approach of the problem;
b) methodological framework, presenting the empirical material and the methodology;
c) originality, specifying the relevance of the proposal;
d) bibliography, comprising the eight main references;

Proposals should include the following:

1) title
2) first name
3) name
4) professional status
5) institution
6) country
7) email (professional and/or private)

Please note that full papers (between 30 000 and 40 000 characters) for accepted abstracts will have to be submitted to the scientific committee no later than November 30th 2011 for the publication of the conference proceedings.

Languages of proposals - English or French

Technical format of proposals ".doc"

Website - www.evalmedia2012.fr

Related document:

Conference announcement

The seminar is addressed to a large audience including EU Member states, other European institutions and Consulting bodies, International organisations, Civil society and Embassies of the countries where the field missions took place: Benin, Honduras, Lebanon, Mali, Peru, Philippines, Rwanda, Sierra Leone, South Africa and Tanzania.

The full report will be soon available for downloading following this link:
http://ec.europa.eu/europeaid/how/evaluation/evaluation_reports/reports_by_year_en.htm

 Poster available here

The seminar is addressed to a large audience including Member States, other European Institutions, international organisations, civil society and concerned Embassies.

The evaluation report will be published on: http://ec.europa.eu/europeaid/how/evaluation/evaluation_reports/reports_by_year_en.htm

Venue: Brussels, Belgium
Date: 16 February 2012

Live webinar on:

VALUES-ENGAGED EVALUATION.¹

Within the series of monthly live webinars on Equity-focused evaluations, UNICEF, UNWOMEN, the Rockefeller Foundation, Claremont Graduate University, and IOCE in partnership with IDEAS, OHCHR, UNEG Task Force on National Evaluation Capacities, UNDP, ILO, IDRC and PAHO, are pleased to announce the ninth webinar with Jennifer GREENE, from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, on “Values-engaged Evaluation”.

Detailed agenda and instruction on how to log in are available at MyM&E [http://www.mymande.org/sites/default/files/JGreene_Feb15_2012.pdf].

Webinars are free and open to interested people. You may attend virtually from your personal or work computer anywhere in the world. In addition to watching live presentations, you will have the option to ask questions and provide comments. You just need a computer, high-speed internet connection thru cables, a headphone with microphone and the latest Java program installed. You do NOT need to register in advance. Just log in the day of the webinar. For a quick participants guide to Blackboard Collaborate (formerly Elluminate Live), the software used for this webinar, see Getting Started for Participants Quick Reference Guide.

Recordings and presentations for this new webinar series on “Equity-focused evaluations” by:
• Colin Kirk and Penny Hawkins on “Evaluation to accelerate progress towards equitable development”
• Belen Sanz and Flaminia Minelli on “Human rights and Gender equality in evaluations”
• Marco Segone and Michael Bamberger on “How to design, implement and use equity-focused evaluations”
• Saville Kushner on “Case study and equity in evaluation”
• Bob Williams and Martin Reynolds on “Systems thinking for Equity-focused evaluations”
• Patricia Rogers and Richard Hummelbrunner on “Program theories and LogFrames to evaluate pro-poor and equity programs”
• Michael Quinn Paton on “Developmental Evaluation”
• Donna Mertens and Bagele Chilisa on “Evaluation for Social Justice”
are available at MyM&E: http://mymande.org/?q=equity_focused_evaluation&x=cl

Recording and presentations of previous webinars on “Developing national capacities for country M&E systems” by:
• Saraswathi Menon and Finbar O’Brien on “The role of the UN in fostering national ownership and capacities in evaluation”;
• Michael Quinn Patton on “Future trends in evaluation” and Marco Segone on “Moving from policies to results by developing national capacities for country-led monitoring and evaluation systems”;
• Caroline Heider on “Evaluating policies and their results” and Craig Russon on "The role of policy analysis in over-coming the implementation challenge”;
• Belen Sanz and Florence Etta on “Human Rights and gender in evaluation";
• Linda Morra Imas, Robert Picciotto and Jean Quesnel on "The Professionalization of evaluation";
• Oscar Garcia and Angela Bester on "Joint evaluation of the role and contribution of the UN system in South Africa. Lessons learned";
• Michael Bamberger on "Institutionalizing impact evaluation. A key element in strengthening country-led monitoring and evaluation systems";
• Hallie Preskill and Alexey Kuzmin on "Exploring effective strategies for facilitating evaluation capacity development";
• Michael Quinn Patton on "Utilization-focused evaluations";
• David Fetterman on "Empowerment evaluation"
are available at http://mymande.org/index.php?q=content/developing-capacities-country-monitoring-evaluation-system&x=cl

Recording and presentations of previous webinars on “Emerging Practices in Development Evaluation” by
• Zenda Ofir and Shiva Kumar on "Using a Developing Country Lens in Evaluation”;
• Fred Carden on "Emerging Practices in Evaluating Policy Influence”;
• Jared Raynor on "Evaluating Networks & Partnerships”;
• Charles Lusthaus and Katrina Rojas on "Evaluating Organizational Performance";
• Steve Rochlin on "Evaluating Innovation";
• Alastair Bradstock on "Evaluating Sustainable Development
are available at http://mymande.org/index.php?q=content/emerging-practices-in-development-evaluation&x=cl

Best regards,
Marco Segone

^{1 The opinions expressed are the personal thinking of the contributors and do not necessarily reflect the policies or views of the organizing institutions or any other organization involved and named in this series of webinars}

DFID/UK Evaluation Society

International Bursaries to attend the annual conference of the UK Evaluation Society

15-16 March 2012 (Birmingham, UK)

The Department for International Development (DFID) and the UK Evaluation Society (UKES) invite applications for a small number of travel bursaries to attend this conference.  The title of the conference is Evaluation for results: What counts? Who stands to gain? How is it done? - and key themes include:

• The role of the evaluator in results based evaluation;
• What constitutes a valid result and how can we meaningfully measure it?;
• Techniques to assess the significance of a result.

The main conference will take place on 16 March and will be preceded on 15 March by a series of pre-conference workshops on topics such as development, health, public sector leadership and climate change.  For an outline of the event please refer to the following website:

http://www.profbriefings.co.uk/ukes2012

Bursaries will contribute to the costs of travel, accommodation and subsistence between 14-17 March (4 days) on the basis of lowest cost fares.

Candidates should be practising evaluators and nationals of countries in receipt of development assistance.  Since one aim of these bursaries is to improve in-country and regional evaluation capacity it would be advantageous for candidates to work in settings such as state universities, international agencies or NGOs and/or to show that they are active members of evaluation associations or networks, where there are good opportunities to disseminate the experience of attendance at this conference.  We cannot fund people already or recently in receipt of a DfID bursary for other purposes.

Applicants are invited to submit a brief abstract of a poster they might present at the conference during a session on international development dedicated to learning from those in receipt of these bursaries.  Delegates attending this session will have an opportunity to view all the posters and question the presenters about their work, followed by a general discussion.   

Suitable candidates are requested to provide the following information:

Name:

Institutional affiliation:

Member of which Evaluation Association (if applicable):

Projected costs to be covered:

Dissemination opportunities:

Forecast benefits:

The UKES Council will review the applications received and agree a short list of candidates to be offered bursaries, having regard to equal opportunity issues such as gender balance where practicable.  The criteria for selection will require candidates to be practising evaluators and nationals of countries in receipt of development assistance who are not already benefiting from other such opportunities.

Please send your application by E Mail by 8 February 2012 to:

ukes@profbriefings.co.uk

with the message headed -  DFID Bursary Application. We will consider applications on a first-come-first-served basis.  An awards meeting will be held in shortly after the closing date for applications.

UK Evaluation Society

37 Star Street

Ware

Hertfordshire

SG12 7AA

www.evaluation.org.uk

The seminar is addressed to a large audience including Member States, other European Institutions, international organisations, civil society and concerned Embassies.

The evaluation report is published on: http://ec.europa.eu/europeaid/how/evaluation/evaluation_reports/2011/1295_docs_en.htm

For more information and to register please contact: roxana.osiac@ec.europa.eu
Venue: Brussels, Belgium
Date: 3 February 2012

The Evaluators' Institute is proud to offer its January 2012 Program in Washington, DC, January 9-21, 2012, at The Melrose Hotel (2430 Pennsylvania Ave. NW Washington, DC 20037). The program spans two weeks, offering 21 different courses to share and discuss ways to make evaluation data more useful. All of these courses will be led by renown doctorate professors and faculty members of TEI.

Online registration is now available on our website at http://tei.gwu.edu
The Early Bird Discount ends December 20, 2011. Courses will be filled on a first-come basis, so register today!

For more information on the program and the courses provided, please visit our website at http://tei.gwu.edu, or contact us via email at tei@gwu.edu or phone at 202-994-5232.

Message from the President of AfrEA

Welcoming you to the 6th AfrEA conference

Dear Member, Friend & Supporter,

It is four weeks to the start of the 6th AfrEA conference in January 2012.

So let me start by thanking you for your interest in the African Evaluation Association AfrEA in particular and in the 6th AfrEA conference scheduled to be in Accra, Ghana from Monday 9th to Friday 13th January 2012.

For those who have not yet heard about the conference, please take this notice to you.

This is the first African Evaluation Conference to be held in Anglophone West Africa since the association was formed in 1999. This is not the only unique thing about this conference; it is also the first one being organized by the AfrEA Secretariat hosted for the first time in a public institution - the University of Ghana, Legon.

The theme of Conference - Rights & Responsibility in Development Evaluation is an attempt to place humans and human agency at the heart and centre of development practice and in particular development evaluation. Development, of the done kind, is pursued in the interest and for the transformation of the human condition for the better, to improve lives, life outcomes and perchance lived experiences and living environments. In the recent past, development evaluation and indeed much of development has been consumed by the search for ‘the’ best method for doing development evaluation for the obvious reasons of less than the successful decades-long development engagement and expenditures running into billions. Although this engagement with ‘method’ is understandable it ought not to be the reason under any
guise whatsoever for the abdication of the raison d’être of development action.

We believe that in order to place the human person and indeed the environment which sustains us at the centre of development, it is imperative to interrogate the subject of Right and Responsibility. For the simple reason that Development is ‘done’ by many in the name of many and has many different faces, it is important to pause at a time as auspicious as now in human history when the whole world is wracked by crises and uncertainties; about the climate, about the euro, about capitalism, in politics - in North Africa and parts of the Middle East, to ask the questions we may have forgotten or refused to ask.

It is our hope that, in asking and attempting to answer the question of Rights and Responsibility of the many who act at the behest of themselves on behalf of the many in the name of development, we might begin a journey of claiming the true future of development.

On behalf of the Board of the African Evaluation Association, I welcome you to the feast we have prepared in this Conference.

On offer are;

60 conference papers in two languages; French & English

21 preconference workshops including 13 half-day workshops, 7 one-day workshops and 2 two-day workshops

26 Panels & Roundtables in French & English

Exhibitions; in particular exhibitions by National Evaluation Associations & Special Interest Group members of AfrEA and;

An optional cultural tour programme of Accra and the Central Region of Ghana.

For the first time at an AfrEA Conference live webinars will be given on site for those who are not in attendance as well as sms and face book messaging.

We also have plans to publish a daily conference Bulletin/newspaper.

The point of this letter is to let you know that whether you are physically present in Accra or not you can get involved and we would dearly love you to do so. You can email, sms or post a question, message or comment. In the coming weeks, we will conclude the technical arrangements to ensure that all this happens and we will let you know the details so that you can be part of this exceptional experience.

In the meantime however, I invite you to; check out the conference website www.afreaconference.org, or send an email.

As a member you can also support some of the work of the Board Conference Task teams or, if you are located in Accra Ghana, of the Local Organising Committee. Please send your inquiry to afrea.info@gmail.com.

I look forward to welcoming you either in person or online to the 6th AfrEA International Conference.

Signed

Florence Etta

President, AfrEA

21st – 22nd November 2011, Berlin

Please click here to find detailed information!

Our experts:

• Stanislaw Bienias, Head of National Evaluation Unit, Department of Structural Policy Coordination, Ministry of Regional Development, Poland
• Bernd Schuh, EU Key Expert of the EU Evaluation Network for Rural Development and Project Manager at the Austrian Institute for Regional Studies and Spatial Planning, Austria

will lead this interactive workshop and work together with you on the following subjects:

• Toolkit consisting of different types of indicators best suited for your project
• Techniques for setting measurable goals and good quality indicators
• Counterfactual impact evaluation and its practical use
• Cost-benefit analysis and alternative approaches

For direct online registration please click here.

Send us your questions and particular problems in advance and our experts will integrate these issues into the workshop!

If you have any further questions or comments regarding this event, please do not hesitate to contact us.

We are looking forward to welcoming you to this European advanced workshop in Berlin!

Yours sincerely,
Dipl.-Jur. Christoph Brauner / Dipl.-Jur. Christian Klingenberg
Managing Directors

When: November 2^nd – 5^th 2011

Values and valuing

First, in terms of the major anchors of values within the design of evaluation studies (purposes and audiences, key evaluation questions, and quality criteria):

• Which stakeholder interests should be given priority in an evaluation study, and how is this determination made
• What strategies exist for evaluators to expand upon the given values in an evaluation context? (Given values are expressed in given purposes/audiences and the criteria for judging program quality, and may be conveyed in the request for proposals, in relevant policies, or in institutional norms.)
• How can evaluators be forthright and transparent about the values being promoted in their work?

Second, as connected to the technical side of evaluators’ work:

• How do values show up in evaluation methodologies and analyses?
• How is the process of valuing enacted in evaluation’s design, implementation, and utilization?

And third, as connected to the role of evaluation in society:

• What responsibilities do evaluators have for advancing a valuing of evaluation itself in society?
• What political role(s) should evaluation play in society? When and where should evaluation primarily serve the interests of the elite – existing policy and decision makers – and thus the status quo? What responsibilities does the evaluation profession have for giving voice to the interests of other legitimate stakeholders – to onsite program administrators, program staff, and especially intended program beneficiaries?

Proposals due Friday, March 18, 2011 here http://www.eval.org/eval2011/default.asp

The South Asian Journal of Evaluation in Practice is the first of its kind with a focus on the Practice of Evaluation in the South Asian region. It has been promoted as an interdisciplinary peer-reviewed journal that would solicit contributions from academics as well as practitioners on research and practice of evaluation in South Asia. It is envisioned that the journal would be reviewed, abstracted and indexed by EBSCO database and the likes. It is also envisaged that the journal would be a pioneer in facilitating contextual knowledge building as well as knowledge sharing on theory and practice of evaluation. The journal would enhance and update knowledge of theorists, practitioners and users to ameliorate evaluation effectiveness for better delivery of development results. The journal would include:
 

• Full length papers on research and practice of evaluation in South Asia
• Articles on theory, practice and use of evaluation in regional context
• Book reviews relevant to evaluation practice in South Asia

INCLUSIONS

The journal would bring to the readers state-of-art research and latest practice with regional perspective covering an array of sectors viz. Livelihoods, Population, Health and Nutrition, Water and Sanitation, Natural Resource Management, Climate Change, Gender, etc. The interdisciplinary journal would cover topics that would include but would not be limited to:

• Evaluation in practice
• Challenges in designing and implementing evaluations
• Evaluation theory and latest advancements
• Development in evaluation methodologies
• Evaluation capacity building
• Ethics and standards
• Meta evaluations
• Evaluation and development effectiveness
• Evidence based policy formulation

PERIODICITY

During the first year, the journal would be published print and electronically only with two annual issues in November-December and May-June. From second year, it would be published quarterly: March, June, September and December. From the second year, it would also be available in hard prints. The first two issues of the journal would be complimentary in the promotion towards expectations of its wider circulation among various stakeholders involved in evaluations.

SUBMITTING MANUSCRIPTS

Manuscripts could be submitted online to sajep@srmi.in anytime of the year independent of the periodicity. Detailed guidelines for submitted manuscripts are given at http://www.srmi.in/sajep.html

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION

You may contact us at
sajep@srmi.in
+91 11 49242424-44

Detailed guidelines available here

Dear Colleagues,

The Independent Evaluation Group of the World Bank Group is holding its 5th Evaluation Week from October 24-27, 2011. The week will include more than 20 presentations by evaluation professionals on topics which may interest you. Many of these presentations will be Web streamed and we invite you to join us, no matter where you are in the world.

We have included below links to the Evaluation Week Agenda, a the Web stream and to the Evaluation Week page on IEG's Web site.Web stream.

Evaluation Week Agenda Web Stream Evaluation Week Home Page

We hope you can join us! Please feel free to share this e-mail.

All the best,

Evaluation Week Organizers
Independent Evaluation Group

Case Study and Equity in Evaluation¹

Within the series of  live webinars on Equity-focused evaluations, UNICEF, UNWOMEN, the Rockefeller Foundation, Claremont Graduate University, and IOCE in partnership with IDEAS, OHCHR, UNEG Task Force on National Evaluation Capacities, UNDP, ILO, IDRC and PAHO, are pleased to announce the fourth webinar with Saville KUSHNER on the “Case study and equity in evaluation”.

Detailed agenda and instruction on how to log in are available at MyM&E.

Webinars are free and open to interested people. You may attend virtually from your personal or work computer anywhere in the world. In addition to watching live presentations, you will have the option to ask questions and provide comments. You just need a computer, high-speed internet connection thru cables, a headphone with microphone and the latest Java program installed. You do NOT need to register in advance. Just log in the day of the webinar. For a quick participants guide to Blackboard Collaborate (formerly Elluminate Live), the software used for this webinar, see Getting Started for Participants Quick Reference Guide.

Recordings and presentations for this new webinar series on “Equity-focused evaluations” by:

• Colin Kirk and Penny Hawkins on “Evaluation to accelerate progress towards equitable development”
• Belen Sanz and Flaminia Minelli on “Human rights and Gender equality in evaluations”
• Marco Segone and Michael Bamberger on “How to design, implement and use equity-focused evaluations”

are available at MyM&E: http://mymande.org/?q=equity_focused_evaluation&x=cl

Recording and presentations of previous webinars on “Developing national capacities for country M&E systems” by:

• Saraswathi Menon and Finbar O’Brien on “The role of the UN in fostering national ownership and capacities in evaluation”;
• Michael Quinn Patton on “Future trends in evaluation” and Marco Segone on “Moving from policies to results by developing national capacities for country-led monitoring and evaluation systems”;
• Caroline Heider on “Evaluating policies and their results” and Craig Russon on "The role of policy analysis in over-coming the implementation challenge”;
• Belen Sanz and Florence Etta on “Human Rights and gender in evaluation";
• Linda Morra Imas, Robert Picciotto and Jean Quesnel on "The Professionalization of evaluation";
• Oscar Garcia and Angela Bester on "Joint evaluation of the role and contribution of the UN system in South Africa. Lessons learned";
• Michael Bamberger on "Institutionalizing impact evaluation. A key element in strengthening country-led monitoring and evaluation systems";
• Hallie Preskill and Alexey Kuzmin on "Exploring effective strategies for facilitating evaluation capacity development";
• Michael Quinn Patton on "Utilization-focused evaluations";
• David Fetterman on "Empowerment evaluation"

are available at http://mymande.org/index.php?q=content/developing-capacities-country-monitoring-evaluation-system&x=cl

Recording and presentations of previous webinars on “Emerging Practices in Development Evaluation” by

• Zenda Ofir and Shiva Kumar on "Using a Developing Country Lens in Evaluation”;
• Fred Carden on "Emerging Practices in Evaluating Policy Influence”;
• Jared Raynor on "Evaluating Networks & Partnerships”;
• Charles Lusthaus and Katrina Rojas on "Evaluating Organizational Performance";
• Steve Rochlin on "Evaluating Innovation";
• Alastair Bradstock on "Evaluating Sustainable Development

are available at http://mymande.org/index.php?q=content/emerging-practices-in-development-evaluation&x=cl

Best regards,
Marco Segone


¹The opinions expressed are the personal thinking of the contributors and do not necessarily reflect the policies or views of the organizing institutions or any other organization involved and named in this series of webinars.

6th - 9th October 2011 International Conference Hall London United Kingdom.

Dear Conference Invitee,

On the behalf of the Organizing and Scientific Committees, the United Nations Working Group announces the UN summit (MDGs WE CAN END POVERTY 2015) to be held at the International Conference Centre London on 6th  -  9th October 2011. We also would like to extend this special invitation to you and all your colleagues to participate in the UN Millennium Development Goals International Conference & Exposition.

This unprecedented and historic event is dedicated to the exchange of scientific data, governmental assessments, and public policies concerning community development, including poverty reduction and gender equality. Attendees of the MDGs International Conference would be delegates from around the world, representing academic institutions, corporate sectors, nongovernmental organizations, community associations, Leaders of religious organizations. Private and Public participation are highly encouraged.

Participants who wish to learn of recent developments in United Nations MDGs will be exposed to invited plenary lectures and concurrent sessions followed by open workshop discussions with outstanding speakers and multi-disciplinary researchers and scientists. Open discussions are planned to consider the broad challenges of UN MDGs upon, community development, human health, and economic infrastructures at local, national, regional and global scales.

Along with conference lectures and workshops, the UN MDG Exposition at the International Conference Centre London will include over 175 booths at which representatives from the health, educational and agricultural sector will present their programs to address the challenges of MDGs. Other corporate bodies and environmental organizations will present projects and training opportunities to participants.

For registration, visa and flight ticket details contact Mr. Evans Southgate, [Organizing Secretary] United Nations Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) Summit. (Conference Organizing Secretary) e-mail:  ev.southgate@gmail.com we call on individuals and organizations who may wish to submit papers for presentation at the summit plenary sessions to do so on the following Theme---

1. MDGs Access to Freedom from Poverty and Hunger
2. Gender Equity and Women Empowerment Sustainability
3. Sustainable Development and Environmental Concerns
4. Education and Health for All: Challenges and Perspectives

Important Dates
23rd   September, 2011 - Registration/paper Abstract submission
30th   September, 2011 - Notification of acceptance of paper Abstract
6th - 9th October, 2011 - Conference Dates

Register Now!

Mrs. Elizabeth Benson,
[Conference Coordinator]
Communication and Public Affairs,
United Nations Millennium Development Goals Summit Organizing Committee.
Copyright © 2009-2011 United Nations. All rights reserved.

Live webinar on:

HOW TO DESIGN and MANAGE EQUITY-FOCUSED EVALUATIONS¹

Within the series of monthly live webinars on Equity-focused evaluations, UNICEF, UNWOMEN, the Rockefeller Foundation, Claremont Graduate University and IOCE, in partnership with IDEAS, OHCHR, UNEG Task Force on National Evaluation Capacities, UNDP, ILO, IDRC and PAHO, are pleased to announce the third webinar with Marco SEGONE, Systemic Management, UNICEF Evaluation Office; and with Michael BAMBERGER, Independent Consultant, on “How to design and manage equity-oriented evaluations”.

Detailed agenda and instruction on how to log in are available at http://mymande.org/sites/default/files/MSegone_MBamberger_oct4_2011.pdf

Webinars are free and open to interested people. You may attend virtually from your personal or work computer anywhere in the world. In addition to watching live presentations, you will have the option to ask questions and provide comments. You just need a computer, high-speed internet connection thru cables, a headphone with microphone and the latest Java program installed. You do NOT need to register in advance. Just log in the day of the webinar. For a quick participants guide to Blackboard Collaborate (formerly Elluminate Live), the software used for this webinar, see Getting Started for Participants Quick Reference Guide.

Recordings and presentations for this new webinar series on “Equity-focused evaluations” by:

• Colin Kirk and Penny Hawkins on “Evaluation to accelerate progress towards equitable development”
• Belen Sanz and Flaminia Minelli on “Human rights and Gender equality in evaluations”

are available at MyM&E: http://mymande.org/?q=equity_focused_evaluation&x=cl

Recording and presentations of previous webinars on “Developing national capacities for country M&E systems” by:

• Saraswathi Menon and Finbar O’Brien on “The role of the UN in fostering national ownership and capacities in evaluation”;
• Michael Quinn Patton on “Future trends in evaluation” and Marco Segone on “Moving from policies to results by developing national capacities for country-led monitoring and evaluation systems”;
• Caroline Heider on “Evaluating policies and their results” and Craig Russon on "The role of policy analysis in over-coming the implementation challenge”;
• Belen Sanz and Florence Etta on “Human Rights and gender in evaluation";
• Linda Morra Imas, Robert Picciotto and Jean Quesnel on "The Professionalization of evaluation";
• Oscar Garcia and Angela Bester on "Joint evaluation of the role and contribution of the UN system in South Africa. Lessons learned";
• Michael Bamberger on "Institutionalizing impact evaluation. A key element in strengthening country-led monitoring and evaluation systems";
• Hallie Preskill and Alexey Kuzmin on "Exploring effective strategies for facilitating evaluation capacity development";
• Michael Quinn Patton on "Utilization-focused evaluations";
• David Fetterman on "Empowerment evaluation"

are available at http://mymande.org/index.php?q=content/developing-capacities-country-monitoring-evaluation-system&x=cl 

Recording and presentations of previous webinars on “Emerging Practices in Development Evaluation” by

• Zenda Ofir and Shiva Kumar on "Using a Developing Country Lens in Evaluation”;
• Fred Carden on "Emerging Practices in Evaluating Policy Influence”;
• Jared Raynor on "Evaluating Networks & Partnerships”;
• Charles Lusthaus and Katrina Rojas on "Evaluating Organizational Performance";
• Steve Rochlin on "Evaluating Innovation";
• Alastair Bradstock on "Evaluating Sustainable Development

are available at http://mymande.org/index.php?q=content/emerging-practices-in-development-evaluation&x=cl

Best regards,
Marco Segone

¹The opinions expressed are the personal thinking of the contributors and do not necessarily reflect the policies or views of the organizing institutions or any other organization involved and named in this series of webinars.

6^th AfrEA CONFERENCE

JANUARY 9 – 13, 2012

ACCRA INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE CENTRE, GHANA

CALL FOR PROPOSAL ABSTRACTS

CONFERENCE THEME:
"Rights and Responsibility in Development Evaluation"

The President and Board of the African Evaluation Association (AfrEA) invite submissions of abstracts for the 6th AfrEA Conference to be held in Accra, Ghana from January 9 – 13, 2012.

Proposal abstracts are welcome for Papers, Panels and/or Roundtables from individuals and institutions (African and non-African) with expertise and special interest in evaluation. Members of AfrEA, national evaluation associations, and AfrEA Special Interest Groups are particularly encouraged to submit proposals. AfrEA is looking for results and findings of innovative research, projects and training related to development evaluation in general and the conference theme and sub themes in particular.

Proposal abstracts are sought for presentations in French or English ONLY.

Conference sub-themes

1. State/Country Rights & Responsibilities for Development Evaluation
2. Donor/funder Rights & Responsibilities for Development Evaluation
3. Evaluation Commissioner, Manager & Evaluator Rights & Responsibilities in Development Evaluation
4. Stakeholder & Beneficiary Rights & Responsibilities in Development Evaluation
5. Human Rights and Gender Equality in Development Evaluation

Paper Proposals should indicate a Title, Name and Affiliation of the proposer, Contact Address [including e-mail address], and a 300 - 500 word Abstract indicating the sub-theme (1-5 above) for which the paper should be considered.

Proposals for Panels, or Roundtables should indicate Title, Name & Address of Proposer, Name & Affiliation of potential and/or confirmed Presenters (if any), and a 300 - 500 word Abstract indicating the sub-theme (1-5 above) for which the panel or roundtable should be considered.

Proposals for Workshops should be sent using the following format and attached/specified workshop submission form:

1. Workshop Title:
2. Facilitator name/s; background; qualifications & affiliation:
3. Description of experience in training in the field and history of the workshop or course
4. Contact details of the presenting entity or facilitator
5. Course length: half/1/2 days
6. Target participants: Beginner, intermediate or advanced participants?
7. Workshop description/Programme of activities:
8. Accreditation:
9. Ideal and maximum number of participants.
10. Language of Workshop (English or French)
11. Special requirements:
12. Description of course materials.
13. Indication whether the Facilitator/s accept/s to sign a waiver of his/his/ their facilitation fees, as a contribution to AfrEA. If not, indicate how much the facilitator/s expect/s to be paid.
14. Workshops should indicate if and how they would reflect the theme of the conference.

All proposals should be sent by e-mail to:
 afrea.info@gmail.com; akunu@afreaconference.org; yemi@afreaconfernce.org

Attachment

6th AfrEA Conference - Workshop Submission Form

6th AfrEA Conference - Call for abstracts (English)

6th AfrEA Conference - Call for abstracts (French)

Dear Colleagues:

We are pleased to announce a very important initiative. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) recently approved the creation of an International Workshop Agreement (IWA) on evaluation capacity development.

Everyone agrees that there is an acute need to develop evaluation capacity. However, resolution of the problem has not been possible because there is no agreement on HOW to develop evaluation capacity. Some think that individual evaluators should be better trained through workshops and seminars. Others think that organizations should be redesigned to enable the achievement of a shared vision for evaluation. And, yet others think that evaluation should be institutionalized in national governments to promote accountability to their citizens.

An innovative week-long workshop format will utilize a systems approach to develop an IWA that integrates ECD at the individual, organizational and national levels.  We are particularly pleased to inform you that a leading expert in systems-based evaluation, Bob Williams, has consented to facilitate the event.

The Evaluation Capacity Development Group (ECDG) and the Joint Committee on Standards for Educational Evaluation (JCSEE), in partnership with the International Organization for Cooperation in Evaluation (IOCE), will host this event 17-21 October 2011 in the John Knox Centre, Geneva, Switzerland. 

As per the procedures explained in Annex SI of the Supplement to the ISO/IEC Directives, ANY organization with an interest in evaluation capacity development can register to send a representative to the workshop to participate in the preparation of this important document.  Limited support may be available.  To learn more about the workshop and to register please go to http://www.ecdg.net/

Best Regards,

Karen Russon
President
Evaluation Capacity Development Group

Where: in front of your personal or work computer anywhere in the world.

Cost: Free. No prior registration required.

UNICEF, UNWOMEN, the Rockefeller Foundation, Claremont Graduate University and IOCE, in partnership with IDEAS, OHCHR, UNEG Task Force on National Evaluation Capacities, UNDP, ILO, IDRC and PAHO, are pleased to announce a series of live webinars on “Equity-focused Evaluations”. This new series of webinars will address the challenges and opportunities in evaluating the effects of policies, programmes and projects to enhance equitable development results, with a special focus on the effects to the most excluded, marginalized and deprived groups. Specific invitation – with detailed instructions – for each of the bi-monthly live webinar will be sent out the week before the event. To see the full programme, please visit MyM&E [http://mymande.org/index.php?q=equity_focused_evaluation&x=cl].

The series will have international keynote speakers such as: Colin Kirk, Belen Sanz, Flaminia Minelli, Marco Segone, Michael Bamberger, Robert Chambers, Saville Kushner, Patricia Rogers, Richard Hummelbrunner, Bob Williams, Martin Reynolds, Michael Quinn Patton, Donna Mertens, Bagele Chilisa, Jennifer Greene, Rodney Hopson, Katrina Bledsoe, Francisco Guzman, Juha Uitto, Oscar Garcia, Rosina Salerno, Katherine Haye, Sanjeev Sridharan, Rajesh Tandon, Sulley Gariba, Julian Barr, and Ken Chomitz.

The first webinar will be on 6th September with Colin Kirk, Director, UNICEF Evaluation Office. The second webinar will be on 21st September with Belen Sanz, Chair, UNEG and Chief, UNWomen Evaluation Office, and Flaminia Minelli, Evaluation Office, Office of the High Commissioner on Human Rights.

Webinars are free and open to interested people. You may attend virtually from your personal or work computer anywhere in the world. In addition to watching live presentations, you will have the option to ask questions and provide comments. You just need a computer, internet connection and the latest Java program installed. You do NOT need to register in advance. Just log in the day of the webinar. For a quick participants guide to Blackboard Collaborate (formerly Elluminate), the software used for this webinar, see Getting Started for Participants Quick Reference Guide.

We hope you will enjoy this new series of webinars.

Best regards,

Marco Segone

Dear Madam / Sir,

The International Association for Impact Assessment (IAIA) in cooperation with the European  Commission and the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe will organize a special conference on Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) on 21-23 September 2011 in Prague, Czech Republic. The conference is held to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the SEA Directive and the entry into force of the SEA Protocol.

The Conference will provide an opportunity to discuss the state of practice in SEA in Europe and the contribution that SEA systems make to planning and decision-making. Other sessions will examine options for addressing climate change issues in SEA; experience with using SEA as a sustainability assessment; use of SEA in the EU Cohesion Policy and many other issues addressed in the conference agenda. The conference announcement is attached. For more information or to register, visit
http://www.iaia.org/specialmeetings/prague11

I would like to use this opportunity to invite you to take part in the conference. Should you wish to contribute to the theme "SEA and EU Cohesion Policy" which I will be chairing, please let me know. I would be happy to discuss with you details of your contribution to the session.

Please also feel free to pass the conference announcement to colleagues and practitioners who may be interested in presenting their experience or attending the conference.

Kind regards

Martin Smutný
IAIA SEA 2011, Theme Chair for "SEA and EU Cohesion Policy"

Related document:

IAIA SEA 2011 Prague - First announcement

Evaluating Social Programs

Brussels, September 12-16, 2011

J-PAL Europe is organizing a five-day course, led by affiliated professors from J-PAL, that will teach participants how to measure the effects of poverty programs scientifically and help shape better policies through the use of randomized evaluations.

The course is designed for participants from a variety of backgrounds, including managers and researchers from governments, international development organizations and managers in non-governmental organizations from around the world.

Through both lectures and group work, participants will be given a thorough understanding of randomized evaluation, including:

• When randomized evaluations are appropriate, and how they avoid common pitfalls
• The key components of randomized evaluations
• Guidelines for successful implementation of a randomized evaluation
• How to interpret and present the results

This course will be held in English at the Solvay Brussels School of Economics and Management (ULB) in Brussels. Participants must apply by July 15, 2011.

To apply for this course or to find more information, you can visit http://www.povertyactionlab.org/course 

Date of the course

September 05 - 09, 2011

The objective

The programme focuses on the ex ante appraisal (Cost-Benefit Analysis) of investment projects asking for EU co-financing under Structural Funds, Cohesion Fund and Instrument for Pre-Accession. CBA methodology and worked examples will be investigated. Participants will learn how to understand and use the EC “CBA Guide” with some of its authors as lecturers.

Detail information downloadable here.

Conference Theme -  M&E 4 Outcomes: Answering the 'So What?' Question 

The organizers of the 3rd Biennial South African conference on monitoring and evaluation take pleasure in inviting you to present a pre-conference workshop, and/or a paper, round table or poster, to be held in Johannesburg from the 5-9 September 2011.

Professor David Fetterman of Stanford University, has long been a leading evaluation author, theorist and practitioner through his groundbreaking work in empowerment evaluation, and will present the main key note address and offer a workshop in evaluation.

Pre-conference workshops are designed to train in evaluation skills. Papers, roundtables and posters are intended to relate to the conference theme, M&E 4 Outcomes: Answering the 'So What?' Question, to: debate the purpose and power of evaluation for attaining outcomes; showcase exemplary evaluations making a difference to programmes and policy; exchange expertise in attaining outcomes through evaluation; debate experience in evaluation in Africa particularly so we can learn from each other to avoid re-inventing the wheel; localise evaluation approaches; grow evaluation expertise and the field.

Concurrently, the conference organizers have contracted the Wits Programme Evaluation Group [WPEG] to organize an internet-based, virtual symposium on the conference theme with a focus on ‘Monitoring and Evaluation for Outcomes.’ The virtual symposium will be hosted on the WPEG website and use an open forum format involving a number of stimulus papers, local and international, which with papers from the Conference, will form the basis for further discussion and comment.

2nd Call for Papers

Key Dates:

16 March 2011 – Abstract Submission Deadline
31 May 2011 – Early Bird Registration

Programme:

With the Conference theme of Evaluation and Influence, an exciting program is currently being developed to discuss the following sub-themes:

1. The influence of evaluation on society

   How much and in what ways does evaluation impact upon policy, practice and organisations? Where and in what circumstances does it have the most impact, and why? What are other important sources of influence, and how do they compare with evaluation?

2. Making an evaluation more influential

   How can an evaluation be designed and conducted to increase its use and influence? What are the most persuasive ways of communicating the results of an evaluation? What role can evaluators play in implementing evaluation results? What are the lessons for evaluation from theories of influence and diffusion?

3. Influences shaping evaluation

   How is evaluation changing in response to emerging social, economic and political issues, to increasing complexity and uncertainty, and to new approaches and technologies? What are the important influences on evaluation, and how are they shaping evaluation?

Monday and Tuesday of the conference program will offer interactive workshops to conference attendees. The Conference sessions will run from Wednesday to Friday including plenary sessions with invited keynote speakers and up to five concurrent sessions each day.

For more information visit the website www.aes2011.com.au

When: 8 - 10 August 2011

Where: Te Papa, Wellington, Aotearoa New Zealand

Earlybird registration close-off is 30 June 2011! 

Kia ora koutou. Talofa lava. Malo e lelei. Kia orana. Fakalofa lahi atu. Ni sa bula. Namaste.
We live in rapidly changing times. Global, societal, political, environmental, technological and demographic changes affect the lives of every person in Aotearoa New Zealand. Politically, there is a drive for value for money, reduced public sector expenditure, whole-of-government initiatives, public-private partnership models, review of policy advice models, and whānau/community-based provision of services and opportunities. These changes are important for evaluators and evaluation users in Aotearoa New Zealand - they are the changing landscape that forms the context of evaluation. The Conference focus is the interactions amongst politics, policy and evaluation in this changing landscape.

For more information about the anzea Conference 2011 please go to anzea Conference website http://www.anzea.org.nz/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=103&Itemid=111

Scholarship application form

anzea Conference programme

L’évaluation des politiques publiques devant les défis d’une société en tension

30 juin et 1^er juillet 2011 – Nantes

La Société Française de l’Evaluation organise les 10èmes Journées Françaises de l’Evaluation autour du thème « L’évaluation des politiques publiques devant les défis d’une société en tension ».

Consulter le programme

LES 10ÈMES JFE INNOVENT :

Forums interactifs simultanés « Les enjeux de l’évaluation » : consulter les 14 forums qui se tiendront le 30 juin : Consulter

Une session de sensibilisation à l’attention des décideurs et élus : Vous êtes un élu ou un décideur en charge de politiques publiques, soucieux d’améliorer la valeur de vos actions. Une session spéciale vous est consacrée le vendredi 1er juillet à 11 heures. Que peut-on attendre d’une évaluation ? Comment rendre l’évaluation utile à la décision ? Quelle démarche d’évaluation mettre en place selon les contextes et les finalités ? Comment faire de l’évaluation un levier de changement, qu’il soit opérationnel, managérial ou stratégique ? Comment passer commande, comment formuler un mandat d’évaluation ? Comment et à quel moment faire participer les citoyens ? C’est à ce type de questions, enrichi de votre propre questionnement que la session tentera de répondre. Elle prendra la forme de retours d’expériences ; le panel initial d’intervenants comprendra un opérateur public (directeur d'ARS), une élue d'une grande ville, un DGS de collectivité territoriale, un SGAR (Etat en région). Les participants pourront également faire part de leur expérience. Elle sera animée par Annie Fouquet, présidente de la SFE. Inscription
 

29 juin « Des rencontres pour renforcer les liens entre évaluateurs »

Les groupes, clubs et ateliers de la SFE se réunissent les locaux de la Communauté Urbaine de Nantes la veille des journées pour vous présenter leurs travaux, programmes de travail, etc. Ces rencontres sont gratuites et ouvertes à tous.
 
Vous pouvez retrouver les informations du colloque sur le site (Consulter le site de l'évènement)

BULLETIN D’INSCRIPTION AUX PRE-SESSIONS

SFE-Affiche_nantes

A Multinational Conference

University – Higher School of Economics
University of Maryland School of Public Policy
Association for Public Policy Analysis and Management

Public desire for better services from government is universal, but the approaches taken to improve public services, and the outcomes achieved, vary dramatically from country to country.  Researchers and practitioners around the world have learned much about the factors that influence efficiency, effectiveness, equity, and responsiveness in public service design and delivery across different contexts. Lessons emerging from developing and transition countries have the potential to shed new light on longstanding questions about the performance of public service.

In an effort to consolidate these lessons, the Higher School of Economics (HSE), the Russian Federation Ministry of Economic Development, and the University of Maryland School of Public Policy (UMD), in collaboration with the Association for Public Policy Analysis and Management (APPAM), will hold a conference in Moscow June 28-29, 2011.  The conference is designed to attract a worldwide audience, including academics and professionals from universities, think tanks, government agencies, the private sector, civil society, and beyond.

Papers are solicited on all aspects of public policy and public management associated with improving the quality of public services at the local, sub-national, national, and regional levels.  Cross-national and comparative papers are encouraged, as are papers that explore the exigencies of public administration in the Russian Federation while advancing concrete proposals to improve public services for Russian citizens. Papers will be presented in topic-oriented panels with presenters and discussants.

Program co-chairs:

Prof. Alexey Barabashev
Dean, School of Public Administration, University–Higher School of Economics (HSE)

Prof. Douglas J. Besharov
School of Public Policy, University of Maryland (UMD)
Chair, International Activities Committee, Association for Public Policy Analysis and Management
Co-editor, International Policy Exchange Series, Oxford University Press

Program committee:

Kenneth Apfel, School of Public Policy, UMD
Karen Baehler, School of Public Affairs, American University
Andrey Klimenko, Vice-rector, HSE
Maureen Pirog, Indiana University; Editor, Journal of Policy Analysis and Management
Jeffrey Straussman, Rockefeller College of Public Affairs and Policy, State University of New York (Albany)
Lev Yakobson, First Vice-Rector, HSE
Sergey Parkhomenko, School of Public Administration, HSE

The conference agenda is broad. Possible topics for papers include, but are not limited to the following:

• Reinventing public service design and delivery
• Measuring performance (using administrative and other data)
• Governance, leadership, and financing
• Roles of formal and informal institutions, especially in developing and transition countries
• Transparency, integrity, and anti-corruption initiatives
• Collaboration across agencies, sectors, and federal systems
• E-government
• Citizen and community engagement
• Globalization and the role of international organizations
• Lessons from experiments: Contracting out, public-private partnerships, quasi-markets, specialized agencies, etc.
• Beyond policy and public management fads:  What works under varying conditions?

Language:

Please note that English will be the official language of the conference. Abstracts, papers, and presentations are expected to be delivered in English, but papers and abstracts may also be submitted in Russian.

Schedule:

Registration is now available:

Click here to register through the APPAM website.

Early registration will close on April 4, 2011.
Regular registration will close on May 23, 2011.
After this date, registration will be available on-site at the conference.

Persons in low-income countries: You may be eligible for a waiver of the registration fee. Please contact Ms. Elena Guseletova at eguseletova@hse.ru for more information.

Side trips: For more information on side trips or personal excursion tours being planned please see the conference website at: http://www.umdcipe.org/conferences/moscow/moscowmain.html

Hotel accommodations: HSE is coordinating hotel accommodations in Moscow for the conference. To learn more and to make reservations, please click here.

Post-conference publication: Papers from the conference will be considered for publication in the Oxford University Press Series on “Comparative Policy Analysis.” Information about the series is available at: http://www.umdcipe.org/international_policy_exchange_series/aboutseries.html

Contact information: For more information about the conference, please visit the conference website: http://www.umdcipe.org/conferences/moscow/moscowmain.html

Contact Person:
For inquires about paper proposals, opportunities to support the conference, registration, or administrative matters please contact:

Ms. Elena Guseletova
Head of International Office
School of Public Administration, HSE
20 Myasnitskaya Street, office 605
e-mail: eguseletova@hse.ru
Tel: +7 495 628 96 09

Live webinar on: Country-led M&E systems in Sri Lanka and South Africa

Where: in front of your personal or work computer anywhere in the world
When: Tuesday, 28th June 2011, from 9h30 to 10h30 AM New York time (3h30 PM South Africa time; 7h30 PM Sri Lanka time)

Within the series of monthly live webinars on Developing national capacities for country M&E systems with authors of the new book “From policies to results. Developing national capacities for country M&E systems”, UNICEF, IOCE and DevInfo, in partnership with UNDP, WFP, UNWOMEN and ILO, are pleased to announce the eleventh webinar with Indran Naidoo, Deputy-Director General, M&E, Public Service Commission, South Africa, on “National M&E in South Africa. Many Purposes, Multiple System”; and with Velayuthan Sivagnanasothy, Secretary, Ministry of Traditional Industries & Small Enterprise Development, on “National M&E in Sri Lanka. Experiences, Good Practices, Challenges & the Way Forward”.

Webinars are free and open to interested people. You may attend virtually from your personal or work computer anywhere in the world. In addition to watching live presentations, you will have the option to ask questions and provide comments. You just need a computer, high-speed internet connection thru cables, a headphone with mic and the latest Java program installed. You do NOT need to register in advance. Just log in the day of the webinar. You do NOT need to register in advance. Just log in the day of the webinar. For a quick participants guide to Elluminate, the software used for this webinar, see Getting Started with Elluminate Live! V10 video at http://tinyurl.com/39x34ca.

Detailed agenda and instruction on how to log in are available at MyM&E
[http://mymande.org/sites/default/files/indrannaidoo_shiva_june28_2011.pdf].

Recording and presentations of previous webinars on “Developing national capacities for country M&E systems” by:

• Saraswathi Menon and Finbar O’Brien on “The role of the UN in fostering national ownership and capacities in evaluation”;
• Michael Quinn Patton on “Future trends in evaluation” and Marco Segone on “Moving from policies to results by developing national capacities for country-led monitoring and evaluation systems”;
• Caroline Heider on “Evaluating policies and their results” and Craig Russon on "The role of policy analysis in over-coming the implementation challenge”;
• Belen Sanz and Florence Etta on “Human Rights and gender in evaluation";
• Linda Morra Imas, Robert Picciotto and Jean Quesnel on "The Professionalization of evaluation";
• Oscar Garcia and Angela Bester on "Joint evaluation of the role and contribution of the UN system in South Africa. Lessons learned";
• Michael Bamberger on "Institutionalizing impact evaluation. A key element in strengthening country-led monitoring and evaluation systems";
• Hallie Preskill and Alexey Kuzmin on "Exploring effective strategies for facilitating evaluation capacity development";
• Michael Quinn Patton on "Utilization-focused evaluations";
• David Fetterman on "Empowerment evaluation";

are available at http://mymande.org/index.php?q=content/developing-capacities-country-monitoring-evaluation-system&x=cl

Recording and presentations of previous webinars on “Emerging Practices in Development Evaluation” by

• Zenda Ofir and Shiva Kumar on "Using a Developing Country Lens in Evaluation”;
• Fred Carden on "Emerging Practices in Evaluating Policy Influence”;
• Jared Raynor on "Evaluating Networks & Partnerships”;
• Charles Lusthaus and Katrina Rojas on "Evaluating Organizational Performance";
• Steve Rochlin on "Evaluating Innovation";
• Alastair Bradstock on "Evaluating Sustainable Development;

are available at http://mymande.org/index.php?q=content/emerging-practices-in-development-evaluation&x=cl

The opinions expressed are the personal thinking of the contributors and do not necessarily reflect the policies or views of the organizing institutions or any other organization involved and named in this series of webinars.

When: June 15^th - 17^th, 2011

Co-hosted by The International Initiative for Impact Evaluation (3ie), the National Institute of Public Health of Mexico (INSP), the Inter-American Development Bank (IADB), and the Center for Labor and Social Distributive Studies in coordination with the Impact Evaluation Network (CEDLAS-IEN).

For more information visit the website: www.impactevaluation2011.org

Monitoring and evaluation: new developments and challenges

Date: 14 - 16 June 2011

Venue: The Netherlands

This international conference will examine key elements and challenges confronting the evaluation of international development, including its funding, practice and future.

The main themes of the conference will include: governance and accountability; impact; M&E in complex contexts of social change; the M&E of advocacy; M&E of capacity building; programme evaluation in an era of results-based management; M&E of humanitarian programmes; the design of M&E systems; evaluating networks, including community driven networks; changing theories of change and how this relates to M&E methods and approaches. Overview of the conference.

Call for M&E Case Studies

Case study abstracts (max. 500 words) are invited that relate to the conference themes above, with an emphasis on what has been done in practice. We will offer a competition for the best three cases and the authors will be invited early to the UK to work on their presentation for a plenary session. We will also identify a range of contributions for publication in Development in Practice.

Download the full case study guidelines, and submit your abstracts via email to Zoe Wilkinson.

Case studies abstracts deadline: 11 March 2011

Call for Abstracts – Forthcoming Sri Lankan Evaluation Association Conference June 6 -10, 2011

Venue: Colombo, Sri Lanka

The Sri Lanka Evaluation Association (SLEvA) will convene its fourth Evaluation conference in Colombo this coming June. The conference will start with two days of professional development workshops and will provide an opportunity for sharing knowledge and ideas with development practitioners, evaluators, users of evaluation and policy makers.

The overall theme of the conference will be ‘Evaluation for Policy and Action’with the following as subthemes: Evaluation for influencing policy and policy evaluation: Evaluation for supporting development programmes; Evaluation in disaster reduction and management; Evaluating networks and partnerships; Building the evaluation field; Evaluation methodologies and approaches; and other evaluation issues.

SLEvA invites abstracts of papers and proposals for panels, posters and exhibits. The abstracts should not be more than 250 words and should be sent by 15 April to sleva@sltnet.lk cc´ing somadesilva@gmail.com

Full information on the conference will be available in the coming days on the SLEvA website: http://www.sleva.lk/

Date of the course

September 05 - 09, 2011

The objective

The programme focuses on the ex ante appraisal (Cost-Benefit Analysis) of investment projects asking for EU co-financing under Structural Funds, Cohesion Fund and Instrument for Pre-Accession. CBA methodology and worked examples will be investigated. Participants will learn how to understand and use the EC “CBA Guide” with some of its authors as lecturers.

Detail information downloadable here.

Theme: “Evaluation in Turbulent Times: the Crises of Food, Fuel and Finances”

When: April 11^th - 15^th 2011

Venue: Kempinski Hotel, Amman, Jordan

For more information about this International Conference visit the IDEAS-int.org website.

An expert seminar with Dr. Gill Westhorp; Wageningen, the Netherlands

When: March 29^th, 2011

Venue: Wageningen, the Netherlands

Dear colleague,

With pleasure we would like to announce an expert seminar with Dr. Gill Westhorp on 29th March 2011: ‘Realist evaluation – understanding how programs work in their context’.

‘Realist evaluation‘ (Pawson and Tilley, 1997) is one type of theory based evaluation.  It aims to explore “what works, for whom, in what contexts, to what extent and how”.  It adopts a particular understanding of how programs work, and uses a particular format for program theories to help guide evaluation design, data collection and analysis.

Realist evaluation has a particular focus on understanding the interactions between programs and their contexts and the ways that these influence how programs work. Evaluation expert Dr. Gill Westhorp will discuss the concepts and assumptions that underpin this theory based evaluation approach.

• What is it that realist evaluation brings to the table of evaluating development programs?
• How is it different from existing approaches in evaluation in development?
• How does it understand, and deal with, complexity?
• What new insights can help strengthen the utility of evaluation for development?

During the morning, Gill will introduce the basic assumptions and key concepts in realist evaluation.  She will also briefly demonstrate how these ideas can be built into other evaluation models using two examples.  These models – realist action research and realist program logic – are participatory models which were designed for use in settings where limited resources, lack of capacity to collect outcomes data, complex programs, and (sometimes) small participant numbers make evaluation difficult.  In the afternoon, the practical implications for evaluation design, data collection and analysis will be discussed. Examples and practical exercises will be included throughout the day.

For those interested and not too far away around that time, please do come and join this interesting event!

Click here for more info.