For all those interested in or attending the Evaluation Revisited conference this week, here is a very rapid compilation of free-to-download presentations and reports plus details of meetings and websites which may be of interest.
Please do add more resources using the comments function below…
Presentations:
Mokoro Presentations on Monitoring and Evaluating complex development given in October 2009
Michael Quinn Paton: Evaluating the Complex – Given at NORAD 2008 Conference
Ben Ramalingam: Evaluation and the Science of Complexity – Given at NORAD 2008 Conference
Ricardo Wilson-Grau: Complexity and Evaluation in International Networks MDF 2006 Seminar
Reports and Studies
Evaluation and Complexity - full report of the July 2009 meeting in London
Outing the Tooth Fairy by Vicky Cosstick
David Byrne’s paper on integrated methods and their potential to further understanding of complex processes of transformation, written for UNAIDS
Evaluation evolution? Broker Article from June 2008
Pamela Mischen on public administration and complexity
Outcome Mapping Learning Community report which found “that the underlying principles of Outcome Mapping acknowledge and resonate very well with complexity theory.”
Bob Williams Evaluation and Systems Thinking Draft
Irene Guijt, Assessing and Learning for Social Change, IDS
Ian Sanderson’s paper on Evaluating Complexity given at the European Evaluation Society’s Fifth Conference in 2003
Rick Davies’ paper on Improved Representations Of Change Processes: Improved Theories Of Change presented at the Seville (2002): 5th Biennial Conference of the European Evaluation Society and the www.mande.co.uk website
Terry Smutylo’s paper ‘Crouching Impact, Hidden Attribution’ on Outcome Mapping case studies
Meetings and Conferences
Show me the Change A very well-documented event in Melbourne, Australia – a ‘National Conference on Complexity, and the Art and Science of Evaluation of Behaviour Change’
The Mokoro Seminars Two part seminar series run by Mokoro, an Oxford aid think-tank and consultancy operation, with some excellent presentations, notably from Pip Bevan
The 2009 London Dialogue the 6th in the emergent series of workshops and conferences, hosted by Panos and facilitated by Robin Vincent and Ben Ramalingam
The 2008 Norad Meeting A conference held by NORAD in Oslo, bringing together practitioners and policy makers from around the world
Websites
Rick Davies deservedly popular M&E website
The fast-growing Outcome Mapping Learning Community
The Pelican Initiative – a fantastic resource
The IDRC Evaluation Unit Website – the people who support so much of the work cited above
Excellent blog. I was woefully ignorant of this work when I co-wrote a paper on evolutionary approaches to development (in particular Security Sector Reform). It’s interesting to see lots of us coming at the same set of problems from slightly different angles. You can see the paper at http://www.libraadvisorygroup.com/assets/docs/SecuritySectorEvolutionLibraJuly2009.pdf
I’m leading an effort in my company to turn all these insights into practical planning tools for development actors, ideally to replace the dreaded logframe. If anyone has any bright ideas please contact me at peter.wilson@libraadvisorygroup.com