Evaluation as a Pathway to Transformation Lessons from Sustainable Development

Scott G. Chaplowe, Adam Hejnowicz & Marlene Laeubli Loud 

Published in ‘The Palgrave Handbook of Learning for Transformation’

Abstract

This chapter examines evaluation’s potential as a driver for transformational learning and change (TLC). As a field that straddles both theory and practice and involving systematic processes to judge the merit and worth of interventions seeking change, evaluation is uniquely positioned as a passageway for TLC. The chapter is grounded in evaluation’s past and potential role in sustainable development, an industry tasked with securing the future of humanity and the resources that sustain it. The discussion includes the uptake and influence of complex systems analysis, and practical as well as political consideration of the potholes (obstacles) and bridges (enablers) for transformational evaluation. The chapter concludes that evaluation’s potential for TLC depends to a large degree on its ability to transform from within.