A beautiful Norwegian coastal town transforms into a giant open-air democracy festival. What Arendalsuka reveals about the power of inclusive, place-based democratic engagement – and what evaluation professionals can learn from it.
Why do we still tolerate the terminology of ‘Developed’ and ‘Developing’ countries? Words create images and dominant narratives that insidiously shape how we think. A brief reflection on how language reinforces power imbalances in global development.
Part of a series of thought morsels. This one is fun but also sobering – a look at the colourful menagerie of animal metaphors we use for the risks shaping our future, from black swans to grey rhinos to dragon kings.
We live in an era of 'big data' and 'big information'. We work in an increasingly quantified world devoid of the nuance that qualitative information provides. We also live in an era of 'scanning'. We don't want to read or know detail.
My last two blog posts addressed the issue of Grand Challenges in evaluation. A complementary idea: A type of 'Grand Challenge' for the profession (or perhaps rather, a smallish yet Important Challenge) is to make sure that outdated ideas die so that the field of evaluation can move
I have come to the conclusion that nearly everything in life is influenced by power. Yet we almost never evaluate for it. It is difficult to be powerless and happy. The type and extent of the power we want will differ from person to person, depending on our circumstances and
