Six Guiding Principles for Evaluating Mode-2 Strategies for Sustainable Development
- 10 November 2009
- journal article
- research article
- Published by SAGE Publications in American Journal of Evaluation
- Vol. 30 (4), 515-537
- https://doi.org/10.1177/1098214009344618
Abstract
A new generation of public programs emerges, which specifically addresses complex societal problems we witness today. Programs for these types of complex issues—in this article, we consider more closely the challenge of sustainable development—are characterized by emergent design, learning processes between diverse actors, and adaptive management. Managers of these kinds of programs have new demands for evaluation and evaluators. This article describes prevailing evaluation methods for sustainable development (progress assessment, goal-oriented program evaluation, and program theory evaluation) and the challenges they meet when confronted with the complexity of designing and conducting systemic intervention programs for sustainable development. The evaluation framework that we propose offers guiding principles to assist evaluators in evaluating complex programs.Keywords
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