#2019IDEASGA #2019EvalPrague #3rdICEED
Evaluation for Transformative Change
Bringing experiences of the Global South to the Global North
2019 IDEAS Global Assembly
&
Third International Conference
on Evaluating Environment and Development
Hotel Duo Prague
Prague, Czech Republic, 30 September-4 October 2019
Let me welcome you to the website of the IDEAS 2019 Global Assembly and the Third International Conference on Evaluating Environment and Development, which is taking place, this year, within the Global Assembly.
The theme “Evaluation for Transformative Change” addresses the enormous challenge the global community is facing to ensure significant changes for social, economic and environmental sustainability in development, as illustrated in the Sustainable Development Goals and the Agenda 2030 of the UN. Envisaging a substantial contribution to the evaluation community and to the development community, IDEAS proposes to bring the voice of the Global South to the Global North by holding its Assembly in Prague, under the auspices of the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Czech Republic and in collaboration with the Czech Evaluation Society.
Furthermore, we have exciting news and a first at an IDEAS Global Assembly: an award competition on evaluations that promote or report on transformational change and contribute to the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals. This award is an initiative of the Independence Office of Evaluation of IFAD, hosted and implemented by IDEAS and supported by the Independent Evaluation Group of the World Bank. More information will be made available in due course through this website and a new platform, which will also include an electronic library of transformative change evaluations.
IDEAS is happy to include the Third International Conference on Evaluating Environment and Development in the Global Assembly programme. This conference is organized by the Independent Evaluation Office of the Global Environment Facility (GEF-IEO) and by the community of practice Earth-Eval. Its themes and subject are convergent with the transformational focus of the Assembly, and we envisage synergies and added value for all participants.
Working groups are preparing six streams of work on topics that will guide your participation in the IDEAS GA and the Third Conference: 1) transformative change; 2) evaluating environment and development (the focus of the Third International Conference on Evaluating Environment and Development; 3) systems transition experiences; 4) evaluation in contexts of fragility, conflict, and violence; 5) gender and equity; and 6) professionalization. These groups are open to your participation.
This website will be frequently updated to reflect developments in the programme and organisation of this unique gathering. Come back regularly to see what has been added. All the better, become a member of IDEAS and get the news through our monthly newsletter for members and the assets of being a member of the only genuinely global development evaluation association!
Let me also acknowledge the various partners with which we develop the Global Assembly. We have ongoing consultations with many partners, and more will be added when we reach an agreement. At this stage, I would like to acknowledge AfDB, BEIS/UK Gov., CIF Evaluation & Learning Initiative, WB/IEG, GEF/IEO, GCF/IEU, IFAD/IOE, JICA, NZ MFAT, SDG Transformations Forum, SDC, UNICEF, and Universalia. And let me also pay tribute to the members of IDEAS who through our thematic groups are developing the working streams.
Rob D. van den Berg
President, IDEAS
It is my great pleasure to welcome you to the Third International Conference on Evaluating Environment and Development, which will be organized in conjunction with the IDEAS Global Assembly. The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) stand on three legs – the social, economic and environmental. These dimensions are closely interconnected forming complex linkages and feedback loops between the three spheres. Increasingly, environmental degradation and climate change have emerged as threats to human wellbeing. More frequent climatic hazards threaten development and affect different groups differently, with poor people and women often bearing the brunt. Evaluation must rise to the challenge and assume a holistic perspective. It is no longer acceptable to evaluate interventions narrowly without considering the broader context in which they take place.
The Third International Conference on Evaluating Environment and Development will focus on this complex problematique through an environmental lens, a perspective that is hitherto relatively neglected. The topics to be covered include climate change mitigation and adaptation, natural resources management, biodiversity conservation, land degradation, sustainable forestry, water management and others. It will cover sustainable development from the perspective of coupled natural and human systems, evaluating the social and economic benefits and trade-offs associated with environmental interventions.
The conference is intended bring together leading practitioners and thinkers on environmental evaluation from the international and national public organizations in the North and the South, the academic community, civil society, environmental organizations, thinktanks, and the private sector. The participants will be encouraged to share their concrete experiences with environmental interventions and their evaluations. The conference will explore the state-of-the-art in environmental evaluation and how to enhance our evaluation approaches to contribute to sustainable development.
Our partner in organizing this conference, the Earth-Eval Community of Practice, already connects close to 2000 experts, students and others interested in environmental evaluation. These resources will be harnessed to benefit the conference and also to disseminate its results widely.
I sincerely hope to see many of you at the Third International Conference on Evaluating Environment and Development, to meet you and learn from your insights and experiences.
Juha I. Uitto
Director, Independent Evaluation Office, Global Environment Facility
Partners
