The main drive of the 2019 IDEAS Global Assembly is the challenges and solutions for evaluation as a profession to contribute to our understanding of transformative change. The 2019 IDEAS GA aims to establish a platform for various transformative initiatives to come together and work on instituting best practices and the way forward. The aim is thus to advance the evaluation profession with practical contributions to evaluation of and for transformational change.

The focus of the Third International Conference on Evaluating Environment and Development are successful approaches and methodologies. Lessons will be learned from evaluations conducted by major multilateral and bilateral development agencies and financial institutions, national organizations, civil society, and the private sector. Novel and promising approaches will be demonstrated and discussed. These may involve both quantitative (including geospatial) as well as qualitative approaches.

The 2019 IDEAS Global Assembly and the Third International Conference together set up six thematic streams of work in the programme of the Global Assembly. Each stream of work aims to raise various subjects, issues, challenges and thematic strands. Participants who want to present a proposal for consideration in the programme of the Assembly and Conference should consider how they can contribute to the issues mentioned under each of the six thematic streams of work below.  

1. Evaluation for Transformative Change, with involvement of the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), the Global Environment Facility (GEF), the Climate Investment Funds (CIF), the Green Climate Fund (GCF) and the SDG Transformations Forum, coordinated by the ITIG Climate Change, building on the various research and evaluation initiatives that have been engaged with the topic in support of the call to action in the 2030 Agenda.
   The stream on evaluation for transformative change would especially benefit from proposals that tackle and further develop the concept of transformational change, the role of evaluation, mapping of evidence, existing evaluations and what we can learn from them, as well as utility and learning. 
2. Evaluating environment and development, presented as the Third International Conference on Evaluating Environment and Development and promoted by the Independent Evaluation Office (IEO) of the Global Environment Facility (GEF/IEO) and Earth-Eval.
   The Conference invites proposals that cover environmental topics, including natural resources management, biodiversity conservation, land degradation, sustainable forestry, water management, as well as climate change mitigation, adaptation and carbon sequestration interventions. It will also 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. Specific sub-themes will include but are not limited to: 1) Transformative change towards environmental sustainability; 2) Innovation related to environment and climate change programs; 3) Climate change adaptation; 4) Climate, environment, fragility and conflict; and 5) Big data, indicators, and geospatial tools. More info.
3. Transition Experiences and best practices in the use of evaluation for systemic changes, coordinated by The Czech Evaluation Society.

   This stream will focus on evaluation experience of emerging evaluation actors – from diverse regions (new donors, transition and developing countries), from diverse sectors (public bodies, multinational agencies, financial institutions, non-profit organizations, academic sector, private actors), and from diverse programs (local, national, European/regional, and international). The aims of this stream are: i) identifying the opportunities for multi-actor cooperation in evaluations including mutual capacity development, and ii) sharing the best practices of influential evaluation approaches.

4. Evaluation in contexts of Fragility, Conflict and Violence, with involvement of EvalPartners and a range of Voluntary Organisation for Professional Evaluation (VOPE) partners such as PEA and CES, under the coordination of the EvalFCV ITIG.

   This stream will especially benefit from proposals that tackle the challenges of evaluation in contexts that are fluid, complex and volatile. The topics could include but are not limited to evaluation of conflict sensitivity, use of technology in hard to reach areas, mapping evidence in countering or preventing violent extremism, use and communication of evaluation findings in challenging contexts, validating the results, closing the evaluation learning loop and monitoring and evaluation experiences from displacement.

5. Evaluation on Gender and Equity, coordinated by the Gender and Equity Focused Evaluation ITIG, in partnership with EvalGender, EvalPartners and other groups.

   This stream will accept proposals that look into the use of evaluation for transformational change for achieving the SDGs, focusing on using gender-responsive evaluation approaches that address intersectionality – reaching the most marginalized populations and ensuring environmental aspects are taken into consideration.

6. Professionalisation, combining various partners and initiatives regarding evaluation criteria, an International Evaluation Academy, skills and competencies, approaches, methods and tools and a revision of the IDEAS Code of Ethics.

   This stream invites proposals on: 1) conceptual issues (defining what professionalization means and what its scope would be, including the concept of an International Evaluation Academy; 2) the need and way forward for professionalization at individual, institutional and systems level, including whether the skills and competencies that IDEAS identified are adequate and appropriate for evaluation for transformational change; 3) experiences and the way forward with accreditation and other forms of credentialing, as well as guidance on ethics; and 4) engaging with the evaluation community to bring forward and reflect on paths towards professionalization, including mentoring.

These streams of work are open for new partners, suggestions, comments.  Please contact the IDEAS coordinator for further information.