News

"Participatory Evaluation"

A workshop for project managers in Berlin

From October 7 to 9 a workshop on "Partizipative Evaluation" (Participatory Evaluation) has been held for project managers in civic education in Berlin. It was run cooperatively by "stummschrei e.V." Berlin and the Center for Applied Policy Research in Munich. It suggested a theoretical and methodological framework for an innovative approach to evaluation in civic education.

A specific focus was put on an appreciative perspective, which is especially relevant in pedagogical projects dealing with societal "problems" such as intolerance and racism. It became clear that evaluation, being far more than the collection of data, has to live up to the values civic education itself tries to convey. Therefore the approach "Partizipative Evaluation" integrates elements of organiziational development: the relations between stakeholders, their potential for designing and optimizing their projects, becomes crucial for good evaluation.

The workshop encouraged many of the participants to actually start such a process within their professional context. "Partizipative Evaluation" is currently making its way into the professional discussion around greater projects of civic education such as XENOS-Germany and many are picking up this approach since it creates new drive and potential for content and social context of such projects. For advice on doing participatory evaluation with an appreciative perspective or booking an introductory workshop please contact Florian Wenzel

See also the workshop info in German language