6th Annual conference
of the International Program Evaluation Network (IPEN)
"Development and Evaluation"
September 28-30, 2006 Tbilisi, Georgia International Program Evaluation Network (www.ipen.evaleurasia.org) was established to support development of evaluation profession in the Newly Independent States. IPEN had 5 annual conferences since 2000. In 2006 IPEN annual conference will take place in Tbilisi, Georgia. IPEN partner in conducting this conference will be HORIZONTI Foundation. It will be the first major international evaluation conference in the Caucasus region.
Being very different, countries in the Caucasus region and the Newly Independent States in general have at least one feature in common: all of them are undergoing complex multilevel transformation. Development in various spheres is on the agenda of all the governments; of international organizations working in the region; of foreign and local donors supporting broad variety of programs and projects.
Program evaluation is an essential part of any development process. Effective evaluation system helps the decision makers receive timely and reliable information on the implementation of the development programs, on the development outcomes and on the impact of the development programs.
IPEN-2006 conference theme is "Development and Evaluation". By choosing this theme we wanted to emphasize the importance of evaluation function for development and to mainstream evaluation in the region. We believe that this international forum will attract development professionals and evaluation practitioners; representatives of governments, businesses, local and international NGOs and donors; researchers, trainers and consultants; and all other parties involved in the development work. If your work is about development, this is your conference! Come to share your experience and learn from your colleagues.
At the conference we would like to have discussions on various issues related to Evaluation of Development Programs in any field: Sustainable Development; Economic Development; Urban Development; Rural Development; Community Development; Capacity Development etc.
The second topic we plan to discuss at the conference is the Use of Evaluation in Development Programs. How can evaluation be used and is used in the development work? What factors affect the use or misuse of evaluation? What can be done to make evaluations most useful?
And the third topic we would like to address is Developmental Evaluation1 that describes evaluations that take place in situations where goals and outcomes are not pre-set but rather evolve as learning occurs. Developmental evaluation supports continuous progress and rapid response to complex situations with multiple variables. In such cases, the evaluator is often an integral member of the program design team.
Invitation to submit applications will be sent to IPEN members via e-mail. Non-members are welcome to watch this conference website.
1 Patton, M. (1994). Developmental Evaluation. Evaluation Practice, 15(3):347-358. |
