Examples of best practice when designing evaluation measures as well as undertaking evaluation WITH tamariki and taiohi (rather than simply asking them to fill it in)

Karla Sanders, MNZM, is the CEO and Co-Founder of Sticks 'n Stones, a bullying prevention charity based in New Zealand. She is dedicated to empowering youth and facilitating positive change through education and advocacy. Sanders has been recognized for her contributions to social welfare and education, earning the title of Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit (MNZM) for her services. Her work focuses on creating safe and inclusive environments for young people.

This workshop offers an immersive experience in evaluating through an African American aesthetic and Q methodology. Participants will engage in role-playing to develop an inclusive evaluation framework, addressing complex identity narratives like appropriation and tokenism. The session includes practical applications and insights from the "Spyglass" approach, inspired by Zora Neale Hurston, which examines social systems from marginalized perspectives. The workshop aims to rediscover African American Mana for post-colonial evaluation contexts, such as Aotearoa, and refine a collaborative storytelling game prototype for evaluation.

Christie Johnson is the new Executive Director of the Wairarapa Women’s Centre. She is a writer, academic, and community activist with a Master of Public Health degree from Yale University, showcasing her dedication to enhancing community health outcomes. Currently pursuing her doctorate, Christie is focused on improving non-traditional stakeholder involvement in decision-making processes. 

This workshop is designed for beginners and intermediates in Information Design (Reports, Data Visualization, Short Documentaries, Impact Stories). It aims to improve participants' understanding of design principles from visual design theory and behavioral science, applicable to reports, dashboards, and visual communications. Emphasising humility and respect for data, the workshop has two main objectives:

Enhance participants' competency in report design using basic MS Office tools, encouraging them to bring current projects for immediate application.

Introduce Reporting Systems and the role of Data Visualization, covering components of good report design through design theory and behavioral science.

Kasey Gordon is a dedicated expert in Information Design, specializing in transforming complex data into compelling visual narratives. With a strong foundation in visual design theory and behavioral science, Kasey excels in creating impactful reports, data visualizations, short documentaries, and impact stories. Known for her collaborative approach, she empowers others by sharing her extensive knowledge and practical skills, making sophisticated design accessible to all. Whether working with basic tools like MS Office or advanced platforms like Tableau and Adobe Suite, Kasey consistently delivers top-quality products that resonate with diverse audiences.

Learn what evaluation is, when it can be used, and why it's useful and  discover some of the essential tools and skills for your toolkit with a focus on designing effective evaluations. 

This workshop is best suited to those new to evaluation, or who need a refresh on the fundamentals.

Key topics include: 

• How to scope an evaluation
• Understand different evaluation approaches
• How to develop evaluation questions and criteria
• Use use tools such as programme logics and rubrics to support your evaluation
• What a good evaluation plan and report will look like.

Learn how to present your findings so that they have impact, stimulate constructive discussion among stakeholders and are easy to understand for audiences without a research background.

In the workshop, we will discuss different audiences an evaluator encounters and the choice of messages and level of detail for each audience, how to structure a large amount of information quickly, how to drop the academic habit of “defensive writing”, best practices for layout, illustration, table of contents, tables and graphs and how to use the free tool Canva to achieve a professional look for reports and infographics.

You will learn how to communicate data effectively and how to use the right type of visualisation for each type of data, with special attention to visualising qualitative data. Learn free tools that allow non-coders to create impressive, responsive graphs and maps.

Dr Celestyna Galicki has worked in research, evaluation and insights roles in central and local government in New Zealand. Currently, she is the Strategy and Insights Lead (Customer and Community) at Auckland Council. She conducted evaluations across diverse areas, from community education to arts and culture and facility design.

Full day workshop – Value for Investment – Shifting the focus of power to affected communities 

WORKSHOP DESCRIPTION

It is important for good resource allocation, accountability, learning and improvement that policies, programs and other initiatives undergo rigorous evaluations of value for money (VfM). Many evaluators, however, lack training and experience in this area. This workshop introduces the award-winning Value for Investment (VfI) approach, with a set of practical steps to enable rigorous assessment of VfM. 

This full-day, interactive workshop places a spotlight on evaluative rubrics as a powerful tool for synthesising criteria, standards, and evidence to make warranted judgements about VfM. Topics include the collaborative development of rubrics with stakeholders, utilising rubrics for evaluative judgements, and using mixed methods evidence in VfM assessment. The workshop aims to equip evaluators to conduct VfM assessments that share power with stakeholders, elevating the context-specific values of the groups and communities who are supposed to benefit from a policy, program or intervention. 

Key topics include: 

• What is value for money? 
• What are rubrics and why use them? 
• A step-by-step process for developing and using rubrics in evaluation 
• Co-developing context-specific VfM criteria with stakeholders 
• Making sense of mixed methods evidence with stakeholders and rubrics 
• Reporting findings that reflect local values and meet funders’ needs. 

The workshop will cover the practical steps involved in designing and implementing a VfM framework, as well as some core evaluation theory and conceptual principles underpinning the approach, along with tips and tricks for applying the approach in the real world. It includes a series of short PowerPoint presentations, group discussions and interactive exercises. Participants will receive optional pre-workshop reading and a post-workshop take-home pack including a copy of the slides and links to online resources. 

The workshop doesn’t provide detailed instruction in the design and implementation of economic evaluations. There are courses already on offer that focus on economic methods of evaluation 

ABOUT THE FACILITATORS

Julian King specialises in evaluation and value for money, helping decision-makers, evaluation teams and stakeholders to use evidence and explicit values to provide evaluations that contribute to well-informed decisions and positive impacts for communities. Through PhD research, Julian developed the Value for Investment (VfI) system which is now used worldwide to evaluate complex and hard-to-measure programs and policies. In 2021 Julian received the AES Evaluation Systems Award for the VfI approach. Julian has over 20 years of experience in workshop facilitation and has delivered workshops for evaluation associations, private companies and NGOs on every continent except Antarctica. He is the Director of Julian King & Associates Ltd, a member of the Kinnect Group, an Associate of Oxford Policy Management, an Honorary Fellow at the University of Melbourne and University Fellow at the Northern Institute. 

Nan Wehipeihana is an independent Māori evaluator and the Director of a bespoke kaupapa Māori company specialising in evaluation, research and policy – with a focus on Māori whānau, hapū, iwi and Māori organisations and providers. She is passionate about protecting, evidencing and growing the space to be Māori in Aotearoa and is well known for her work in indigenous evaluation, developmental evaluation and culturally anchored frameworks. She is the co-editor of one of only two textbooks on Developmental Evaluation, and has run workshops and masterclasses on Developmental Evaluation in Australia, Canada, Indonesia, New Zealand and the United States. An internationally leading Māori evaluator with more than 20 years experience, Nan was inducted as a Fellow of the Australian Evaluation Society and has twice been awarded the Australian Evaluation Society Policy and Systems award (2013 and 2000). She has keynoted on kaupapa Māori and Indigenous Evaluation in Canada (2018), New Zealand (2015), Australia (2014), South Africa (2011) and Germany (2011). 

Full day workshop – Critical Thinking

WORKSHOP DESCRIPTION

In this workshop Carl will draw from behavioural science and cognitive psychology to identify some of the flaws in our everyday ways of thinking, and provide some tools to sharpen your critical thinking and problem solving mindset. In the process, you’ll see why critical thinking is rare (it’s much harder than you’d expect) and why most organisations make it much harder still. 

You’ll learn why we’re all wired to think like lawyers rather than scientists, and why David Ogilvy was right about how evidence gets misused. The workshop will then introduce a range of tools to unleash your critical thinking, nurture your scepticism, and supercharge your decision-making acumen. It will benefit anyone with an interest in improving their thinking and decision-making skills, or in improving those skills among the people they work with. If you work with knowledge on a daily basis then this is the workshop for you.

ABOUT THE FACILITATOR

Carl Davidson is a well-known social scientist whose career in research and evaluation stretches back over 30 years. He is the former Chief Commissioner at the New Zealand Families Commission, a Fellow of the Research Association of New Zealand (RANZ), and in 2023 was named an Insight250 Winner by ESOMAR (The Insight250 is an annual award celebrating the worldwide pioneers, leaders and innovators in market research, data-driven marketing and insights). Carl was also one of the editors of Evaluating Policy And Practice: a New Zealand Reader (alongside Neil Lunt and Kate McKegg). Today Cari is the Chief Social Scientist at Research First and a Senior Adjunct Fellow at the University of Canterbury.