Planting the Seed: Learning From Co-Constructing Program Theory Within an Urban Indigenous Context

This evaluation work is grounded in the Northern Door: Be on a Good Journey, where the authors share their process for cultivating a place-based program theory for urban Indigenous land-based initiatives in the Waterloo Region, Ontario. This process was an essential first step to an ongoing evaluation project assessing the implementation and early outcomes of two programs for Indigenous children and youth. The authors embarked on this journey recognizing the need for relevant, place-based understandings of context that honour the philosophical and theoretical differences of Indigenous communities compared to Western knowledge. Drawing on guidance in both evaluation theory and Indigenous scholarship, four iterative sharing circles with key Indigenous community members were held to discuss the following thematic topics: program aims, activities, assessment needs, and initial theory assembly. Little published literature that describes culturally responsive program theory development is available. Necessarily, the authors are using this opportunity to develop, implement, and reflect on an urban Indigenous theory-development process.