Twelve principles for transformation-focused evaluation

There are growing calls for societies to transform towards regenerative futures that support the flourishing of life and transcend interlinked social and ecological crises. Many actors are now trying to identify whether desired transformations are occurring, and how different interventions are contributing to transformation. These are questions of evaluation . However, we lack a holistic appreciation of how evaluation can most effectively assist transformation efforts. We undertake a systematized scoping review of a large body of evaluation literature to identify principles and methodologies for transformation-focused evaluation. We identify twelve distinct but interdependent principles which, when applied by evaluators (and supported by evaluation commissioners, sponsors and funders), are considered to significantly enhance the effectiveness of evaluation in assessing and assisting transformations, although tensions exist between some of the principles. The principles were clustered into three overarching themes of Complexity Principles (how evaluation approaches complex systems), Power Principles (evaluators’ power relations), and Purpose Principles (evaluation’s deeper purpose and values). The Complexity Principles call for transformation-focused evaluators to appreciate evaluands (e.g., a transition initiative, sector, or region) as unique, entangled, nested, dynamic and uncertain systems, and employ more diverse, developmental, contextually adapted and future-sensitive evaluation approaches. The Power Principles urge evaluators to promote justice, embrace diverse and marginalized perspectives, and reduce evaluator-evaluand polarization by shifting power towards evaluation users, whilst also fostering a more autonomous evaluation profession and mutualistic partnerships of knowledge and action. Most fundamentally, the Purpose Principles advocate for a recentering of values, reflexivity and learning at the heart of evaluation practice, and ensure that the core purpose of evaluation is to support systemic, societal transformation towards regenerative futures. Relevant methodologies are suggested for operationalizing the principles. Transformation-focused evaluation is a radical shift from conventional practice but the urgency to address global crises makes the shift a crucial one.