Abstract
A new generation of public programs emerges, which specifically addresses complex societal problems we witness today. Programs for these types of complex issues-in this article, we consider more closely the challenge of sustainable development-are characterized by emergent design, learning processes between diverse actors, and adaptive management. Managers of these kinds of programs have new demands for evaluation and evaluators. This article describes prevailing evaluation methods for sustainable development (progress assessment, goal-oriented program evaluation, and program theory evaluation) and the challenges they meet when confronted with the complexity of designing and conducting systemic intervention programs for sustainable development. The evaluation framework that we propose offers guiding principles to assist evaluators in evaluating complex programs. © The Author(s) 2009.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 515-537 |
Number of pages | 23 |
Journal | American journal of evaluation |
Volume | 30 |
Issue number | 4 |
Early online date | 10 Nov 2009 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - 1 Dec 2009 |