Handling Complexity: Adaptive and developmental evaluation – essential principles and practice
Thursday 27th June 2024, 10:00 – 16:00, Live Online Training (via Zoom)
Tutors: Georgie Parry-Crooke and Helen Wilkinson
CECAN Ltd is delighted to introduce this brand new training opportunity! Building on our popular ‘Handling Complexity in Policy Evaluation’ series, which is designed to provide you with knowledge and practical advice that allows you to deal with complexity in policy analysis and evaluation.
This new workshop offers an opportunity to reflect on how evaluation can be adaptive and developmental using systems exploration, theory-based assessments of change processes and iterative designs while maintaining a robust and rigorous approach to evidence gathering and sense making in complexity. Many evaluators as well as evaluation managers and commissioners find themselves confronted by complex issues in changing contexts where no one model, approach or set of methods will help them extract the most and the best from a project whether focused on innovation or impact. Embedding flexibility and being agile at any and all turns is becoming an essential element in effective evaluation.
This workshop has been designed to complement the three existing modules in the ‘Handling Complexity’ series but it is not essential to have attended any previous modules and the workshop can be attended individually.
Course Details:
In the context of the challenges complexity presents to carrying out, managing and commissioning policy evaluation, this workshop focuses on how and when taking an adaptive and developmental approach will lead to a better process and a more useful outcome. There is growing recognition that many of today’s problems are playing out in a world of constant change and deep uncertainty, and that evaluation needs to respond and adapt to this, to enable the developmental in policies and programmes to unfold.
Based on a set of essential principles with building trust at the core of this kind of evaluation, the workshop sets out to:
- introduce participants to the main principles and practice of adaptive and developmental evaluation in the complex environments evaluators and policy makers face today; and
- explore their applicability to the evaluation activities they are involved in, commission and oversee.
Learning Outcomes:
By the end of this workshop, participants will be able to:
- understand how and why these approaches are becoming increasingly important;
- decide when an adaptive/developmental evaluation would be an appropriate choice;
- commission, manage and use an adaptive/developmental evaluation to address the challenges complexity presents; and
- review and quality assure proposals for, or findings and reports generated by, an adaptive/developmental evaluation carried out in a complex environment.
Intended Audience:
These workshops are designed to support policy makers, analysts and evaluators at all levels facing complexity challenges in their current work.
Note that this workshop is limited to a maximum 16 delegates and places will be allocated on a first-come-first-served basis.
Tutor Biographies:
This workshop is led by Georgie Parry-Crooke and Helen Wilkinson.
Georgie Parry-Crooke is an independent, experienced facilitator, trainer and evaluator, and Professor Emerita at London Metropolitan University where she developed and delivered an MSc in evaluation. Her experience includes project and programme evaluations of social care, health and in particular, mental health services. In 2016, Georgie left the university to join the Tavistock Institute of Human Relations where she carried out evaluation and training before becoming an independent consultant in 2022. In 2019, she led the Tavistock Institute’s team delivering evaluation capacity building for the British Council across five geographical regions and also with IpsosMORI, Department for Transport and Department for International Trade evaluation seminar series.
Helen Wilkinson is a director of Risk Solutions. She has over 25 years’ consulting experience delivering assignments supporting policy formulation, development of management systems, and all aspects of evaluation and review. She has worked at senior levels for the UK government, reporting for example directly to ministers in Defra. She leads one of two teams delivering quality assurance of the National Audit Office’s (NAO) value for money (VFM) evaluation reports. Helen is a co-author of the CECAN Supplementary Guide in HM Treasury’s 2020 Magenta Book “Handling Complexity in Policy Evaluation” and of Defra’s Complexity Evaluation Framework.
Course Fees:
Tickets for this workshop are available on an Early Bird Rate until 19th April 2024, as follows:
- Government / commercial: £300 per person (or £375 if booked after 19/4/24)
- Staff at academic / charitable institutions: £275 per person (or £325 if booked after 19/4/24)
- Students (including Postgraduate Researchers): £250 per person (or £285 if booked after 19/4/24)
All prices are exclusive of VAT where applicable.
** NEW ** The CECAN research centre has funding for a limited number of bursaries to support Early Career Researchers and Postgraduate Researchers working across the social and natural sciences to further develop their skills in policy evaluation methods from a complex systems perspective – more information here.
Terms and Conditions
By completing your booking you are agreeing to the CECAN Ltd Delegate Booking Terms and Conditions and the CECAN Ltd Delegate Privacy Policy, both of which are shown on this page.
CECAN Ltd is the commercial arm of the ESRC funded Centre for Evaluating Complexity across the Nexus (CECAN). It offers access to innovative policy evaluation approaches and methods to support decision makers.
FAQs
How can I pay?
Payment can be made by credit/debit card. If you wish to pay by invoice, simply select “pay by invoice” under payment method on the registration page and provide your billing details (PO number, company name, address and email address along with a new supplier form if required) by email to admin@cecan.co.uk and we will raise an invoice for you. Please note that there will be an additional 10% processing fee for payments made by invoice.
Are tickets refundable?
Please see our booking Ts and Cs which are available on this page.
I have a question about this course, can I contact you?
If you have any questions please contact CECAN Ltd by email: training@cecan.co.uk
CECAN LTD DELEGATE BOOKING TERMS AND CONDITIONS
These are the terms on which CECAN Ltd provides the training courses available through its website and Eventbrite booking page.
Disclaimer: Visitors should recognise that, although all training information is correct at the time of publishing, CECAN Ltd reserves the right to alter programmes, speakers and venues without prior notification.
Bookings, fees and payment: Details of the fees and charges you will have to pay are set out on the course web page and the Eventbrite booking page. CECAN Ltd cannot accept provisional bookings. All bookings must be made via our Eventbrite booking page.
Programme, attendance and joining instructions will endeavour to be provided 7 days before the training course.
Unless agreed otherwise with CECAN Ltd, all bookings must be paid at least 14 working days prior to the training taking place. If booking less than 14 days to the training session, then our preferred method of payment is by credit card at the time of booking. If an invoice is requested, you will be asked to provide a purchase order number and accounts payable contact details. CECAN Ltd may charge a processing fee of 10% for bookings paid via invoice.
All invoiced fees are due within 30 days of the invoice date. Where an invoice is issued less than 30 days prior to the event, payment should be made in full, five working days before the training takes place. All disputed items must be notified in writing within 14 working days of receipt of an invoice.
We will exercise our statutory right to claim interest and compensation charges under the Late Payment of Commercial Debts [Interest] Act 1998 (as amended and supplemented by the Late Payment of Commercial Debts Regulations 2002) if payment is not received in accordance with our terms of payment.
Online Courses (via Zoom): Online workshops via Zoom will not be recorded and are offered only as a live, interactive event. Recording of a part of or the whole of an event is not permitted.
You do not need a paid account for Zoom to access our training but it is wise to download Zoom before the event and familiarise yourself with it, if you have not used it before. Participants who are unable to install the Zoom client can join through their web browser. However, the web client has limited features and it functions best on Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, and Chromium Edge. Please ensure you have a strong enough connection to be able to use Zoom.
CECAN Ltd is not liable for any technological issues which may occur as a result of the hardware/software you are using e.g. internet, computer, phone etc while you are completing the course and no refunds or partial refunds will be given in these circumstances.
You must make sure your computer meets the requirements set out by Zoom, which can be found here: https://support.zoom.us/hc/en-us/articles/201362023-System-requirements-for-Windows-macOS-and-Linux
When logging into Zoom, please ensure that your screen name reflects the name that you registered for the course with.
If for any reason the internet link fails at our or the facilitator’s end, we will endeavour to get the event back on line as soon as possible. Events which lose time due to these occurrences may overrun to allow us to accommodate the full day.
If the event is ended early for any technical reasons at our end you may be entitled to a full or partial refund at our discretion. A decision on any refunds will be taken in the week after the event and you will be advised accordingly.
Changes to courses: CECAN Ltd will seek to deliver each course in accordance with the description set out on your course web page. However, there may be situations in which it is necessary for CECAN Ltd to make changes, either before or after enrolment. CECAN Ltd therefore reserves the right to alter the date, timetable, location (where applicable) or trainer specified for a course; and make reasonable changes to the content and syllabus of a course.
Cancellation of a short course by CECAN Ltd: CECAN Ltd reserves the right to cancel a Short Course up to five (5) days before if there are not sufficient delegates registered on the short course or any associated event at its sole discretion. In the event of such a cancellation CECAN Ltd will refund the value of the booking or any ticket sold upon proof of purchase. CECAN Ltd expressly excludes any liability for any direct or indirect losses or damages howsoever arising as a result of such cancellation and will not, for example, be responsible for any travel or accommodation costs incurred. In the event of cancellation, CECAN Ltd will use reasonable endeavours to publicise the cancellation and details will be posted on the website associated with the short course. Attendees are responsible for checking this information prior to the event. Wherever possible, CECAN Ltd will endeavour to contact delegates by email in the event of cancellation.
Cancellation by you: We will refund the value of the booking or any ticket sold upon proof of purchase when cancellation takes place at least 21 days before the short course. When cancelled less than 21 but no more than ten (10) days before the short course we will refund a percentage not less than 50% of the charge. No refunds will be given for cancellation less than ten (10) days before the short course date or for non-attendance without notification, unless a refund is made entirely at the discretion of CECAN Ltd.
Notice of cancellation must be sent by email to the email address: training@cecan.co.uk. Cancellation by telephone will not be accepted.
If a delegate is to replace another delegate, CECAN must be notified in writing at least two (2) working days prior to the training.
Copyright and Intellectual Property: The copyright and all other intellectual rights in all course materials shall remain the sole and exclusive property of CECAN Ltd or, in the case of a course developed by a partner, the partner organisation. By registering for a course, you agree to observe the following conditions of use:
Materials used in the courses are subject to copyright restrictions and are made available for personal use during the course.
Without written permission from the event organiser, course materials, text, photos etc. may not be copied, scanned, reproduced, translated or processed electronically, nor may they be used for internal or external purposes.
All materials are the intellectual property of the course trainers and event organisers (except where explicitly marked).
CECAN Ltd Privacy Policy: For details of how we process your personal data, please see our privacy policy.
Subscription to the CECAN Mailing List: Please note that by registering your involvement in this course, you are giving consent for CECAN Ltd to communicate with you by email about this specific activity. You will also be given the option to join our CECAN mailing list for email alerts about other future activities which may be of interest to you. You can change your mind at any time by clicking the unsubscribe link in the footer of any email you receive from us, or by contacting us at admin@cecan.co.uk.
Contact: Unless otherwise specified above, please contact CECAN Ltd by emailing admin@cecan.co.uk.
CECAN LTD DELEGATE PRIVACY NOTICE
This statement sets out how CECAN Ltd uses and protects any information that we collect about you when you interact with us. CECAN Ltd is committed to ensuring that your privacy is protected. Should we ask you to provide certain personal information please be assured that it will only be used in accordance with our privacy notice.
Who is responsible for the processing of your personal data?
CECAN Ltd is the “Data Controller” of your personal data. CECAN Ltd is the commercial arm of the ESRC funded Centre for Evaluating Complexity across the Nexus (CECAN). CECAN Ltd is registered in England and Wales (company registration number: 11489391) and is committed to ensuring that the personal data we process is handled in accordance with data protection legislation.
In case of any general queries, please get in touch with us via admin@cecan.co.uk
When and how is CECAN Ltd collecting data?
Event registration:
For event management purposes, we ask you to submit the following information when you sign up for one of our events on eventbrite.com: name, email address, professional affiliation (organisation and role). All details are submitted on a voluntary basis but are necessary for the successful running of our events. We ask for your email details to keep you informed about the event you registered for. We ask for professional affiliations to better understand the professional contexts of our growing network and enhance the relevance of our events. For networking purposes, we will at some events make a list of attendees (with name and professional affiliation) available in print format.
CECAN Ltd does not request or store any your personal financial information such as credit card details. Payments for places on our short courses are handled securely by Eventbrite. Eventbrite also does not keep or hold your credit card information on file by default. You can opt to save a payment card when you create your personal Eventbrite account, and this can be deleted any time. For more information on how Eventbrite processes payments please visit www.eventbrite.co.uk/security/.
Website use:
When you visit the CECAN Ltd website at www.cecan.co.uk, our hosting servers will establish an encrypted connection between your browser and our website. By the use of cookies, we may collect general information about your computer (such as IP address, operating system and browser).
Cookies: A cookie consists of information sent by a web server to a web browser and is stored by the browser on the computer. The information is then sent back to the server each time the browser requests a page from the server. This enables the web server to identify and track the web browser.
We may collect non-personally-identifiable information relating to your use of our sites via Google Analytics technology. Google Analytics generates statistical and other information about website use by means of such cookies, which are stored on users’ computers. The information generated relating to our website is used to create reports about the use of the website. Google will store this information on servers in the United States. Google’s privacy policy is available at: https://policies.google.com/privacy . Further information and instructions for opting out of Google Analytics tracking are available at: https://tools.google.com/dlpage/gaoptout/. You may disable the use of cookies by selecting the appropriate settings on your browser, however please note that if you do this you may not be able to use the full functionality of this website.
What is the purpose and legal basis of such processing?
When you interact with us, or subscribe to our services we process personal information for certain legitimate purposes, which include some or all of those listed below. These purposes will never override your personal interests, fundamental rights and freedoms which require protection of your personal data.
To enable you to register or book onto one of our short courses or events;
To undertake post-event evaluations of our short courses or events;
To respond to your requests in relation to events or other services;
So that we can tell you about other events or services that may be of interest to you;
To notify you of changes to our services or events;
To enable us to enhance, modify, personalise or otherwise improve our services and communications for the benefit of our service subscribers;
To identify and prevent fraud to enhance the security of our network and information systems;
To better understand how people interact with our website, our communications and events;
To better understand the professional contexts of our community.
Data Subject Rights:
Whenever we process data for these purposes we will ensure that we always keep your personal data rights in high regard. As an individual whose data we process (a data subject), you have certain rights in relation to the processing.
You have the right to:
Withdraw your consent for us to process your personal data;
Ask us to confirm that your personal data is being processed and to access (i.e. have a copy) of that data as well as to be provided with supplemental information about the processing;
Request that we rectify any inaccuracies where the data we hold on you is inaccurate or incomplete;
Have your data erased by us;
Restrict the processing of your personal data in certain ways;
Obtain your personal data for reuse;
Object to certain processing of your personal data.
You have the right to object to the way we process your data. To exercise this right, please contact admin@cecan.co.uk You also have the right to complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office about the way in which we process your personal data.
Services provided by contracted third parties:
As outlined above, CECAN Ltd is the commercial arm of the ESRC funded Centre for Evaluating Complexity across the Nexus (CECAN). By registering your involvement in any of our events, you are giving consent for CECAN Ltd to communicate with you by email about this specific activity. You will also be given the option to join our CECAN mailing list and your personal data will therefore be shared with this third party for purposes including sending e-communications such as newsletters and event notifications. You can change your mind at any time by clicking the unsubscribe link in the footer of any email you receive from us, or by notifying CECAN at cecan@surrey.ac.uk. Please see the CECAN privacy notice to find out more about how CECAN will use your personal data: https://www.cecan.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/CECAN-Privacy-Notice.pdf
Upon registering for CECAN Ltd events, the information you provide is stored on the Eventbrite servers and can be viewed by authorised people on the CECAN Ltd team to analyse the participation in our events, to send event reminders and follow up information. Please see the Eventbrite data policy to find out more about how Eventbrite collects and stores your information.
Links to other websites:
CECAN Ltd is not responsible for the content or privacy policies of any website linked to from www.cecan.co.uk
Review of this Policy:
We keep this Policy under regular review. This Policy was last updated in April 2019.
Contact us:
If you have any questions about the above privacy notice, please contact us at: CECAN Ltd, Chantries Retreat, Clifford Manor Road, Guildford GU4 8AG or via email to admin@cecan.co.uk.