Description

Over the past 3.5 years, VIG, a Black and women-led consultancy with offices in the UK, India, Uganda, Nigeria, and Afghanistan, has delivered more than 50 learning engagements across the globe. This experience, spanning fragile and conflict affected contexts as well as development and humanitarian programming, has revealed a persistent challenge in organisational learning, the disconnect between generating evidence and translating it into programmatic or policy change. Although utilisation-focused-approaches are frequently promoted to strengthen uptake, in practice structural barriers often prevent meaningful engagement once findings are submitted. Reports may be acknowledged but rarely acted upon, and the transformative potential of evidence is curtailed by entrenched organisational dynamics. VIG’s observations highlight a recurring pattern across contexts, brand and reputational concerns are often prioritised over genuine outcomes. This tendency narrows space for honest dialogue, particularly when findings point to programme gaps or limitations. The roundtable discussion will interrogate these tensions by examining how external facilitators are frequently positioned as outsiders. Despite designing participatory mechanisms such as workshops, dissemination webinars, and collaborative dialogues, facilitators are often excluded from follow up decision making. Once a report is delivered, the responsibility for uptake typically rests solely with the client, while those who generated or facilitated the evidence are sidelined. This weakens accountability systems reducing opportunities for evidence informed adaptation. Another critical barrier identified is the reluctance of commissioning agencies to engage openly with delivery challenges. In many instances, evidence of programme shortcomings is treated as a reputational risk rather than a learning opportunity. This risk averse culture leads to defensive postures that prevent collective reflection. When organisations view limitations as damaging rather than instructive, they miss the chance to strengthen resilience and foster innovation. The roundtable will encourage participants to explore practical ways of reframing learning as a safe, iterative space for dialogue. By shifting the mindset from defensiveness to openness, evidence of programme gaps can be repositioned as an essential entry point for adaptive programming and organisational growth. VIG’s approach argues that this cultural transformation is necessary if organisations are to move beyond symbolic accountability and towards genuine utilisation of findings. The session will be highly participatory, beginning with VIG’s reflections from diverse contexts and followed by guided discussion. Key questions include:

1. Why does evidence often stop at the report stage, and what structural changes are needed to bridge this gap?

2. How can organisations balance brand and reputational concerns with the imperative to learn and adapt?

3. What role should external facilitators and learning partners play after findings are disseminated?

4. How can programme limitations be reframed as opportunities for resilience and growth rather than risks to image?

5. What accountability mechanisms or participatory approaches can ensure that evidence informs decision making?

By bringing together practitioners, commissioners, and researchers, this roundtable contributes to the UK Evaluation Society’s 2026 theme of “Bridging the Gap, Evaluation to Action.” It offers a space to share insights, debate tensions, and co create strategies for strengthening learning cultures that prioritise action, inclusivity, and resilience over reputation management.