Short Abstract

This presentation uses principles of utilization -focused evaluation to examine two real-world evaluations of programmes addressing serious youth violence in England. Drawing on these cases, we identify practices that meaningfully involve stakeholders throughout all stages of the evaluation process.

Description

While evaluations, especially impact evaluations, are now standard practice in the delivery of social programmes, many are characterised by the limited engagement of the programme actors (members of organisations or programmes that are being evaluated). Rarely, and only in specific evaluation models, such as participatory approaches, is co-production treated as fundamental to the evaluation process. Whether impact, outcome, or process evaluations, there is minimal consideration of how programme actors actually engage with both the evaluation itself, its outputs, or the implementation of findings. Yet meaningful engagement throughout the evaluation cycle signals trust in the data, relevance of insights, and practical utility - hallmarks of evaluation that creates genuine value.

This presentation critically examines two real-world evaluations of programmes addressing serious youth violence in England, exploring two fundamental questions: ‘What makes an evaluation design and its implementation truly engaging?’ and ‘What value does this engagement add to the relationship between evaluators and those involved in delivery, and ultimately to the successful implementation of evaluation outputs?’

We argue that engagement, measured through active participation in design, data collection, sense-making discussions, and uptake into organisational decision-making, should be recognised as a core indicator of evaluation success, not merely a desirable by-product. Drawing on the theoretical framework of utilization-focused evaluation which emphasises the importance of making evaluations useful and relevant to stakeholders (Patton, 2008) and of the principles of bottom-up evaluation, we also demonstrate how such processes create opportunities to embed evaluative thinking and mindset among diverse stakeholders, ultimately cultivating sustainable evaluation cultures that continue to be helpful even after the evaluation is completed.

The presentation offers practical insights into designing for an engagement-based evaluation delivery from inception, including participatory approaches to evaluation design, co-creation of evaluation questions, collaborative data collection processes, and structured mechanisms for ongoing dialogue around emerging findings, including their implementation. We also consider how evaluators navigate the tension between engaging programme stakeholders on one hand and maintaining independence on the other, examining how this balance influences evaluator-stakeholder relationships in practice. We conclude by challenging the field to expand evaluation success metrics beyond methodological rigour and timely delivery to include the quality and depth of stakeholder engagement at critical junctures.