aes24 International Evaluation Conference

Authors: Charlie Tulloch (Policy Performance)

Many people will be attending their first AES conference - welcome!
This workshop is targeted at new and emerging evaluators who are seeking to build their familiarity with the key concepts and language used in evaluation and the main elements of evaluation project delivery.
This will provide you with a plotted history of the evaluation field so you feel more comfortable engaging in deeper-dive topics over coming days. The session is grounded in theory, drawing on leading thinkers and methods that are central to our practice.
Key concepts to be covered include: what is evaluation? why should we evaluate? what can be evaluated? when to evaluate? how to evaluate? where can I learn more about evaluation?
The forum will help many brave young and emerging evaluators to navigate through often choppy evaluation waters so they don't feel 'all at sea' over coming days.

Authors: Kathleen Stacey (beyond...Kathleen Stacey & Associates Pty Ltd), Cheryl Augustsson (Yorgum Healing Services), Raelene Rosas (NT Stolen Generation Aboriginal Corporation), Pat Thompson (Link-Up (Qld) Aboriginal Corporation), Jamie Sampson (Link-Up (NSW) Aboriginal Corporation)

Link-Up Services support Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander people who were forcibly removed, fostered or adopted from their families as children, and their descendants who live with the ongoing impact of forcible removal policies, to reconnect with family, community, culture and Country. Wayfinding is at the core of our work - navigating unfamiliar territory with clients towards a hoped for destination of a greater sense of 'home', wherever this is possible, in a culturally safe, appropriate and trauma-informed manner.

In 2019, the National Indigenous Australians Agency funded development of a national Link-Up monitoring and evaluation strategy with the eight Link-Up Services operate across six jurisdictions. Each Link-Up Service is either a stand-alone Aboriginal community controlled organisations or based in an Aboriginal community controlled organisation.

This interactive workshop invites participants into our collective experiences of co-creating and implementing the M&E Strategy on a national basis, presented from the voices and position of Link-Up Services. We believe our experiences and learnings will be instructive for monitoring and evaluation activity with other Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander organisations and programs.

Travel with us in reflecting on our monitoring and evaluation wayfinding journey over three phases of work. Pause with us at key points throughout the session to exercise your critical self-reflection and analysis skills, share your ideas and learn what has worked well or presented challenges for us and why in creating, navigating and implementing a culturally safe monitoring and evaluation strategy in a complex and demanding service context.

Authors: Matt Healey (First Person Consulting)

The Design and Evaluation Special Interest Group (DESIG) was established in 2017. Its primary aim has been to explore the intersection of evaluation and design, and that aim has been interpreted in different ways over time. In 2024, the DESIG identified an opportunity to take the SIG model in a slightly different direction, embarking on an innovative venture with the launch of the Evaluation Lab, an initiative aimed at talk into action, and taking evaluators through a design process to address evaluation challenges.
Drawing inspiration from the concept of 'living labs,' which serve as real-world testing grounds, the Evaluation Lab created a space where evaluation professionals could come together. Employing a design-thinking process, the Lab guided participants through a structured expedition of defining, ideating, and prototyping solutions to tackle nominated challenges. Participants also learned pitch skills to communicate their solutions.
This Big Room Session provides an opportunity for the DESIG to outline the Evaluation Lab model, capped off with participants presenting their solutions through rapid-fire pitches, either live or pre-recorded, akin to explorers sharing tales of new lands discovered. The session's innovative twist lies in the audience's role, acting as both audience and judges. The audience will vote on their favourite solution, and be involved in crowing the first AES Evaluation Lab winner.
By blending lecture-style content with dynamic team presentations and active audience engagement, the Big Room Session not only highlights the critical role of design in navigating evaluation challenges but also demonstrates the practical application of these methodologies in charting a course through real-world problems.