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About

Blue Marble Evaluation is...

  • An approach to evaluating global initiatives aimed at transforming systems towards a more sustainable world.
  • A global network of evaluators working in the space of global systems transformation. 
  • A resource for practitioners, evaluators, funders and anyone interested in a holistic approach to design, implementation and evaluation of global systems transformation efforts.

Design, implementation, and evaluation are typically treated as separate functions dealt with sequentially by different people with different roles who don’t communicate with each other. At the heart of the Blue Marble perspective you’ll find a pattern of breaking down silos, integrating separated functions, connecting people and places, and creating linkages across time.

 

In that spirit, Blue Marble evaluation focuses on integrating design, engagement, implementation, and evaluation of programs and interventions of all kinds, especially initiatives working on making global systems more equitable and sustainable.

What it's not

Blue Marble Evaluation is not a specific set of methods or measurements, though treating the global system as the focus of evaluation has major methodological and measurement implications. It is not dependent on a specific discipline or knowledge specialization, but is interdisciplinary and built on knowledge of the Earth as a global system of ecological and human interdependence.

The need for global systems
evaluators

Global challenges like climate change, migration and inequality, to name but a few, operate beyond borders and silos of all kinds. Global systems change initiatives working to address these challenges are beginning to acknowledge and address the complex, dynamic, and interconnected world system. Blue Marble Evaluation is a global network working to ensure that evaluators are prepared to engage with and evaluate these global change efforts.

Partners

Blue Marble Evaluation has developed through collaboration and partnership with a number of individuals and organizations. We are especially grateful for the support of the following organizations: 

Engaging in a Blue Marble Evaluation

The Blue Marble principles, taken together, provide guidance for transforming evaluation to more appropriately and usefully bring a Blue Marble perspective into evaluations generally and, in particular, evaluate transformational engagements and results.

Visit our Principles page to learn more about how to engage in Blue Marble Evaluation.

Global Advisory Council

Our Global Advisory Council is composed of members from around the world who provide strategic guidance to the network.

History

In the first video, Michael Quinn Patton presents a brief overview of Blue Marble Evaluation’s history.

In the second video, several members of the Blue Marble Evaluation network share their perspectives on BME in the context of their work on the World Food Systems Summit. 

Contact us

Please complete the form below to contact us.

All photographs used on this site are courtesy of Ellen Harasimowicz unless otherwise noted.

Site design was done by Nick Herft Web Solutions.