Principle 10: Bricolage Methods

Did you know that while USAID conducted just two developmental evaluations (DEs) between 2010 and

2015, it conducted 12 between 2016 and 2020? To find out more, check out Social Impact (SI) and its

USAID/Indonesia DE Jalin’s new study 10 Years of USAID Developmental Evaluation.

This comes 10 years after Dr. Patton published his landmark book Developmental Evaluation and shows

that DE has come a long way since with one of the world’s premier international development agencies.

As part of preparation and building momentum for the 2021 UN Food Systems Summit more than 900 Independent Dialogues have taken place around the world. These Summit Dialogues aim to offer a seat at the table to all interested stakeholders, giving them an opportunity to debate, collaborate, and provide input into deliberations on the future of food.  

Developmental Evaluation is directly connected to Blue Marble Evaluation. 

Footprint evaluation focuses on the ‘footprint’ that human systems make on natural systems. This requires attention to the nexus between human systems and natural systems. Footprint evaluation is grounded in the premise that all evaluations should include consideration of environmental sustainability, even when this is not a stated goal of the intervention. This is so that decision-making can take into account the potential and actual impacts of planned interventions (projects, programs, policies) on the environment.

A Developmental Evaluation Companion introduces the concept to changemakers, and to the evaluators, critical friends and reality testers, who are their partners in that change journey. The book provides an overview of the essential elements  of Developmental Evaluation (DE) to create some coherence, not to present any one version of DE as the right one. There is an ever-expanding set of views, resources and even critiques on DE, which signals to us that the field is very much alive.