Blog Posts

Evaluation Criteria for Transformation Webinar Q&A

Webinar Recording available here. Click here to read a summary blog about webinar with resource links. CHAT QUESTIONS and FOLLOW-UP QUESTIONS (in red) and PARTICIPANTS’ COMMENTS, WITH MQP RESPONSES Questions (in red) grouped together. There are many questions so I’ll try to keep responses short. This is an ongoing dialogue. Will the PowerPoint be available? MQP: The … Read more

Food and Agriculture Systems: A Blue Marble Evaluation Perspective

In writing about transformation in Blue Marble Evaluation, I quoted Million Belay, coordinator of the Alliance for Food Sovereignty in Africa, who said: “At last there is a realization that change, fundamental change in the way we are living, is needed.” I met Million at an international conference on Transformation hosted by the University of Dundee in 2017. … Read more

Blue Marble Evaluation: Thinking in Transformational Ways at a Time When We Urgently Need To

This article by McKnight Foundation International program director Jane Maland Cady was originally published by the Global Alliance for the Future of Food and adapted here with permission. Summary: The McKnight Foundation has supported the first of the Blue Marble Evaluation innovators — from Michael Quinn Patton and the World Savvy team, to the evaluators embedded in the Global … Read more

Moving at the Speed of Trust: The Role of Blue Marble Evaluation

Trust matters for transformation. The Blue Marble theory of transformation hypothesizes that transformation requires multiple actors, networks, organizations, movements, and individuals actively finding common ground thereby magnifying their separate efforts collectively to create critical mass and tipping points. A theory of transformation integrates and aligns multiple theories of change. One important constituent theory of change in support … Read more

Word of the year banner

Climate Emergency from a Blue Marble Evaluation Perspective

The 2019 Oxford Dictionary word of the year is “climate emergency.” The word of the year is both retrospective, chosen because of dramatically increased use in both published and social media, but also prospective, for calling attention to the word of the year tends to increase its use. “Climate emergency is defined as ‘a situation in which urgent action … Read more

Michael Recognized as Guilford Press Author of the Month for Blue Marble Evaluation

Michael Quinn Patton was recognized by Guilford Press, the publisher of Blue Marble Evaluation: Premises and Principles, as the December 2019 author of the month. In his interview, Michael shares, “Blue Marble refers to the iconic image of the Earth from space without borders or boundaries, a whole Earth perspective. Many people, organizations, and networks are … Read more

Blue Marble Evaluation Beta!

Welcome to the new beta site for Blue Marble Evaluation. The site went live in early November 2019 and we are piloting it through the Spring of 2020. Our goals during this phase are to streamline content, enhance usability, build out the network, and address any bugs or issues that arise. In January 2020, we’ll share our … Read more