Twelve principles for transformation-focused evaluation

TY - JOUR

T1 - Twelve principles for transformation-focused evaluation

AU - Buckton, Sam J.

AU - Fazey, Ioan

AU - Ball, Peter

AU - Ofir, Zenda

AU - Colvin, John

AU - Darby, Matthew

AU - Hejnowicz, Adam Peter

AU - Leicester, Graham

AU - Newman, Rebecca

AU - Page, Glenn G.

AU - Parsons, Kelly

AU - van Mierlo, Barbara

N1 - Publisher Copyright: © 2025 Buckton et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.

PY - 2025/4/3

Y1 - 2025/4/3

N2 - There are growing calls for societies to transform towards regenerative futures that support the flourishing of life and transcend interlinked social and ecological crises. Many actors are now trying to identify whether desired transformations are occurring, and how different interventions are contributing to transformation. These are questions of evaluation. However, we lack a holistic appreciation of how evaluation can most effectively assist transformation efforts. We undertake a systematized scoping review of a large body of evaluation literature to identify principles and methodologies for transformation-focused evaluation. We identify twelve distinct but interdependent principles which, when applied by evaluators (and supported by evaluation commissioners, sponsors and funders), are considered to significantly enhance the effectiveness of evaluation in assessing and assisting transformations, although tensions exist between some of the principles. The principles were clustered into three overarching themes of Complexity Principles (how evaluation approaches complex systems), Power Principles (evaluators’ power relations), and Purpose Principles (evaluation’s deeper purpose and values). The Complexity Principles call for transformation-focused evaluators to appreciate evaluands (e.g., a transition initiative, sector, or region) as unique, entangled, nested, dynamic and uncertain systems, and employ more diverse, developmental, contextually adapted and future-sensitive evaluation approaches. The Power Principles urge evaluators to promote justice, embrace diverse and marginalized perspectives, and reduce evaluator-evaluand polarization by shifting power towards evaluation users, whilst also fostering a more autonomous evaluation profession and mutualistic partnerships of knowledge and action. Most fundamentally, the Purpose Principles advocate for a recentering of values, reflexivity and learning at the heart of evaluation practice, and ensure that the core purpose of evaluation is to support systemic, societal transformation towards regenerative futures. Relevant methodologies are suggested for operationalizing the principles. Transformation-focused evaluation is a radical shift from conventional practice but the urgency to address global crises makes the shift a crucial one.

AB - There are growing calls for societies to transform towards regenerative futures that support the flourishing of life and transcend interlinked social and ecological crises. Many actors are now trying to identify whether desired transformations are occurring, and how different interventions are contributing to transformation. These are questions of evaluation. However, we lack a holistic appreciation of how evaluation can most effectively assist transformation efforts. We undertake a systematized scoping review of a large body of evaluation literature to identify principles and methodologies for transformation-focused evaluation. We identify twelve distinct but interdependent principles which, when applied by evaluators (and supported by evaluation commissioners, sponsors and funders), are considered to significantly enhance the effectiveness of evaluation in assessing and assisting transformations, although tensions exist between some of the principles. The principles were clustered into three overarching themes of Complexity Principles (how evaluation approaches complex systems), Power Principles (evaluators’ power relations), and Purpose Principles (evaluation’s deeper purpose and values). The Complexity Principles call for transformation-focused evaluators to appreciate evaluands (e.g., a transition initiative, sector, or region) as unique, entangled, nested, dynamic and uncertain systems, and employ more diverse, developmental, contextually adapted and future-sensitive evaluation approaches. The Power Principles urge evaluators to promote justice, embrace diverse and marginalized perspectives, and reduce evaluator-evaluand polarization by shifting power towards evaluation users, whilst also fostering a more autonomous evaluation profession and mutualistic partnerships of knowledge and action. Most fundamentally, the Purpose Principles advocate for a recentering of values, reflexivity and learning at the heart of evaluation practice, and ensure that the core purpose of evaluation is to support systemic, societal transformation towards regenerative futures. Relevant methodologies are suggested for operationalizing the principles. Transformation-focused evaluation is a radical shift from conventional practice but the urgency to address global crises makes the shift a crucial one.

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=105001998485&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1371/journal.pstr.0000164

DO - 10.1371/journal.pstr.0000164

M3 - Article

AN - SCOPUS:105001998485

SN - 2767-3197

VL - 4

JO - PLOS Sustainability and Transformation

JF - PLOS Sustainability and Transformation

IS - 4

M1 - e0000164

ER -