EVALSDGs Insight Dialogue #7: Evaluation and the Transformational Imperative

The Insight Dialogue was based on EVALSDGs Insight #17 on “Evaluation and the Transformational Imperative” – download it here. All EVALSDGs Insights can be found here.

Formidable challenges threaten life on this planet and the humanity it sustains, calling for rapid systems transformation at a global scale. This call is reflected in the title of the 2015 United Nations General Assembly Resolution introducing the 17 interlinked Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs): Transforming Our World: the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. The pathway towards implementing this ambitious 2030 Agenda requires a radical overhaul of the “business-as-usual” approach to development if the future of the planet and humanity is to be secured. How can evaluation, a profession in the business of assessing and problem solving, inform and support the transformational imperative? In this EVALSDGs Insight, we look at why and how evaluation needs to transform itself if it is to better support the transformational agenda mirrored in the SDGs and summarize some promising pathways for this transformational journey.