Place-Based Evaluation Approaches

How do you evaluate change when place and context shape everything? Whose knowledge counts in defining success in a community? Can evaluation reflect lived experience—not just external metrics? What does “impact” look like here, as opposed or similar to there?

Why this course matters:
 Impact does not happen in abstract systems—it happens in real places shaped by history, relationships, and lived experience.

This course supports organizations to design evaluation approaches grounded in local context and community knowledge. By centering place, power, and equity, participants strengthen shared ownership of learning and ensure evaluation reflects lived realities.

Place-responsive evaluation deepens trust, strengthens relationships, and supports systems change rooted in community-defined success.