Focussed evaluation skills development helps do more with less
December 12, 2023
Public sector agencies and NGOs have new challenges to show how effective their programmes are. These organizations must show who benefits from their programmes and in what context. Where an evaluation has yet to be done, resource constraints mean teams may need fast methods...
Growing evaluation capability through mentoring
September 21, 2023
Pragmatica Director Judy Oakden has recently started leading a 2023-2024 mentoring group focussing on complexity in evaluation as part of the mentoring programme for Australian Evaluation Society (AES) members. The AES Group Mentoring Program is an innovative onli...
New perspective on public sector contracting
August 18, 2023
Commissioning and contracting to enhance service delivery: learnings from practice and theory for funders, service providers and evaluators
Many managers in the public sector are being asked to commission and contract in ways that are more flexible. In doing so, they can find themselves on the margins. Pragmatica recently facilitated training for public servants and evaluators. We explored why some of the c...
The difference that makes a difference
October 28, 2022
Farming faces a time of major change in the external expectations about how land managers run their businesses. In response, farmers want to understand better and respond to the environmental challenges they are experiencing on their farms. Despite regulatory uncertainty, ma...
Supporting parents and whānau to effectively raise their children’s reading achievement
April 29, 2022
Children from Aotearoa New Zealand are falling behind other countries in literacy measures. There is an ongoing lack of equity in student outcomes, particularly for Māori and Pacific children. Doing nothing is not an option, schools need effective ways to address the declin...
Exploring what COVID-19 means for evaluation
October 8, 2020
While COVID-19 has significantly disrupted our lives, a closer inspection shows we are not all impacted in the same ways. For example, some groups have experienced enormous financial and social impacts, while others have not.
Recently, practitioners in economic develop...
