|
Session Title: The Environmental Evaluators Network: Quality in an Era of Results-based Performance
|
|
Panel Session 687 to be held in BONHAM E on Friday, Nov 12, 4:30 PM to 6:00 PM
|
|
Sponsored by the Environmental Program Evaluation TIG
|
| Chair(s): |
| Matt Keene, United States Environmental Protection Agency, keene.matt@epa.gov
|
| Discussant(s):
|
| Kathryn Newcomer, George Washington University, newcomer@gwu.edu
|
| Abstract:
In June 2010 the 5th annual Environmental Evaluators Networking Forum will host 250 domestic and international representatives from government agencies, foundations, consulting firms, non-profits, academia, and international institutions to discuss the effects of an era of results-based performance on the quality of environmental program and policy evaluation. In the format of a panel discussion, key staff from sponsor organizations of the Forum will share and discuss: 1) the current state and future of the quality of environmental evaluation in terms of opportunities, challenges, skills, tools, and methods; and 2) the relationship between the Environmental Evaluators Network and the quality of evaluation at their respective organizations. The purpose of this session is to provide the audience with a better understanding of current trends in environmental evaluation and describe how the Environmental Evaluators Network has evolved to address issues of evaluation quality.
|
|
The Environmental Evaluators Network and Improving the Quality of Evaluation at the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
|
| Matt Keene, United States Environmental Protection Agency, keene.matt@epa.gov
|
| Katherine Dawes, United States Environmental Protection Agency, dawes.katherine@epa.gov
|
|
Matt Keene is a social scientist working with the United States Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Evaluation Support Division. As a lead coordinator of the Environmental Evaluators Network (EEN) and the annual EEN Forum, Matt will present an overview of the June 2010 EEN Forum, summarize the major themes discussed during the event and introduce key future goals and opportunities for the network. As a staff member of EPA’s evaluation unit, Matt will discuss how the Agency uses the EEN’s products and services to address EPA’s strategic goal to increase the Agency’s capacity for quality program measurement and evaluation.
|
|
|
Lessons Learned From the First Five Years of the Environmental Evaluators Network
|
| Matt Birnbaum, National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, matthew.birnbaum@nfwf.org
|
|
The Environmental Evaluators Network started informally six years ago through discussions between several evaluators working in the environmental arena and affiliated with AEA. As the network has grown over the past six years, its annual international meeting in Washington, DC has more than doubled in size as increasingly diverse organizations and disciplines become aware of the network and recognize its potential value. Regional network events have started up in Canada and events are soon to be launched in Europe and the Pacific Islands. This presentation will be based on interviews with key stakeholders affiliated with EEN to identify major contributions and challenges to assessing its achievements and future strategic issues impacting its future direction, including assessing its niche with larger umbrella organizations like AEA.
| |
|
In Search of Quality and a Commitment to Evaluation: The Environmental Evaluators Network and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)
|
| Kate Barba, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, kate.barba@noaa.gov
|
| Cassandra Barnes, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, cassandra.barnes@noaa.gov
|
| Ginger Hinchcliff, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, ginger.hinchcliff@noaa.gov
|
|
Kate Barba works for NOAA’s Office of Ocean and Coastal Resource Management as Chief of the National Policy and Evaluation Division. As a NOAA organization co-sponsor of the EEN, Kate will highlight key findings from the 2010 EEN event that address concerns for enhanced quality in environmental evaluation with an emphasis on professional development and capacity building in federal environmental programs. Building upon the EEN experience, Kate will discuss how NOAA has initiated the development of an evaluator network within the agency, with mention of the challenges and opportunities inherent to this process. To complement internal capacity building, NOAA has developed training modules in program design and evaluation, targeted primarily to program partners in coastal states to foster quality in program design and evaluability.
| |