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IEE Hosts Alumni Conference

MADM News

04-11-2019

"Evaluation of Development Interventions
- Current Debates, Methods, and Best Practices -"

As a central part of its alumni activities, the Institute of Development Research and Development Policy (IEE; Ruhr-University Bochum) regularly organises alumni conferences in close collaboration with its partner master programmes. Against this background, the IEE hosts a conference from the 5th-8th of November 2019, titled “Evaluation of Development Interventions - Current Debates, Methods, and Best Practices” in Bochum. The conference partners are the MA programme in Development Management (MADM; IEE), the MA programme in International and Development Economics (MIDE; HTW Berlin), the Small Enterprise Promotion and Training Programme (SEPT; University of Leipzig), the MA programme in Development and Governance (Institute of Political Science (IfP); University of Duisburg-Essen), and the MA programme in International Relations and Development Policy (Institute for Development and Peace (INEF); University of Duisburg-Essen).

This conference is devoted to reflect how well typical evaluation practices yield the desired insights in the actual outcomes and impact of development interventions. As such, it addresses questions such as: which evaluation designs are in principle appropriate for the assessment of a development intervention? Which factors are relevant for choosing the design? What different methods are applied in practice for assessing a project’s relevance, efficiency, and effectiveness? How should we measure the impact and sustainability of an intervention, and how can appropriate steps be put in practice?

These questions will be discussed with international experts, alumni of the above-mentioned Master programmes working related to this field, researchers, and PhD candidates. Also, selected students of the partner master programmes are invited to this event. Hence, the conference offers a wide range of network opportunities between experts, practitioners, and scientists.

With this topical theme, we apparently sparked the interest of a multitude of alumni. In total, more than 120 alumni from the partner master programmes submitted an application. 37 of them are now invited to the conference with a full funding of the German Ministry of Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) and the German Foreign Office (AA), provided by the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD). Including further alumni, scientists and experts from the practical field, more than 65 participants will attend this event. They will discuss and elaborate on the above-mentioned questions in workshops, a panel discussion, and experts’ presentations. The workshops are further differentiated in four topical spheres in order to provide the platform for specific in-depth discussions. These workshop topics are: (1) Evaluation of democratization and governance projects, 2) Evaluation of private sector related activities, 3) Evaluation of growth and poverty reduction measures, 4) Evaluation of food security and agricultural sector development interventions. In addition, the event is further enriched with socialising activities like a conference dinner and a group excursion.

We are looking forward to a fruitful conference and – for sure – to meet our alumni again.