Reflections on Participatory Approaches in Social Project Evaluation, Silvia Kremenchutzky and Juana Reises, Argentina

From the perspective of the Rural Development Program for the North-Eastern Provinces of Argentina (PRODERNEA), evaluation is a qualitative process involving working and learning on project implementation, where listening to the voice of different stakeholders allows a more global vision of actions implemented and potential adjustments to be made. Techniques that are truly instrumental in this process include the Participatory Workshop, which seeks to contribute to an evaluation culture through building up the programme’s historical memory and raising awareness amongst new beneficiaries. To make this happen, policy makers and technical staff must have the commitment to take the process forward as a learning experience, different opinions must be heard with the aim to develop solutions to conflicts, and work must be undertaken in a joint manner throughout the whole evaluation process.