Dynamic systems and the role of evaluation: The case of the Green Communities project |
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| Institution: | 1. European Centre for Living Technology, Ca’ Foscari University of Venice, S. Marco 2940, 30124 Venice, Italy;2. Department of Innovation and Economic Organization, BI Norwegian Business School, Nydalsveien 37, N-0442 Oslo, Norway;1. Department of Social Work, Umeå University, SE-901 87 Umeå, Sweden;2. DM-STAT, One Salem Street Suite 300, Malden, MA 02148 USA;3. Center for Addictions Research and Services, Boston University School of Social Work, 264 Bay State Road, Boston, MA 02215 USA;4. Department of Biostatistics, Boston University School of Public Health, 715 Albany Street, Boston, MA 02118 USA;1. Department of Educational Research, Lancaster University, Bailrigg, Lancaster LA1 4YW, United Kingdom;2. Family and Community Social Services Program, University of Guelph-Humber, 207 Humber College Blvd., Toronto, ON, M9W 5L7, Canada;1. University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy, Division of Pharmaceutical Outcomes and Policy, Asheville, NC 28804, United States;2. Georgia Southern University, Jiann-Ping Hsu College of Public Health, Department of Community Health Behavior & Education, Statesboro, GA 30460, United States;3. University of South Florida, Department of Educational Measurement and Research, Tampa, FL 33620, United States;1. Oregon State University, 118B Milam Hall, Corvallis, OR 97331, United States;2. California State University, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, United States;3. University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, United States;4. University of Maryland, College Park, Columbia, MD, United States;5. Yale University, CT, United States |
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| Abstract: | The crucial role evaluation can play in the co-development of project design and its implementation will be addressed through the analysis of a case study, the Green Communities (GC) project, funded by the Italian Ministry of Environment within the EU Interregional Operational Program (2007–2013) “Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency”. The project's broader goals included an attempt to trigger a change in Italian local development strategies, especially for mountain and inland areas, which would be tailored to the real needs of communities, and based on a sustainable exploitation and management of the territorial assets. The goal was not achieved, and this paper addresses the issues of how GC could have been more effective in fostering a vision of change, and which design adaptations and evaluation procedures would have allowed the project to better cope with the unexpected consequences and resistances it encountered. The conclusions drawn are that projects should be conceived, designed and carried out as dynamic systems, inclusive of a dynamic and engaged evaluation enabling the generation of feedbacks loops, iteratively interpreting the narratives and dynamics unfolding within the project, and actively monitoring the potential of various relationships among project participants for generating positive social change. |
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| Keywords: | Evaluation Innovation Local development Complexity Dynamic systems Narratives Uncertainty |
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