Yellowknife Symposium

May 31 - June 1, 2018

Call for Presentations: NWT Evaluation Symposium

Conference 2018 will focus on a theme of co-creation of evaluation, exploring the concept of evaluation without dominion. Co-creation challenges traditional power relationships. It requires an evaluator to be a methodological expert, facilitator, critic, ally and strategic thinker who can use evaluation to support change while sharing jurisdiction. It speaks to developing true partnerships, to building evaluations from the ground up and to acknowledging that other methods and perspectives have equal weight. Conference 2018 proposes to explore this theme through several perspectives, including Indigenous evaluation.

The CES Alberta/NWT Chapter is hosting a unique post-conference symposium to promote work that is being done by Indigenous governments and communities, or by non-Indigenous evaluators in partnership with Indigenous governments and communities. The NWT Evaluation Symposium will highlight methodologies and approaches for evaluation of land-based programming, which is an emerging area of focus in the NWT. This theme is meant to engage internal and external evaluators in exploring the practice and power of evaluation, and how we might address power imbalances through collaboration and co-creation. Together, we will reflect and learn from each other about how we honor and incorporate the knowledge, world views, values, cultures and lived experiences of evaluation partners and stakeholders.

The NWT Evaluation Symposium will be a two-day event held in and around Yellowknife from May 31 – June 1, 2018. The first day will follow a traditional conference format, and the second day will be held outside of Yellowknife and will incorporate land-based learning approaches. We are seeking proposals for presentations, posters or stories that focus on northern Indigenous evaluation experiences, methodologies and approaches, with a focus on community or land-based initiatives. Due to the limited time available during the Symposium, only a small number of submissions will be accepted.

Examples of presentation topics include:

  • Decolonizing evaluation
  • Indigenizing evaluation
  • Cultural safety in evaluation
  • Specific evaluation types, such as empowerment evaluation, strengths-based evaluation/appreciative inquiry
  • Peer evaluators (evaluators with lived experience/where the beneficiaries of a program are also the evaluators)
  • Fostering and embedding reflexivity in evaluations
  • Evaluating with small numbers

Deadline for proposals: January 31, 2018