Collaborative, participatory, and empowerment (CP&E) evaluation

José María Díaz Puente   Department of Projects and Rural Planning School of Agriculture Engineering Master's Degree in Project Planning for Rural Development and Sustainable Management   Last review: February 2012.

Two photos of participatory evaluations carried out in Saraguro (Ecuador) and Puno (Perú) by GESPLAN members

Credits: 2 ECTS.

COURSE REQUIREMENTS

• To have passed all courses of engineering degree or other higher education degrees.
• To know and master the specific skills of projects or to be familiar with the environment of development projects
• To have completed or be pursuing the following subjects of the Master in Rural Development and Sustainable Management Project Planning
  - Evaluation designs: methods and tools

COURSE DESCRIPTION

This course deals with the collaborative, participatory and empowerment approaches to evaluation in the rural development projects and programs. The main contents of this course are:

• Importance and relevance of the evaluation of rural development projects and programs
• Review of evaluation concepts and methodologies 
• Collaborative and Participatory evaluation
• Empowerment  Evaluation methodology and its different application contexts 
• Ethnography, culture and management of focus groups as 3 key tools for CP&E Evaluation  
• Empowerment  the different actors of development projects through evaluation 

COMPETENCES

The main objective of this course is to go further in the knowledge of evaluation methodologies that are based on knowledge of the actors and on the organizational learning. The course is highly practical oriented and teaching methodology is based on the materials with a direct application to the real world of evaluation.

Transversal Competencies

• The student participates in activities with interest in strengthening their knowledge
•  The student is capable of empathy in the study of the situation of the different actors in the development process
• The student is capable of constructive criticism and self-critical responsibility

Specific Competencies 

• The student is able to recognize the key-aspects of  different methodologies and apply them to real cases and different contexts
• The student is able to understand the motivations of each model and its positive aspects
• The student understands the conflicts and how they develop participatory processes in different cases
• The student knows how to identify and involve different social groups and stakeholders in the evaluation of development projects
• The student has learned to identify, assess and take into account human, social and environmental factors that affect and are affected by the rural development project
• The student understands the role of evaluation in the integrated approach to rural development projects, and is also able to apply the most appropriate methodology according to the context
• The student is able to manage changes and the evolution of projects through the evaluation tools and the methodological resources acquired to involve all project stakeholders

TEACHING MATERIAL

Teaching is based on the following materials:

• Group work in the classroom. It will be the main teaching method. The students have already studied the course about evaluation methodologies, so that classes will focus on the practice of these methodologies to strengthen these concepts in its development through the study of real cases. All theoretical sessions will be complemented with the case study methodology
• Lectures in class. About the theoretical aspects of the course
• Each session will have additional resources that will be available through the web
• Students will complete several self-assessment exercises using different methodologies as the practical activities of the course 
• Students will make a final presentation on a topic related to the different methodologies for carrying out an evaluation

EVALUATION ACTIVIVTIES OR PRACTICAL TASKS

The evaluation of the course will take into account the following items according to a defined percentage:

• 40% Evaluation of the knowledge acquired by the student through on-line and class-room questioners
• 25% Tasks performed by the student
• 25% Evaluation of presentations about the tasks
• 10% Student’s participation