EPE Week: Matt Keene, Alex Ortega-Argueta, Lieven De Smet, and Lisa Eriksson on The Environmental Evaluators Network in 2012

My name is Matt Keene; I work with the US Environmental Protection Agency and coordinate the Environmental Evaluators Network. The purpose of the EEN is to advance the field of environmental evaluation through more systematic and collective learning. Founded in 2006, the EEN is comprised of conservation, and natural resource evaluators and evaluation consumers from academia, consulting, foundations, government, and non-profits. Though diverse, EEN participants have a common belief – the environmental sector can do better.

Rad Resource: Environmental Evaluators Network. This site provides updates and links for all of the EEN events internationally.

Hot Tip – 2012 US EEN/AEA Forum – Environmental Evaluation: in the Public Good – an unconference! July 18- 19. Washington DC. American University. Registration and Information here.

The 2012 US EEN Forum will provide a facilitated “open space” for participants to design the agenda, content and goals of the Forum. Unlike traditional conferences, there will be no formal panels or speeches. Everyone present, in person or not (Yep…Twitter, Linkedin and blogs…), will have the opportunity to share, discuss, network, collaborate and learn throughout the two day event.

Hot Tip – 2012 EEN Mexico Forum. July 12. Xalapa, Veracruz.

I’m Alex Ortega-Argueta and I work with the Environment and Sustainability Network at INECOL. This year, in coordination with the International Conference on Public Policy to be held in the city of Xalapa, Veracruz, the EEN Mexico Forum will highlight experiences and recent progress in the field of environmental evaluation in Mexico and Latin America. Framed by the theme “Evaluation of complex dynamic systems”, the objectives of the EEN Mexico Forum are to:

1. Gather professional evaluators in Mexico and Latin America and promote institutional collaboration and capacity development;
2. Identify opportunities for partnerships and development of work plans between diverse sectors (government, academia, civil society);
3. Strengthen technical capacity and coordination between sectors through exchange of knowledge, experience, methods and instruments;
4. Promote the field of environmental evaluation in governmental, academic, public and private spheres.

Hot Tip – 2012 European EEN Forum February 9-10. Leuven, Belgium.

We are Lieven De Smet (Research Institute for Work and Society (HIVA) at Katholic University Leuven) and Lisa Eriksson (Swedish Environmental Protection Agency (SEPA)). In early 2012 HIVA hosted the first European EEN forum to address environmental evaluation from various perspectives: demand side expectations, side effects and methodological challenges. Discussions also delved into the potential roles of EEN in EU environmental policies and management. To address the particular challenges of environmental evaluation in Europe the European EEN aims to establish specific workgroups and an online networking and knowledge exchange platform. EEN participants in Europe are focusing particular attention on the evaluation of transitions. This issue will be a focal point at the 2013 European EEN forum to be held in Stockholm and hosted by SEPA.

The American Evaluation Association is celebrating Environmental Program Evaluation Week with our colleagues in AEA’s Environmental Program Evaluation Topical Interest Group. The contributions all this week to aea365 come from our EPE TIG members. Do you have questions, concerns, kudos, or content to extend this aea365 contribution? Please add them in the comments section for this post on the aea365 webpage so that we may enrich our community of practice. aea365 is sponsored by the American Evaluation Association and provides a Tip-a-Day by and for evaluators.