Expanding the possible in critical times: a possibilist evaluation approach for a new view on development
Roundtable | Online
About the Event
The current turmoil in development cooperation compounds existing crises and requires collective action. We propose possibilism as a basis for action through evaluation. Possibilism, a theoretical and practical viewpoint developed by early critical voices (Colorni, Hirschman, Tendler—see Stame 2019 and 2022), enhances democratic research to create knowledge that substantiate action. Short presentations of practices introduce a discussion engaging workshop participants, via digital sharing tools as needed. Pre- and post-event activities attract a diverse group and spur continuing dialogue.
Speakers
| Name | Title | Biography |
|---|---|---|
| Bruno Nazim Baroni | regional MEAL manager - East Africa | With 20-year experience in Europe and Latin America, he works at AVSI Foundation, Italian NGO active in 30+ countries, as advisor to HQ and head of MEAL department in South Sudan, Congo DRC, and East Africa region. He focuses on empowering field-level MEAL staff while promoting a ground-up approach |
| Laura Fantini | PhD | A development practitioner / evaluator with 20 years of experience, served on the EES board and as director at A Colorni-Hirschman International Institute. She co-founded the group on "development cooperation"-Italian Ass. of Eval. and is in the Advisory Committee on Eval. for Italy´s Ministry of FA |
| Luigi Cuna | Senior evaluator | With a doctorate degree in Law and Economics from the University of Bologna, Luigi Cuna is Senior Evaluator at the Council of Europe Development Bank. Before joining CEB, he worked for several years as a freelance consultant as well as at the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) |
| Walter Antonio Canu | Partner at Centrale Valutativa Srl | Sociologist, evaluator and applied social researcher specialized in mixed-methods (qualitative & quantitative), group facilitation, face-to-face data collection and field research. Member of the EES Member of the Italian Evaluation Association Member of the International Association of Facilitators |
Moderators
| Name | Title | Biography |
|---|---|---|
| Laura Tagle | Senior Evaluator | Laura works at the Independent Department for Evaluation of Norwegian Development Cooperation. She focuses on the evaluation use in policy and on locally-led evaluations. She has served on the boards of EES (European Evaluation Society) and of IDEAS (International Development Evaluation Association) |
Summary
The workshop clarified the relevance of evaluations inspired to possibilism for a diverse group of evaluation practitioners and scholars. Possibilism, a philosophical and practical stance toward interpreting reality, has profound and consequential implications on how evaluations are framed, conducted and used.
This approach to evaluation has been developed by authors such as A.O. Hirschman, J. Tendler and N. Stame and it is increasingly becoming recognized and shared by practitioners and scholars–-something that we celebrate but also need to explore further.
We intend to continue to present experiences of possibilism and share related literature among practitioners and decision makers. The workshop helped us know each other´s experiences and viewpoints: we plan to explore these differences by writing a reflection piece. In the short term, we intend to report on our Glocal workshop to the members of the Italian Evaluation Association Working Group on international development cooperation and to present the advancements in our thinking at the 2025 Annual Conference of the Association