“Public engagement activities often include events or one-time workshops with Canadians. How can we evaluate the impacts of these smaller engagements and ensure that they are contributing to our vision? Placing these activities in the context of an explicit and thoughtful theory of change illuminates their role in the profound Read more…
Do’s: Don’ts: Practitioner’s perspectives: “In 2012, my organization went through a process of determining how we believe change happens. This process involved gathering input from the majority of our staff over several months. With the help of outside consultants we mapped out the conditions we need to reach, the actions Read more…
Partnerships and collaborations that are formed in a spirit of inclusion can better respect and promote the value of diversity. Working with others allows for a diversity of organizations to be part of the conversation, helping to ensure that public engagement initiatives reflect diverse voices, actors and opinions.
Much of the public understands development as a question of charity – the idea that “we” (developed countries/the global north) need to give more to “them” (developing countries/the Global South). This has been described as the paradigm of the “generous giver / deficient receiver.” Many of our organizations have worked Read more…
Do’s: Don’ts: Practitioner perspective: “Through our public engagement campaign to raise awareness among Canadian teachers, students, and union members about global issues, we had some unexpected and unintended positive results, which we discovered through our regular monitoring activities. One of our Canadian partners spontaneously initiated the formation of a permanent Read more…
It is clear that the kind of work that we need to do is not superficial, and means enduring changes in our attitudes and perspectives, as well as our skills. It is hard work that requires us to take risks. Some have noted that in the past several decades many Read more…
Sometimes – unlike people working in international development projects overseas – we are working without clearly established principles. Having clear principles can help guide us in our decision-making, and stop us from inadvertently doing things that work against our long term goals. Over the last decade or so, civil society Read more…
Monitoring and evaluation are important across all public engagement activities. Monitoring is the process of tracking progress in the achievement of a program’s objectives. Evaluation is the systematic assessment of that progress,or lack thereof, in relation to goals. Investing in monitoring and evaluation is a crucial component in determining whether the desired social change Read more…
Use checklists or survey tools to identify your own organization’s objectives, expectations, roles and responsibilities within the partnership, as well as those of your potential partner, and make certain all partners understand these fully to avoid misunderstandings. Written documentation of the discussions related to the above are critical.
