Topic 5 Evaluation

Evaluation and documentation are the most important aspects of programme planning. It will give you a concrete analysis of whether the project’s objectives have been met (and therefore the project was successful), what the impact was for the participants and whether it could be improved, and how.

It is also important to differentiate between evaluating intergenerational projects and other social projects. The difference – to some extent – lies in the fact that intergenerational projects bring different generations together, they promote mutual exchange between these generations from which they can all benefit.

In general, it is essential to have practical procedures which “can be applied to the given conditions” and “with reasonable effort”.

Sometimes though, evaluation remains a difficult task because the outcomes “are difficult to quantify as they are often diffuse and long term”. (Springate et al., 2008).

To overcome this challenge, you need to:

• Set clear goals and outcomes
• Monitor goals throughout the project
• Involve participants in the evaluation process, and design the questions
• Conduct qualitative and quantitative data collection