Category: What do research and theory in complexity and systems tell us about evaluation practice and evaluation theory?

Applying Complexity to Evaluation: Case Based on the GEF’s Resilient Food Systems Program: Integrated Landscape Management to Enhance Food Security and Ecosystem Resilience.

Applying Complexity to Evaluation: Cases Based on the Global Environment Facility’s Resilient Food Systems Program

This article builds on a previous contribution to this blog identifying a set of complex adaptive systems that are particularly useful in the formulation of theories of change (TOCs).

My particular take on complexity and systems is called human systems dynamics (HSD). It is a field of theory and practice that applies principles of complex adaptive systems to help people see, understand, and influence emergent patterns in complex human systems. 

In this piece I introduce the concept of phase space (interchangeable with term ‘state space’). 
Within a Complex Adaptive Systems (CAS) understanding of how systems change over time, I argue that phase space is important for designing interventions within a CAS. 

Jonathan (Jonny) A Morell President, 4.669… Evaluation and Planning jamorell@jamorell.com blog YouTube   This is the first of what I hope will be many posts that show how specific constructs from complexity science can be useful for doing evaluation. There will only be many posts if others contribute. Please do. What complex behavior is this post … Continue reading Applying the complexity concept of “sensitive dependence” to understanding how a program works

Boundaries as a system term that is useful in Evaluation. Part of a series on how system and complex behaviors can be used in designing and doing evaluation.

Part of a series on how research and theory in systems and complexity can be useful in evaluation. Autopoiesis is one of my favorite systems concepts because of its importance in helping us understand a crucial difference between mechanistic systems and  living systems.

We are seeking suggestions about content and nominations for contributors for contributions on theory and application.

Part of a series on drawing on system and complexity science to do evaluation. My initial interest in the relevance of evolutionary theory was specifically in a field known as evolutionary epistemology. In its simplest form, this views the evolutionary process as a type of learning process, one involving the selective acquisition and retention of information, happening at multiple levels of scale.