The Evaluation Exchange: A Case Study of a University-Community Collaborative Approach to Evaluation

What is this event about?

An open presentation by Gemma Moore and Anne Laybourne from 14.00 till 15.00, with an additional interactive workshop from 15.00 until 16.00. The latter session will provide an opportunity to explore the challenges and benefits of the Evaluation Exchange and to discuss the potential of replicating the model in Exeter. Please sign up to one or both of the sessions.

This session will provide an introduction to the Evaluation Exchange: a partnership between Newham-based umbrella organisation Aston-Mansfield and the UCL Public Engagement Unit. During 2017/2018 we supported six teams made up of 23 cross-disciplinary UCL researchers and staff from six voluntary sector organisations, providing training and guidance to tackle evaluation challenges within the voluntary and community sector. The aim of the Evaluation Exchange is to “connect the know-how to the how-to” giving  organisations a chance to build capacity for effective evaluation, and researchers a valuable opportunity to apply and develop research skills in a real world situation, gaining ‘hands-on’ experience of the voluntary sector.

During this workshop we will consider what this really means in practice: exploring how collaborations between university researchers and community organisations, co-creating knowledge and systems of evaluation can be a route to building evaluation capacity. We will outline the structures, processes and initial outcomes from the Evaluation Exchange. We will:

• Explore how bringing together individuals from different backgrounds and sectors can build the evaluation capacity of all involved
• Provoke a discussion about models of university-community collaboration 
• Critically understand the opportunities and barriers to embedding evaluation in our work
• Generate ideas for future development

Information

The Impact and Engaged Research Network (IERN) is aimed at all academics and professional services staff who are interested in impact and engaged research. The Network brings them together to share best practice and information, to undertake training and to provide opportunities for networking.

Biography

Dr Gemma Moore, Head of Evaluation (Engagement), UCL Culture: I combine academic experience with practical knowledge of community and public engagement. My career has developed my skills in a number of areas: evaluation, social research, community development, participation and public engagement.  Since 2009 I have been working part time in UCL’s Public Engagement Unit building a culture of evaluation and reflection within the field of public engagement at UCL.

Dr Anne Laybourne, Research Associate, UCL Division of Psychiatry: I am currently in a study manager position and, following a desire to both engage better with my research communities and also to deploy my research skills in a more socially useful way, I volunteered on the first UCL Evaluation Exchange programme in 2017/18. My skills are in project management and networking and influencing. I am a social gerontologist and the research I have been involved with generally focuses on aged populations, and currently it is about those people living in care homes. Engaging care home communities is particularly challenging for a range of reasons and I am at the beginning of this community and public engagement in academic research journey.

Who should attend?

The session will be of special interest to researchers or professional services staff working with community or voluntary organisations, or to early career researchers who are interested in developing their skills in a real world situation.

Registration

Please use the online registration form to register your attendance. If you have any questions about the event please email research-events@exeter.ac.uk.