Sowing & Harvesting: Participatory Evaluation Handbook

Abstract

This participatory evaluation handbook had its origins and was developed in the context of Covid 19, as a message from the field of evaluation intended to express the idea that we will only be able to immunise ourselves against the limits of self-sufficiency and fragility by recuperating a multiplicity of participant voices and perspectives. To do this, we explore the current realities and the potential of participatory evaluation in Latin America, the phases of its development in practice, the key role of those who facilitate these processes, and the purpose and place of participatory tools and instruments in this approach to evaluation. Guided by a transformative way of perceiving reality, this handbook presents participatory evaluation as a community of dialogue that collectively harvests the fruits of a project or programme and then sows these lessons in how to overcome obstacles in order to contribute to changing reality now and in the future.