IEE Newsletter No. 30

Alumni conference “Evaluation of Development Interventions - Current Debates, Methods, and Best Practices” hosted in Bochum

Dr. Gabriele Bäcker reports on the MADM alumni conference

From 4 to 8 November, 2019, the IEE hosted the international alumni conference on the 'Evaluation of Development Interventions Current Debates, Methods, and Best Practices'.

Yearly rotating alumni conferences are part of a collaboration between the MA programme in Development Management at the IEE and the MA programme in International and Development Economics (MIDE; HTW Berlin), the Small Enterprise Promotion and Training Programme (SEPT; Leipzig University), the MA programme in Development and Governance (Institute of Political Science (IfP); University of Duisburg-Essen), and the MA programme in International Relations and Development Policy (Institute for Development and Peace (INEF); University of Duisburg-Essen). This year, more than 70 alumni, researchers, students, and further participants met to discuss one of the core topics in development cooperation.

A keynote presentation on “Evaluation in International Development Cooperation – Current Debates, Potentials and Challenges“, given by Prof. Dr. Jörg Faust, Director of the German Institute for Development Evaluation, DEval, provided the frameworks for subsequent discussions in four topical workshops.

In these workshops (Evaluation of democratization and governance projects, Evaluation of private sector related activities, Evaluation of growth and poverty reduction measures, Evaluation of food security and agricultural sector development interventions), participants discussed evaluation case studies, allowing them to reflect on their own professional experiences and learn from those of their colleagues. This intensive case study work was supplemented by inputs on the Evaluation Systems and Practices in German Development Cooperation. Representatives of the Konrad-Adenauer Stiftung (KAS), the Deutsche Investitions- und Entwicklungsgesellschaft mbH (DEG Invest), and the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) shared their experiences with approaches taken in their organisations, allowing for a multi-perspective discussion on a common topic.

A career day, during which alumni discussed their reintegration experience after completion of studies in Germany complemented the programme, and provided participants with the opportunity to take part in a workshop “Job-search and the Recruiting Process - Insights into Theory and Practice“. In addition to the relevant and valuable workshop curriculum, there was also plenty of room for networking during social events.

We are grateful to the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) for their financial support, under their Alumni programme, financed by the German Ministry of Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) and the Federal Foreign Office (AA).

Next year’s Alumni conference of the network will take place in Berlin. We are looking forward to a conference that focuses on discussing practical challenges, creative solutions, and best practices for knowledge transfer and policy learning related to the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals.

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Workshop at the conference

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