past event

BEIS – Contracts for Difference

BEIS – Contracts for Difference

Contact: Pete Barbrook Johnson CECAN Contracts for Difference Case Study – BEIS CECAN team members provided expert input in the evaluation work conducted by BEIS and contractors on the Contracts for Difference policy. Completed in 2018, CECAN supported as a ‘critical...

DEFRA – Bovine TB

DEFRA – Bovine TB

Contact: Amy Proctor, Newcastle University CECAN Bovine TB Case Study – DEFRA Defra are currently developing an evaluation framework to guide their evaluation of the overall Bovine TB Strategy. CECAN have been operating as a ‘critical friend’ in this process, with...

A Whole New World – What Next?

A Whole New World – What Next?

It’s been a month since we launched ‘A Whole New World: Funding and Commissioning in Complexity’ and the response has been incredible. Over 120 people came to the two launch events, and more than 1000 people read the report online in the first week. We’ve also started to have some excellent conversations about how to take this work forward.

Complexity Settings to the Rescue: A New Lease of Life for Evidence-Based Policy?

Complexity Settings to the Rescue: A New Lease of Life for Evidence-Based Policy?

It would be naive and, potentially, ill-advised to have evaluation solely drive policy direction. Good, open, evidence-backed policy, however, does need to be informed by evaluation results and insights.  My CECAN Fellowship provided me with a rare opportunity to investigate how evaluation is applied in real life within a government department – in this case Defra – and how it can be used to plan for future policymaking. 

Models as ‘Interested Amateurs’

Models as ‘Interested Amateurs’

Pete Barbrook-Johnson, Research Fellow at the Policy Studies Institute at the University of Westminster & Knowledge Integrator Research Fellow at the Centre for the Evaluation of Complexity Across the Nexus (CECAN) at the University of Surrey. 

Taking The Temperature of Trust

Taking The Temperature of Trust

It is over two years since Ofwat set increasing trust in water as its key objective for its 2015 five year business plan.To establish what has happened since, I interviewed 19 senior and influential figures across all parts of the water sector. I am seeking wider perspectives via a survey (click HERE to participate) and hope this article will stimulate you to take part.

CECAN Seminar: An Introduction to Theory of Change and How to Design One

CECAN Seminar: An Introduction to Theory of Change and How to Design One

Theory of Change (TOC) is not a novel evaluation tool in itself. As a member of a family of theory based approaches to outcome evaluation it has become a key approach to assessing the outcomes of complex interventions where implementation strands are multiple, causal paths are not straightforward and feedback loops do not lend themselves to a linear cause-effect analysis.

One Researcher’s Anecdote is Another Researcher’s Data

One Researcher’s Anecdote is Another Researcher’s Data

A couple of days ago, a DEFRA policy official told me that the uncertainty over EU exit was creating a fertile environment for evaluation, as champions try to ensure their favoured policies have a place in the forthcoming landscape, post Brexit. This struck me as interesting, and I made a note of it.

That Way Lies Prosperity: Sustainability and the Nexus

That Way Lies Prosperity: Sustainability and the Nexus

Sustainable Development and its relative Sustainability, concepts which have a rich history of appeal and animosity, have nevertheless become the dominant conversation framing environment-development policy in recent decades.

In case you missed this week's webinar: 'Innovation as a complex system: delivering a systems framework to measure impact within deep tech', with Brian MacAulay and Teresa Miquel from Digital Catapult, a recording is now available on the CECAN website: cecan.ac.uk/videos/

[image or embed] — CECAN (@cecan.bsky.social) October 10, 2024 at 11:01 AM

*Training* Systems Mapping for Environmental Domains. 12 Nov 2024, 09.00 – 17.00, University of Surrey, Guildford. This one day workshop is hosted by @_ACCESSnetwork, with facilitators from @CecanLimited. For details and to book, see: accessnetwork.uk/systems-mapp...

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— CECAN (@cecan.bsky.social) October 3, 2024 at 3:04 PM