At AAE, we evaluate programs and projects in various locations, implemented by international, national, and local organizations. Each evaluation is different and has its own process, but they all share something: they allow us to connect with realities, territories, and people that enrich our perspective.
When we evaluate a program or project, the work begins with a thorough review of the documentation and an in-depth analysis of a selection of projects or cases. Generally, we do this through one-on-one or group interviews with various stakeholders; and in many cases, this analysis takes us to the field.
Field visits are an especially valuable part of our work. They allow us to see firsthand how a project unfolds, what challenges it faces, and what changes it generates. Sometimes we travel to remote locations or territories where a program or project is being implemented for the first time. There, what appears in documents as an activity, a result, or an indicator takes on a new dimension: we get to know the places, the people, and the concrete realities behind each project.
To deepen this analysis, we regularly work with national and local consultants who know the territory, its context, and its dynamics. Their experience provides new perspectives and helps us better understand what cannot always be grasped from an external viewpoint.
The evaluation process thus has several valuable moments. There's the teamwork and ongoing exchange with our clients: understanding why a program was created, what it seeks to transform, who it intends to benefit, and how it aims to do so. There's also the critical analysis: identifying what works, what challenges persist, what gaps we find, and what recommendations can help address them.
And then there's the territory.
Delving into specific cases allows us to get closer to the projects and, often, to the people who manage them and those who participate in or benefit from them. It allows us to understand the unique character of each place, the plurality of perspectives, the different ways of working, and the relationships that are built between people, communities, and nature.
Each evaluation is, in a way, a global view built from many individual views.
Working with international, national, and local teams enriches that perspective. It helps us understand that there are no single solutions and that each territory has its own challenges, capabilities, and ways of doing things.
Every evaluation has a beginning and an end. For a time, we immerse ourselves in a project, a region, and the stories of the people who make it possible. We leave behind analyses, lessons learned, and recommendations that we hope will contribute to improving what we are evaluating.
But we also took something away. New knowledge. New relationships. New experiences.
Because evaluation is also about understanding. And this understanding is further enriched by our experience designing and implementing projects: a dual perspective, that of the evaluator and that of the implementer, which lends rigor and perspective to each analysis.
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