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Theory of Change and its discontents
That Theory of Change (ToC) has rapidly become a mainstream approach to evaluation raises several fundamental questions: are we uncritically adopting the ToC approach? In what contexts are ToCs suitable? And what are the challenges and opportunities in engaging with ToCs? ToC has been described as a way of thinking, a process, and a product.…
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Bridging transdisciplinarity and action research
Transdisciplinarity brings a focus on real-world problems. Action research focuses on solutions. Yet, both transdisciplinarity and action research share similar principles such as reflexivity and participation. How, then, might transdisciplinarity and action research ‘speak’ to each other? In our new article, our group of four graduate students and one community partner reflected on our experiences…
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Towards climate change adaptation with community-based monitoring
The impacts of climate change are already being felt worldwide, particularly on our food systems and health. Changes in extreme weather events, temperature, and rainfall variability threaten food security by decreasing global food production and increasing the risk of hunger and undernutrition. Projections indicate these food-related health impacts will far exceed all other climate-related health…
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Accounting for gender equity in evaluations
Gender equity is an increasingly discussed priority and cross-cutting theme within international development evaluation. Evaluation matters for gender equity because it allows us to assess whether a program is meeting the needs of all people – women, men, girls, boys, and gender-diverse people. Furthermore, it plays a crucial role in demonstrating the impact of programs…
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Is agricultural intensification a growing health concern?
In response to the global demand for food, agricultural practices have been intensifying rapidly worldwide, and concurrently, the production of substantial amounts of livestock waste. Waste and waste by-products, such as excreta and wastewater, are commonly used in crop agriculture in many parts of Southeast Asia. While reusing waste prevents the application of chemical fertilizers,…
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What does ‘community’ in community-based research really mean?
The 21st century has seen a resurgence of interest in community-based approaches to research. This interest is primarily driven by the ineffectiveness of top-down approaches in addressing the needs of many communities across the globe. Furthermore, there is greater recognition that local people should be at the center of determining project priorities and solutions. Community-based…
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Towards Indigenous-led and culturally-responsive evaluations
This year’s Canadian Evaluation Society conference centred around the theme of co-creation. Co-creation is fundamentally about producing mutually beneficial outcomes together. Throughout the three packed days in Calgary, we explored new approaches to evaluation, with a focus on Indigenous, collaborative, culturally-responsive, and sustainability-ready approaches. Further, we were challenged to reflect on our privilege, on what…
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Putting health first in agricultural production
With the world population predicted to reach nine billion by 2050, increasing agricultural production will be necessary to achieve global food security. Efforts to expand food production will likely include agricultural intensification – producing more from the same area of land – which has been a key factor in boosting global food production in the…
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A call for reflections in Ecohealth research
The 21st century presents us with some of the most profound global challenges including food insecurity, climate change, emerging diseases, and antimicrobial resistance. Agriculture can be considered a nexus between these challenges and is both parts of the problem and the solution. For instance, intensifying agricultural food production (i.e. increasing use of inputs for higher yields…
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What can we learn from farmer-led research?
Last week I attended Ecological Farmers Association of Ontario’s (EFAO’s) Farmer-led Research Workshop. As I entered the room on Day 1, I was pleased to see that participants were already deep in conversation – some were meeting for the first time, while others were catching up since the last time they met. This workshop provided…