Scottish Rural Communities Policy Review: Reviewing approaches and tools for evaluating rural community development interventions
This report is part of the Scottish Rural Communities Policy Review. The report presents findings from a review of monitoring and evaluation approaches and tools applicable to rural community development initiatives.
Summary
This report reviews monitoring and evaluation approaches and tools applicable to rural community development initiatives. It is a response to the Scotland's Rural College (SRUC) review of evidence on government-led rural interventions[1] which recommended that the future evaluation of rural communities’ policy (i.e. including the Scottish Rural Communities Policy Review) should review evaluation frameworks and their applicability in a rural context. It should be read in conjunction with the Monitoring and Evaluation section of the final report.[2]
The paper summarises overarching families of evaluation approaches and reviews a handful of evaluation approaches and methods used in rural and/or community development contexts:
- Irish and Welsh government community development programmes
- Unrestricted grant funding to community organisations
- Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) evaluation principles
- LEADER evaluations at EU level, national level (using Social Return on Investment in England) and project level (using Social Value Engine in Scotland)
The examples have been selected to illustrate a range of evaluation theories, from conventional to innovative; from individual project to international programme level. The paper aims to stimulate critical reflection on the opportunities for drawing on a plurality of theories, approaches and tools for effectively and appropriately evaluating rural community development interventions.
Contact
Email: socialresearch@gov.scot