PLA Notes CD-ROM 1988-2001 2 Towards a meaningful evaluation for project staff and villagers

Document begins: PLA Notes CD-ROM 1988­2001 2 Towards a meaningful evaluation for project staff and villagers Seerp Wigboldus and Steve Knisely Objective of paper We organised two workshops for staff to learn about participatory evaluation, self-evaluation In this paper we give a brief overview of the and the facilitation of participatory tools. experience of the Nepal Resource Based on these workshops, the staff adapted Management Project (NRMP) in its search for the preselected tools and devised a provisional an evaluation methodology that is meaningful, methodology. We emphasised the idea of `on not just for project and staff, but also for the spot analysis' which meant that staff could villagers. We describe how this experience of and should adapt the methodology according participatory and self-evaluation led to an to the situation. For this to happen, staff had to improved design of NRMP's general approach understand the principles of the evaluation to development intervention. process. NRMP seeks to enhance the capacity of local Community representatives community's to manage their resources, particularly in the forestry sector, by We wanted to involve villagers throughout the improving their problem-solving skills. process. Thus we invited villages to send two Villagers build on this through designing, representatives ...