At the closing session of the Mind the Gap: From Evidence to Policy Impact conference that took place on June 17th, the Chilean Planning Minister Felipe Kast made some interesting points about how to persuade politicians to embrace evaluations. His perspective is interesting as until last year he was an academic engaged in impact evaluations, and today he is one of the … [Read more...] about Policy, politics and impact evaluation
Three views on the impact of urban development projects
The panel on “the challenges of urban development” in the Mind the Gap Conference that took place in Cuernavaca June 15-17 included presentations by Marco Gonzalez from the University of Toronto, Jerushah Rangasami from Impact Consulting and Juan Vargas from the Universidad del Rosario in Colombia. Sebastian Martinez from the IDB moderated. … [Read more...] about Three views on the impact of urban development projects
Mind the Gap: from evidence to policy impact
More than 400 policy makers, experts, evaluators and academics met in Cuernavaca in the Conference: MIND THE GAP: FROM EVIDENCE TO POLICY IMPACT. … [Read more...] about Mind the Gap: from evidence to policy impact
Just half an inch, but a lot of impact
When the Oportunidades program began in Mexico in 1998―under the name Progresa―few could have imagined what this initiative would mean 10 years later, not only for the country, but for development theory and practice. This pioneer in conditional cash transfers incorporated an innovative impact assessment methodology that has become not only an example of development … [Read more...] about Just half an inch, but a lot of impact
Closing the gap between policy making and evidence
Mind the gap, Mind the gap … is a warning that the London Underground introduced in 1969 for passengers to be cautious of the gap between straight train cars and curved platforms. The gap between policy (where we want to go) and evidence (does it take us there?) can also be perilous. … [Read more...] about Closing the gap between policy making and evidence