Sub-themes: Beyond the bubble
Our rapidly changing world demands innovation and new perspectives that shift our worldviews to explore what’s possible. aes25 invites the evaluation community to go beyond the bubble by challenging assumptions, seeking new ideas, embracing diverse perspectives, and questioning what really matters. By expanding our thinking and our approaches, we can pave the way for a more holistic and inclusive evaluation practice that contributes to a more just and equitable future. The aes25 conference will explore four aspects of going beyond the bubble.
Foundations
Going beyond the bubble by paying closer attention to diverse knowledge systems and world views, values, and where we have come from to strengthen the theories, methodologies, tools and techniques of evaluation.
- How do Indigenous worldviews and other diverse ways of knowing, and methodologies influence evaluation framing?
- How do assumptions and choice of values shape evaluation approaches and techniques?
- What are good examples of evaluators and evaluations demonstrating use of diverse world views, assumptions, or values?
- How do new perspectives shift evaluation theory and practice?
- What are the foundations of new tools and techniques?
- Where have we come from in terms of theories of evaluation?
- What methodologies foster innovative tools and techniques?
Connecting
Going beyond the bubble by fostering networks, relationships and democratising citizen engagement; learning from participatory and people-centred approaches, Indigenous evaluation, systems thinking, place and ecosystems.
- Why we should be fostering networks and relationships with communities to contribute to more effective evaluation practices?
- What does democratic citizen engagement look like in doing evaluation?
- What can we learn through participatory and people-centred approaches to evaluation?
- How can Indigenous knowledge and approaches to evaluation contribute towards greater awareness of ways of knowing and improve mainstream approaches?
- How can systems thinking and learning from eco-systems shift our understanding of complexity?
- Why place-based approaches need to shift our understanding of values, power and influence?
Cultivating
Going beyond the bubble by growing the profession, celebrating diversity and Indigenous knowledge, building evaluation capacity and awareness, and expanding knowledge translation.
- What grows a culture of sustainable evaluation and learning for the next generation?
- How is the future of evaluation shaped by Indigenous knowledge, diverse perspectives and new ideas and approaches?
- How could we push through the comfort zone to build broader capacity for evaluation? How can we improve and develop our capacity and capabilities to meet the emerging demands of a changing world?
- How can evaluation cultivate and enable knowledge translation to better inform and improve policy responses and Close the Gap?
- What does growing the profession look like in a diverse and changing world?
- How can we enhance inclusive evaluation practice by ‘going beyond the bubble’?
- What stories of personal and professional growth can inspire and contribute to growing the evaluation profession?
Transforming
Going beyond the bubble by embracing ethical use of artificial intelligence (AI) and emerging new technologies, and exploring adaptive leadership, innovation, and learning.
- What does ethical use of AI in evaluation look like?
- How will evaluation practice change with ethical use of AI?
- What are our ethical obligations as evaluators to protect Indigenous knowledge and promote anti-racism in a rapidly changing world?
- How will evaluation practice innovate towards new methods, new approaches and technologies?
- What does adaptive leadership in evaluation look like?
- What is the role of adaptive leadership in evaluation practice to support a more just and equitable future?
- What is possible for using evaluation to support learning in today's interconnected and rapidly changing world?
This was my first time attending AES and it was one of the best conferences I have attended. Aside from the very useful learnings in the sessions I thought the most value was in finding a community of like minded people who were not stand-offish but rather, welcoming, inviting, and encouraging. I am sure that the friendships and professional connections I have formed during aes24 will continue for a long time.
Vic delegate (aes24)
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We acknowledge the Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples of this nation. We acknowledge the Traditional Custodians of the lands in which we conduct our 2025 conference, the Ngunnawal and Ngambri peoples. We pay our respects to the ancestors and Elders, past and present, of all Australia’s Indigenous peoples. We are committed to honouring Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples’ unique cultural and spiritual relationships to the land, waters and seas and their rich contribution to society.
Conference logo design: Keisha Leon, Cause/Affect | Site design: Ingrid Ciotti, Studio 673