By Jade Maloney

There’s still a chill in the air, but the days are starting to lengthen, and you can sense the promise of spring. Must nearly be time for another AES conference.

I remember my first one: Canberra, 2009. I was still ‘green’, 18 months after falling out of publishing and into a role in evaluation. Andrew Leigh had just come out with his proposal for a hierarchy of evidence to inform Australian policy making, and there was an afternoon panel, including Leigh himself, to discuss it. The proposal in itself was nothing new (it drew on models from medical research in the US and social policy in the UK), but it added fuel to the still burning embers of the fire that was (is?) the methodology wars.

By AES Blog Working Group

Australasia has some excellent evaluators. More than that, we have an evaluation community full of ideas and a willingness to share. The AES has long provided a place for us to come together, at regional events and the annual conference, to develop our community together. Now we’re taking it online!