Date and time: Thursday 6 August, 2026 4.30pm - 5.30pm ACST
Topic: Making Space, Valuing Place: The 21st Century Evaluation Paradigms
Location: online, via Zoom
Presenter: Professor Bagele Chilisa
Facilitators: Alison Reedy, Christabelle Darcy AES NT Convenors
Register online by 5 Augustr 2026

Event Description: 

Professor Bagele Chilisa is a planned keynote presenter for the Australian Evaluation Society (aes26) conference in Darwin in September 2026. As Professor Chilesa is no longer able to travel from Botswana to Darwin, we are delighted to offer her presentation as an online pre-conference seminar. The seminar builds intellectual and practical momentum for aes26 by inviting evaluators to reflect on power, place, Indigenous knowledge systems and the future of evaluation.

Abstract:
Evaluation systems are under pressure to deliver credible evidence that strengthens decisions, responds to place and context, and envisions the future. This seminar invites us to improve policy effectiveness by bringing established Western evaluation approaches into dialogue with other knowledge systems, including place and space based paradigms of formerly colonised Peoples of the world. Paradigms help navigate dialogue on power distribution and how to amplify power for communities, address relationships and rights of Indigenous Peoples to their land and culture and navigate the complexity of context.
The People, Environment, Place, Space, and Time (PEPST) framework, derived from an Indigenous Science paradigm, is presented as a practical tool to enrich evaluation design and use. PEPST challenges decision makers to contextualise evaluation and check whether commissioning, governance, timelines, and success metrics narrow what counts as evidence. PEPST strengthens policy intelligence by centring Indigenous authority, while acknowledging institutional requirements.
This seminar explores what changes when PEPST informs how evaluations are commissioned, governed, and used across development programs. It shows how the PEPST framework might connect traditional and new ways of evaluation, strengthen ethics and integrity in evidence making, and build durable bridges between Indigenous knowledge systems and multiple accountability requirements in evaluations.

Presenter Details

Bagele Chilisa is Professor of the Post Graduate Research and Evaluation Programme, University of Botswana

Bagele [Med, MA EdD (Research Design, Measurement, Statistics and Evaluation)] is a globally recognised scholar and a leading African thought leader who has written extensively on decolonizing research and evaluation methodologies. She currently drives the thinking on a Fifth research and evaluation Paradigm centering relationality, connectedness and spirituality in research and evaluation practice. Over the last 30 years, she has taught Research design, Measurement, and Evaluation courses to graduate and undergraduate students. She has served as Director of several grant funded projects and a member of the UNDP evaluation advisory board, IFAD evaluation advisory board, and a member of the International Evaluation Council. With over 80 publications, she has received multiple grants to conduct research and design interventions to address gender inequalities, power asymmetries and epistemic violence in development projects in Botswana and beyond. Her book, Indigenous Research Methodologies, drives thinking on a fifth paradigm and the integration of knowledge systems used at many universities worldwide. She has served as a guest lecturer, speaker, resource person, and keynote speaker at several international Universities and conferences. She also conducts professional development workshops on indigenous research methodologies and on contextually and culturally relevant evaluation worldwide. She is the recipient of multiple national and international awards

This free event is part of the lead-up to the 2026 International Evaluation Conference and has been organised by the AES Northern Territory Regional Network Convenors to bring the evaluation community together ahead of conference in Darwin | Garramilla.

Please ensure you have access to your email address to receive the zoom details.

This seminar will be recorded.

Session start times:

• NT, SA: 4.30pm

• VIC, NSW, ACT, TAS: 5.00pm

• WA: 3.00pm

• New Zealand: 3.30pm

For other time zones please go to https://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/converter.html