Action Evaluation and Conflict Resolution

What is it about?

Action Evaluation is an innovative action research method that uses social and computer technology to define, promote and assess success in complex conflict resolution interventions. It is also a team-building process in which envisioning success helps create a sense of shared identity and commitment among different stakeholders through reflective practice. Its key innovation is the link it creates between inclusive conflict intervention goals, project planning, and systematic evaluation. It begins with the establishment of criteria for success articulated by each project stakeholder, which then become shared by each stakeholder group internally, and finally are agreed upon between all stakeholder groups together.

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Why is it important?

Action Evaluation grew out of work in identity-based conflicts and was a direct response to recurrent questions asked by conflict resolution practitioners, participants and funders: ‘Does conflict resolution really work?’; ‘How can we know?’; ‘What does “work” mean, who defines it and how?’ and, most important, ‘How can our search for answers about success increase our chances of achieving it?’

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