Rethinking Evaluation Competencies for the Transformational Imperative
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Abstract
Evaluation is increasingly called upon to remain relevant amid escalating social, environmental, and technological disruption and instability. Existing evaluation competency frameworks offer valuable foundations, but can be complemented by orientations that better support engagement with the transformational imperative: the urgent need for systemic, just, and regenerative change in response to the global polycrisis. Drawing on a Three Horizons foresight exercise, a targeted literature review, and practitioner experience, this article identifies a competency gap and proposes eleven competencies that bridge conventional evaluation practice and transformation-focused aspirations. These competencies extend beyond evaluators to include commissioners, managers, users, and educators. Scenario-based illustrations demonstrate how they may manifest across roles, while the 3Cs framework—competencies, capacities, and capabilities—emphasizes that their meaningful application depends on supportive institutional and systemic conditions. Rather than a prescriptive model, the competencies offer an adaptable framing to orient evaluation toward openness, reflexivity, and values-driven practice. The aim is to catalyze dialogue, experimentation, and adaptive learning across the evaluation ecosystem.
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