By Sibongile Sithole
The South African Monitoring and Evaluation Association (SAMEA) Conference, held in Johannesburg from 7-9 October 2024, offered a vibrant platform for the IEAc to showcase its work and vision. This year’s conference theme was VUCA-VUKA! Catalysing Change Through Monitoring and Evaluation, a blended concept of VUCA—standing for volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous—with “Vuka,” a Zulu word meaning “to awaken.” This powerful theme sparked profound discussions on the decolonization of national evaluation systems, and adaptation of community-focused evaluation methods, amongst many others.
IEAc led a two-hour co-creation session spotlighting the Three Horizons Evaluation Initiative (3HEi), a project that strongly resonated with the conference’s theme of transformation. The objective of the session was to introduce the attendees to 3HEi framework[1], which is one of the approaches to Futures Thinking that could be utilised in evaluation fields as an aid to transformation. Dr. Ian Goldman, President of the Academy, introduced the IEAc and its motivation in initiating the 3HEi, on which SAMEA is a partner. (3HEi) expert Ian Kendrick provided an overview of the initiative, detailing its objectives and potential for transforming the evaluation field. His presentation showcased examples of past projects that applied the 3HEi framework, including the European Health Futures Forum.
Figure 1: 3 Horizons Expert Ian Kendrik during his presentation
The session sparked excitement and interest as many attendees were introduced to the framework for the first time and expressed a keen interest in future involvement around the analysis and the development of systems mapping of 3HEi. This underscored the framework’s potential as a tool for transformative evaluation.
The presentation also included a discussion of the survey sent out to a select group of evaluators, inviting them to share insights on how evaluation can evolve to drive the change needed to address global challenges.
As a co-creation session, attendees participated in analysing the survey responses received to date. Participants were divided into 13 groups of three; each group was assigned responses to one question. Their task was to complete the first phase of the analysis, distilling the responses into concise, 10-15-word summaries. The session compared these summaries with those generated by ChatGPT. The session underscored the importance of human verification, reminding participants that while AI can be a helpful tool, human insight remains essential for meaningful analysis.
Reflecting on the session, many attendees shared their enthusiasm for participating. One attendee noted: “I loved the introductory presentation to the 3H approach. It was such a great presentation.”
Eight participants indicated interest in continuing to be part of the ongoing analysis. Overall, the co-creation session sparked interest and inspiration. Moving forward, the Academy will continue using conferences to test perspectives on the emerging picture and explore how evaluation can drive transformative change.
Figure 2: The session attendees during the analysis task
To find out more about the 3HEi approach and emerging picture contact Ian Kendrick at iank1024@gmail.com, Zenda Ofir at zenda@evalnet.co.za, or Ian Goldman at ian.goldman@wits.ac.za
[1] More details on the 3HEi Framework Three Horizons Framework – a quick introduction