C2019 Evaluation Canada
Reminder: Submission deadline for CES c2019 Call for Presentations and the Call for Workshops is December 14th, 2018. DETAILS HERE

We are Nancy Carter, Andrealisa Belzer and Louise Adongo and as Co-chairs for the 2019 Canadian Evaluation Society’s 40th annual conference we are excited to invite you to join us in Halifax, Nova Scotia. The conference is being held at the Westin Nova Scotian from May 27th – 29th, with pre-conference workshops taking place on May 26.

Nova Scotia, known as “Canada’s Ocean Playground”, is a Maritime province located within Mi’kma’ki, the ancestral and unceded territory of the Mi’kmaq People. Nova Scotia is also home to rich Acadian, African Nova Scotian, and Celtic history and culture.

Technical sessions, exhibitor displays, and interesting keynote speakers will connect and educate our guests. Evaluation knowledge, products, and services allow organizations to learn about new processes, techniques and best practices from your colleagues and peers.

We hope that you’ll meet us on the bridge between theory and practice at the 2019 CES National Conference. From here we will sustain and improve what we’ve built and seek guiding beacons of light on the horizon that will help us navigate unchartered and unknown frontiers.


c2019 Theme: Bridges  

(CLICK HERE for a full description of the conference theme)

As two bridges span Halifax harbour, our theme is undoubtedly geographically relevant. “Bridges” also evokes broader connotations for the field of evaluation locally, nationally and globally. It is our intent that our theme inspires delegates to reflect in ways that will add some originality to the term and make the conference memorable.

Subtheme 1: Bridges that connect

This sub-theme invites conversations about the connections built, sustained, or strengthened through evaluation and is an opportunity to share experiences about building and traveling bridges to overcome obstacles to evaluation. Evaluators also build bridges to strengthen stakeholder relationships and to help programs reach their goals efficiently and effectively.

Subtheme 2: Sustaining and using bridges

Bringing people together to make a difference may be simpler than sustaining connections through life-cycles of change-making. This sub-theme inspires conversations about how to build sustainable connections that can weather storms and be adapted as needed to remain useful. We invite delegates to discuss established bridges in need of up-keep or new supports, as well as those that are no longer useful or relevant.

Subtheme 3: Stories from the ship’s bridge

A bridge can be ‘the elevated platform from which the captain steers a ship.’ From the bridge the captain has a broad view of the surrounding environment and access to navigational tools to guide the ship safely on its journey. This subtheme conjures notions of complex system evaluation and is an opportunity for delegates to share their experiences from the ship’s bridge as evaluative leaders guiding the way through complex systems in stormy weather and fair skies.