This session will explore how constructs and theory drawn from ecology and evolutionary biology (EEB) enrich how evaluators apply systems thinking and complexity. We will discuss how EEB relates to systems and complexity, and how it adds to our reasoning about how programs work, their change processes, and their impacts. We will consider programs as living organisms operating in ecosystems, and how, like all life, these adapt and affect their environments over time. The session will begin with a presentation of our current work on the application of EEB in evaluation but will transition to active deliberation among the session’s participants. One of the session goals is to enrich evaluators’ awareness of people as part of natural systems. Another goal is to develop a core of evaluators who see value in ongoing, active consideration of how EEB can lead to more powerful evaluation.
