Beyond Planning ahead: Strategic Foresight for Evaluators

Overview

Significant progress has been made in the past decade to embed the use of data and evidence across government to meet the challenges of today. But what is needed to prepare public decision-makers for the challenges of tomorrow?

Attendees joined the Data Foundation and the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) for a webinar in our Issues in Evaluation series, featuring insights from seasoned experts into the close relationship between evaluation and strategic foresight, and what it means to apply foresight in your work. Foresight—broadly defined as practices to generate insight into how and why the future might be different from the present—has a long history in the U.S. government. Much like evaluation, strategic foresight supports informed decision-making, with value for all public and private sector organizations.

Our distinguished panelists shared their perspectives on:

• Lessons learned from past initiatives to bring foresight into federal programs and policy
• What recent shifts mean for the government's capacity to practice strategic foresight
• Current developments in the field of futures studies
• What evaluators should know about integrating foresight into their practice

Speakers

• Val Caracelli, Ph.D., Senior Social Science Analyst, U.S. Government Accountability Office
• Virginia Chanley, Ph.D., Senior Design Methodologist, U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) 
• Annette Gardner, Ph.D., MPH, Principal, ALGardner
• Nate Varnell, Policy and Research Analyst, Center for Evidence Capacity, Data Foundation

Annotated Bibliography and Resources for Evaluation Practitioners