The Department of Public Administration at the Business and Administrative Sciences School of the University of Georgia has joined the international evaluators’ network, the Outcome Mapping Learning Community (OMLC), which plays a leading role globally in shaping evaluation approaches. A member of the Public Administration program and co-founder of Solution Alternatives International (SAI), Dea Tsartsidze, is among the small number of evaluators who secured financial support from the Government of Canada’s International Development Research Centre (IDRC) and Humanity United to participate in the Outcome Mapping Learning Community (OMLC) Learning Lab 2025.
On the final day of the conference, Ms. Tsartsidze delivered a presentation based on the evaluation of a complex program implemented in Georgia, Armenia, and Azerbaijan. The evaluation was conducted using a combined approach of Outcome Harvesting and Contribution Analysis methods, which is increasingly becoming established among evaluators under the term “bricolage.” This experience directly reflects ongoing discussions in the field about how existing evaluation methodologies should respond to contemporary challenges and what kinds of changes are needed to achieve better results.
“It is important that the Public Administration program is an active participant in international discussions of this kind, and that we have the opportunity to contribute to shaping a new stage in the development of evaluation approaches. This process clearly reflects our aspiration—to be leaders and to open pathways for the next generation toward international debates that define evidence-based policy and governance standards,” said Dea Tsartsidze.
