Evaluations increasingly seek to involve communities and people with lived experience. Yet participation alone does not guarantee meaningful influence over the questions being asked, how findings are interpreted, or how evidence is ultimately used. Moving beyond consultation requires evaluators and funders to think differently about power, partnership and whose knowledge is recognised within evaluation processes.
This learning roundtable will create a space for evaluators, funders, practitioners and community representatives to explore how lived experience can be meaningfully integrated into evaluation and learning. Together, participants will consider how evaluations can shift from participation towards genuine influence, and what practical, ethical and organisational conditions are needed to support this shift.
The 90-minute session will feature short case studies from international development, humanitarian and UK contexts, followed by facilitated discussion. Contributors will share candid reflections on their experiences, including what they set out to achieve, what worked well, what proved challenging and how involving people with lived experience shaped findings, learning and decisions that followed. The interactive discussion will explore questions such as:
- How can evaluations move from participation to genuine influence?
- What practical and ethical conditions enable meaningful engagement with people who have lived experience?
- How can funders and evaluators address power imbalances, build trust and support effective collaboration?
- How can lived experience strengthen the relevance, interpretation and use of evidence?
- What organisational changes are needed to embed lived experience more consistently in evaluation and learning?
Designed to be highly interactive and practice-focused, the session will surface practical lessons, common challenges and emerging approaches that participants can apply in their own work.
