Title image: Learning from experience

Reflecting, evaluating and learning

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Introduction to Section 1 What is co-production? Why co-production? Participation and co-production What does co-production look like?
Introduction to Section 2 How to start co-production Methods and techniques Spotlight on lived experience panels Spotlight on facilitation techniques Supporting people in co-production
Introduction to section 3 Advocating for co-production The policy context Frameworks and tools
Introduction to Section 4 Reflecting, evaluating and learning Tips and helpful resources for evaluation

If we don’t evaluate then how do, we know that our co-production processes and activities are as good as they can be? 

How do we know what improvements have been made possible through a co-productive approach?      

Evaluation helps us understand and demonstrate the value of our activities within our team, organisation, local communities and wider partners including our funders or grant providers.  It also tells a story to others about whether your processes and activities have met or exceeded expectations and what impact they has had for those involved.   

Evaluation is essentially the “so what?” questions we need to ask, which demonstrate why co-production is beneficial to both everyone involved and the wider community.    

Benefits of evaluation

 Conducting good evaluation is important as it can lead to:     

  • Improved co-production processes and activities for individuals, communities, organisations and agencies.  

  • Increased learning from co-productive practice, assisting in targeting and using resources in the best possible way.  

  • Identifying further opportunities to develop, sustain and encourage future co-production activities.  

 Gathering and using evidence

The evidence you gather during evaluation will be invaluable for three other important reasons. You can use the evidence to:    

  • Identify evidence to sustain the work or implement a different approach.  

  • Help change and challenge public attitudes and influence local and public policies and/or services.   

  • Support new bids for further and future funding.   

It is not necessary to reinvent the wheel in terms of undertaking evaluation in a co-productive setting, as the core principles for evaluating anything will be the same.

Essentially - what worked and why, what didn’t work and why, what difference was made and what could be done differently to enable future improvements. 

In general, you can follow the steps below.

Key steps to good evaluation  

Set outcomes & indicators   

What is the purpose or the reflection/evaluation? What do you need to know and what does success look like? Think what changes or differences the activity aimed to make, for whom and how.  Did these changes occur? Did we learn something?

Collect evidence  

What do we know? What went well and not so well? – how do we know this? what are people’s thoughts and opinions? How do we collect the evidence and what methods are best? – a group discussion, questionnaire, interview etc.  

Analyse and report

Put it all together, identify common themes and results, consider what has been learned from collecting the evidence.  

 Act on your learning 

It is important to communicate what was learnt and to change your practices where appropriate. Here is what we have done, this is what we will continue to do, and this is what we will change.