Awareness-raising
The Czech Evaluation Society (CES) organizes various evaluation events. The most important event is the annual evaluation conference where best practices, new methodological approaches, and international experiences are shared across different sectors and areas.
ČES also sponsors a professional peer-reviewed journal, Evaluation Theory and Practice, which is the only journal in the Czech Republic dedicated to evaluation.
Training and consultation
CES offers the following accredited training programs for public employees: 1) Introduction to Evaluation and 2) Evaluation Planning and Management. It also organizes various types of trainings for evaluators and those who commission evaluations. The trainers are experienced evaluators from both development cooperation and the European Union‘s structural funds.
ČES also helps organize the international summer evaluation school, IPDET (International Program for Development Evaluation Training), where they train top foreign evaluation experts. ČES also provides its members with input on evaluating tender documentation, methods, and other feedback.
Advocacy activities
CES promotes quality evaluations through professional discussions held with evaluators and those who commission evaluations.
For this purpose, ČES introduced, inter-alia, the Formal Standards of Evaluation, the Evaluator’s Code of Ethics and peer review, i.e., ČES members evaluating each other‘s evaluations.
- Based on a continuous assessment, ČES also produces summaries about the state of evaluation in the Czech Republic.
- ČES also participates in evaluation working groups at different Czech ministries. It may comment on methodologies, evaluation reports, and give other expert feedback.
International cooperation
CES leaders and members share their experiences relating to European Union programs and international development cooperation programs through international associations of evaluators:
- The European Evaluation Society (EES),
- International Development Evaluation Association (IDEAS),
- The Network of European Evaluation Societies (NESE). ČES collaborates with other evaluation societies in Europe on preparing and implementing joint activities, doing research on evaluation competencies, methodologies, and recommendations to evaluation commissioners and donors.