A big thank you to everyone who joined the discussion on communicating evaluation.
Over the past few weeks, we’ve really appreciated the depth of insight, honesty, and creativity you brought to the table. It’s clear we’re all striving to make evaluation more accessible, relevant—and used. It was truly enriching to learn from so many new colleagues across the community and to reconnect with familiar faces.
The discussion may have officially closed, but the energy doesn’t stop here. We’re currently working on a summary note and an infographic (available in English, French and Spanish) to capture the key takeaways from the exchange.
And if you’d like to keep the conversation going, feel free to join us on the DGroup platform, where this community of practice continues to grow.
Thanks again for your contributions, reflections, and generosity in sharing! Silvio
Thank you for the rich and inspiring reflections shared during the first week of our discussion. As we move into Week 2, we invite you to continue sharing your experiences, tools, and examples this time focusing on two key questions:
How can collaboration with local staff or external partners improve communication relevance and reach?
What low-cost or no-cost strategies have you used to share findings in accessible, engaging ways?
Your insights will help highlight practical, context-driven solutions that make evaluation findings not only more visible but also more meaningful and actionable for the audiences we serve.
Let’s keep the conversation going: in English,French, or Spanish and continue learning from each other’s innovative communication approaches.
Here are my key takeaways from the discussion:
From compliance to use
A number of you highlighted how often evaluation is still seen mainly as a compliance exercise and how that shapes the way communication is (or isn’t) approached. If the goal is simply to “tick the box,” the result is often a long report uploaded to a little-known part of a website, with no follow-up and little uptake.
But many of you are pushing back against that. If done right, communication can shift the perception of evaluation from something static and technical to something dynamic and useful. Communicating well can help make evaluation visible, relevant, and connected to real decisions. And in doing so, it helps reposition the evaluation function.
Communication as the glue
When findings are clear, accessible, and responsive to decision-makers' needs, the evaluation function itself becomes more integrated and respected. In this sense, communication isn’t just about visibility it’s about positioning evaluation as a key contributor to learning and strategic thinking. Communication is ‘the glue that binds it all together : it should support adaptive management, ensuring that learning flows continuously through planning, monitoring, and evaluation cycles.
From communication to co-creation
There’s strong agreement that communication needs to start early during the design phase, not just once the report is drafted. Whether it’s through a stakeholder mapping exercise, a dissemination matrix, or informal conversations, early planning helps clarify who we’re trying to reach, what they care about, and how best to get messages across.
Communication isn’t just about products it’s also about process. When stakeholders are involved throughout the evaluation not just consulted at the end, they’re more likely to take the findings seriously. The richest learning moments arise not in final presentations, but in the interactions between evaluators and stakeholders, the spontaneous conversations and joint reflections that deepen understanding and build ownership. "People who can truly drive change are usually not the ones reading reports. They are the ones living the realities we’re trying to understand".
Keep it Simple, Keep it Human!
We’ve all read reports that are 100+ pages long, dense with text and jargon, and difficult to get through. And while formal reports still have their place especially for accountability many of you pointed out the importance of creating complementary products that are short, visual, and engaging.
Suggestions included: short videos and animations, infographics or dashboard, blog posts and human stories, podcasts or short social media pieces.
These aren’t just “add-ons” they’re "gateways" to open the door for wider use and engagement. In today’s context, there are no excuses: new technologies allow evaluators to produce interactive content that makes results memorable and actionable with minimal cost.
A shared conclusion
As evaluators experiment with new tools and participatory approaches, one message stands out across this discussion: "Communication is not the end of evaluation, it is the bridge between evidence and action."
We’re excited to launch this new EvalforEarth discussion on a topic that continues to spark interest and innovation: how we communicate evaluations. The discussion, “Beyond the final report: What does It take to communicate evaluation well?”, will be open from 20 October to 10 November 2025.
Too often, communication is treated as an afterthought, something that happens once the report is written. But what if we thought of it differently?
Over the next three weeks, we invite you to share your reflections, experiences, and practical examples on:
How communication can be better integrated throughout the evaluation process;
The main challenges you face when planning and implementing communication activities; and
What tools, approaches, or partnerships have worked best in improving communication, learning, and use.
This week, let’s begin by exploring and responding to the first two questions :
What approaches or tools have helped you communicate findings more effectively to different audiences?
What are the main challenges you face when trying to embed communication into evaluation processes?
You are welcome to contribute in English, French, or Spanish.
Let’s use this space to learn from one another and share what’s working, and what’s still difficult as we all try to strengthen communication in our evaluation work.
Italy
Silvio Galeano
Communications Consultant
FAO
Posted on 11/11/2025
A big thank you to everyone who joined the discussion on communicating evaluation.
Over the past few weeks, we’ve really appreciated the depth of insight, honesty, and creativity you brought to the table. It’s clear we’re all striving to make evaluation more accessible, relevant—and used. It was truly enriching to learn from so many new colleagues across the community and to reconnect with familiar faces.
The discussion may have officially closed, but the energy doesn’t stop here. We’re currently working on a summary note and an infographic (available in English, French and Spanish) to capture the key takeaways from the exchange.
And if you’d like to keep the conversation going, feel free to join us on the DGroup platform, where this community of practice continues to grow.
Thanks again for your contributions, reflections, and generosity in sharing!
Silvio
Italy
Silvio Galeano
Communications Consultant
FAO
Posted on 27/10/2025
Thank you for the rich and inspiring reflections shared during the first week of our discussion. As we move into Week 2, we invite you to continue sharing your experiences, tools, and examples this time focusing on two key questions:
Your insights will help highlight practical, context-driven solutions that make evaluation findings not only more visible but also more meaningful and actionable for the audiences we serve.
Let’s keep the conversation going: in English, French, or Spanish and continue learning from each other’s innovative communication approaches.
Here are my key takeaways from the discussion:
From compliance to use
A number of you highlighted how often evaluation is still seen mainly as a compliance exercise and how that shapes the way communication is (or isn’t) approached. If the goal is simply to “tick the box,” the result is often a long report uploaded to a little-known part of a website, with no follow-up and little uptake.
But many of you are pushing back against that. If done right, communication can shift the perception of evaluation from something static and technical to something dynamic and useful. Communicating well can help make evaluation visible, relevant, and connected to real decisions. And in doing so, it helps reposition the evaluation function.
Communication as the glue
When findings are clear, accessible, and responsive to decision-makers' needs, the evaluation function itself becomes more integrated and respected. In this sense, communication isn’t just about visibility it’s about positioning evaluation as a key contributor to learning and strategic thinking. Communication is ‘the glue that binds it all together : it should support adaptive management, ensuring that learning flows continuously through planning, monitoring, and evaluation cycles.
From communication to co-creation
There’s strong agreement that communication needs to start early during the design phase, not just once the report is drafted. Whether it’s through a stakeholder mapping exercise, a dissemination matrix, or informal conversations, early planning helps clarify who we’re trying to reach, what they care about, and how best to get messages across.
Communication isn’t just about products it’s also about process. When stakeholders are involved throughout the evaluation not just consulted at the end, they’re more likely to take the findings seriously. The richest learning moments arise not in final presentations, but in the interactions between evaluators and stakeholders, the spontaneous conversations and joint reflections that deepen understanding and build ownership. "People who can truly drive change are usually not the ones reading reports. They are the ones living the realities we’re trying to understand".
Keep it Simple, Keep it Human!
We’ve all read reports that are 100+ pages long, dense with text and jargon, and difficult to get through. And while formal reports still have their place especially for accountability many of you pointed out the importance of creating complementary products that are short, visual, and engaging.
Suggestions included: short videos and animations, infographics or dashboard, blog posts and human stories, podcasts or short social media pieces.
These aren’t just “add-ons” they’re "gateways" to open the door for wider use and engagement. In today’s context, there are no excuses: new technologies allow evaluators to produce interactive content that makes results memorable and actionable with minimal cost.
A shared conclusion
As evaluators experiment with new tools and participatory approaches, one message stands out across this discussion: "Communication is not the end of evaluation, it is the bridge between evidence and action."
Italy
Silvio Galeano
Communications Consultant
FAO
Posted on 22/10/2025
Dear colleagues,
We’re excited to launch this new EvalforEarth discussion on a topic that continues to spark interest and innovation: how we communicate evaluations. The discussion, “Beyond the final report: What does It take to communicate evaluation well?”, will be open from 20 October to 10 November 2025.
Too often, communication is treated as an afterthought, something that happens once the report is written. But what if we thought of it differently?
In our recent blog, More than Reports: How Communications Can Enhance Learning and Use from Evaluations, we explored how communication can move beyond the traditional final outputs to to actively drive the learning and use of evaluation results.
Over the next three weeks, we invite you to share your reflections, experiences, and practical examples on:
This week, let’s begin by exploring and responding to the first two questions :
You are welcome to contribute in English, French, or Spanish.
Let’s use this space to learn from one another and share what’s working, and what’s still difficult as we all try to strengthen communication in our evaluation work.