Rethinking the Big Picture: Building Relationships into Program Design and Evaluation

This workshop will be held at the Sustaining Colorado Watersheds Conference as one of three pre-conference workshops. This annual conference is co-hosted by Water Education Colorado, the Colorado Watershed Assembly and the Colorado Riparian Association. If you are already registered for the conference, then registration for this workshop is included in your conference registration fee. 

You do not need to attend the whole conference to attend this workshop. If you would like to attend just this workshop, then please register below. If you are planning to attend both this workshop and the conference, then you will need to complete a separate registration here. 

Need a boost for your programs? Effective design and evaluation are crucial steps toward creating robust and sustainable programs. During the first half of this workshop, we’ll share a next-generation approach to designing and evaluating programs that incorporates relationships into the more traditional logic models many of us are familiar with. Additionally, we’ll highlight a successful case study, showing how one project manager was able to improve his outcomes by employing this innovative approach to project design.

The second section of the day will be an optional community of learning where participants will have the opportunity to apply the knowledge and skills gained during the workshop to one of their own projects or programs. Participants will be able to share with one another, ask questions and receive feedback. As an added bonus, all participants will receive a free subscription to Plectica. Plectica is a design software that can be used to visually map logic models in a more holistic way.

*To fully benefit from this workshop, participants are encouraged to bring an existing program/project plan or logic model that identifies their goals, metrics, audience, etc. During the workshop, we will walk through the steps to transform and enhance this program/project. 

ThinkWater 2.0

In 2016, Water Education Colorado offered a workshop on Systems Thinking, also known as ThinkWater. This workshop will build upon the topics covered during that training. However, the topics covered this year will be useful for all participants, including those without prior knowledge of the Systems Thinking framework and/or attendance at a prior workshop. If you are interested in learning more about ThinkWater prior to attending, check out their website.

Who should attend? 

This workshop will benefit anyone who delivers projects or programs. The lessons learned can be applied at various scales - from short-term projects to organizational program management. Additionally, these skills are useful for various sectors, including municipalities, nonprofits, watershed coalitions, consultants and businesses.

As special thank you to our workshop partner: ThinkWater