INTEVAL stands for INTernational research group on policy and program EVALuation.

Since 1986, the research group holds one meeting every year with evaluation experts from national governments, audit institutions, universities and the private sector. Its present membership covers more than 20 countries across four continents.

INTEVAL members address cutting edge issues in a cross national perspective. Research works proceed by email and through subgroup meetings during the annual gathering. Research results usually take the form of co-edited books, most of them being part of the Comparative Policy Analysis Series (Transaction Publishers).

Over fifteen years, the research group has accumulated an impressive and acknowledgeable material on evaluation theory and practice across the world.

An history of the research group

The first meeting of the group, initiated and supported for nine years by the International Institute of Administrative Sciences, Brussels, took place in Brussels in 1986.

Prof.Dr. Ray C. Rist, then of US General Accounting Office, took the lead in recruiting and above all encouraging a first group of mainly academics and government officials to further the cause of program and policy evaluation. The overarching aim of the group was to enhance the utilization of evaluation in the public sector by means of internationally comparative research on the theory and practice of policy evaluation, in relation to other instruments of internal and external public management.

In the first group, the founding fathers so to speak were: Dr. Ray C. Rist, Prof.dr. H.-U. Derlien, Germany, Prof.dr. R.V. Segsworth, Canada, Prof.dr. W. Jenkins and Prof. A. Gray, UK, Dr. E. Albaek and Dr. S. Winter, Denmark, B. Eriksen, Norway and Dr. G. Arvidson, Sweden plus the only founding mother Dr. M.L. Bemelmans-Videc.

 

Meetings

Brussels, 1986 hosted by IIAS

Paris, 1987 hosted by the Ministry of Telecommunication and Post

Leiden, 1988, hosted by the State University of Leyden

Aarhus, 1989, hosted by the University of Aarhus

Stockholm, 1990, hosted by the Swedish National Audit Office

Bruges, 1991, hosted by the IIAS

Ottawa, 1992, hosted by the Office of the Comptroller General, Canada

Oslo, 1993, hosted by the Nowegian Government

Lyon, 1994, hosted by the Centre for European Evaluation Expertise

Madrid, 1996, hosted by the Institute of Fiscal Studies, Autonomous University of Madrid.

Seoul, 1995, hosted by the Hankuk University of Foreign Studies.

Washington, 1997, hosted by the World Bank.

Ireland, 1998, hosted by the Institute of Public Administration, Dublin.

Durham, 1999, hosted by the Durham University Business School

Haifa, 2000, hosted by Haifa University.

Stockholm, 2001, hosted by the Swedish Court of Auditors.

Copenhaguen, 2002, hosted by the Institute of Local Governments Studies.

Rome, 2003, hosted by the Prime Minister's Office in collaboration with the Department of Social Research of the University of Roma "La Sapienza".

The Hague, 2004, hosted by the Academy of Finance and Economics.

Madrid, 2005, hosted by the National Institute for Public Administration

Washington, 2006, hosted by the World Bank

Accomplishments

The major achievement of the Research Group is to be seen in the Transaction's Comparative Policy Analysis series.

In addition, Inteval members have built up an effective network that has significantly contributed to spreading the culture and practice of evaluation and evaluation-related themes. They have had their hands in :

* the organization of the first international conference on the specific topic of public policy evaluation which was held in early December 1990, in The Hague, The Netherlands. This conference’ papers were published in:
J. Mayne, M.L. Bemelmans-Videc, J. Hudson and R. Conner, Advancing Public Policy Evaluation; Learning from International Experiences, 1992 (North-Holland/Elsevier, Amsterdam-London-New York-Tokyo, 1992)

* the initiation and setting up of the European Evaluation Society

Many group members have contributed to developing professional communities in their respective countries, for instance :

* Netherlands:

As of 2001 there is a Dutch Society for Evaluation, Inspection, and Regulation, which is partly funded by some twenty public sector organizatiions and by individual members. Information can be gathered (though largely in Dutch) from the website of this organization: WWW.videnet.nl. Chair is Frans L. Leeuw, former President of the EES and member of Inteval. He isD irector of the Judiciary Research, Evaluation and Statistics Center in theH ague and professor of Sociology at Utrecht University. Some 200 individualm embers are active. The activities range from evalauting no-go-areas, quality of evalution, impact assessments and risk management, costs and benefits of inspection, oversight and regulation etc. For information you might also contact Flleeuw@cuci.nl or do find the otherm members of the board of Vide.

* Denmark:

Olaf Rieper was a co-founder of the Danish Evaluation Society
(www.danskevalueringsselskab.dk) and its first elected president from 2001-2004.

* Republic of Ireland:

Richard Boyle is the first chair of the Irish evaluation network, which was established in 2002. The network holds periodic seminars and conferences on various evaluation topics. He has also been active in providing technical support for various evaluation capacity building exercises in Ireland, including: supporting structural funds and National Development Plan evaluation practice and support for the Irish governments' expenditure review initiative, aimed at building evaluation culture and practice in the civil service.

Team spirit

A group, meeting for so many years and being so effective in the realisation of its goal, of necessity develops a culture of its own. So has Inteval.

First of all there is the overall rule of: ‘we work hard and we play hard’. The hard work is illustrated by the impressive productivity and by the long working hours when the group meets. The hard play is illustrated by the fact that the group has developed into something of a ‘gourmet society’, preferring excellent dinners in exquisite surroundings, each new host competing with his/her predecessor in offering the best to his/her colleagues!

These dinners also follow a certain ritual, with greatly appreciated humorous dinner speeches by the chairman and members who dare to compete with in eloquence.

Longlasting friendships and good-fellowship have resulted from our working together, implying not only professional support and advice but also camaraderie involving the good and the hard of our private lifes.