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Guidance on place-based approaches

  • Framework for Place-Based Approaches
    The Victorian Government’s Framework for Place-Based Approaches describes a way of thinking about place that will better enable VPS staff to effectively communicate across government.
  • Place-Based Guide
    This guide provides a contemporary, evidence-informed and practical collection of ideas, advice, case studies, tools and resources to support the effective design, implementation and evaluation of place-based approaches.
  • Funding toolkit
    This toolkit brings together existing and new tools and resources that VPS staff and managers can pick up and use when designing new, or managing existing, funding agreements with place-based approaches
  • What works for place-based approaches in Victoria research report
    Prepared by researchers from Jesuit Social Services (JSS) Centre for Just Places, RMIT University and the Centre for Community Child Health, Murdoch Children's Research Institute (MCRI), this paper identifies the principles, enabling conditions and barriers for the success of place-based approaches. It is complemented with practice learnings from case studies of Victorian place-based initiatives.
  • Boundary spanning to improve community outcomes
    This report provides guidance to VPS staff working in collaborative initiatives across government and with community stakeholders and place-based initiatives. The report presents a framework which describes the key supporting conditions required for effective collaboration.

Guidance on MEL for place-based approaches


General resources to assist with scoping and planning MEL


Victorian Government specific resources to assist with scoping and planning MEL


Defining the objectives of MEL

  • Evaluability AssessmentExternal Link
    Developed by the Juvenile Justice Evaluation Centre, this guide aims to assist with implementing evaluability assessment to ensure that initiatives are ready for evaluation. Although it is written for programmatic contexts and does not consider a developmental approach looking to conduct a program evaluation, the concepts and ideas may help VPS staff to identify considerations for whether certain evaluative approaches are suited to the context of the place-based approach.
  • Tool - Developing evaluations that are used (PDF, 354 KB)External Link
    Short document developed by Tamarack Institute, this short paper outlines key considerations to ensure the useability of evaluation findings.

Guidance on developmental evaluation


Identifying role(s) of government

  • The Shared Power PrincipleExternal Link (PDF, 922 KB)
    The Centre for Public Impact provides guidance to governments on how power can be shared with communities by identifying four patterns of power sharing used by governments around the world to create positive outcomes for communities.

Developing a theory of change or outcomes logic


Resourcing


Engaging with stakeholders

  • Spectrum of community led approachesExternal Link (PDF, 324 KB)
    Tamarack Institute provides a list of community-led approaches that can be used for evaluation purposes. This tool can help determine what level of community leadership is most appropriate, and what kind of engagement approaches are needed.
  • AES First Nations Cultural Safety FrameworkExternal Link
    Developed by the Australian Evaluation Society, the framework outlines key principles that support culturally safe evaluations, and provides guidance on the roles and responsibilities of different stakeholders involved in evaluation
  • Section 3 on ‘Evaluating with Community’ (pp.11- 17), National Framework for Place-Based evaluationsExternal Link (PDF, 3.7 MB)
    The framework provides key considerations for evaluations involving diverse cohorts and ethical considerations that are relevant across MEL activities.
  • Practical strategies for culturally competent evaluationExternal Link (PDF, 706 KB)
    Developed by Centres for Diseases Control and Prevention in the U.S.A, the guide highlights the prominent role of culture in evaluation. It is designed for program staff and evaluators and provides important strategies for approaching an evaluation with a critical cultural lens to ensure that evaluation efforts have cultural relevance and generate meaningful findings that stakeholders.
  • Came et al. (2019), Māori and Pasifika leaders’ experiences of government health advisory groups in New Zealand, Kōtuitui: New ZealandExternal Link , Journal of Social Sciences Online, 14:1, 126-135
    This journal article is based is based on a qualitative study that explores the experiences of six Māori and Pasifika leaders on health policy-making advisory committees. It points to the need for deeper engagement and more genuine recognition of the knowledge that First Nations leaders and communities have for addressing inequities in their communities.

Embedding a strategic learning culture and structures into government


Additional tools and methods for monitoring and evaluation


MEL within First Nations contexts

Reviewed 08 March 2023

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