Reinterpreting the Local Context in Development Projects Through the Lens of Positive Thinking

ABSTRACT

The increasing complexity of the international development cooperation system necessitates the strengthening of the evaluative function as a means of facilitating learning. Despite the growing global focus on these issues, evaluation practices within the field of development often appear to struggle in serving as an effective tool for drawing pathways of change within the communities engaged in projects, as well as in informing intervention‐related decision‐making processes. Presenting a possibilist evaluation of the capacity‐building component of a community development project implemented in Tanzania, this article offers an evaluative framework that extends beyond the boundaries of the single intervention, welcoming unexpected results and consequences, and valuing the positives existing in the specific context for building transformational changes. Drawing on the findings of the evaluation, it proposes some reflections on the knowledge generated by using the lens of the ‘Positive Thinking’ (PT) and explores its potential for learning in the evaluation of development projects. This contribution illustrates how this evaluative perspective helped to disclose previously hidden dimensions of the local context, to discover unknown locally‐owned successful practices, and to value often underestimated existing social energies and local actors as real drivers of changes.