June 2026. A heatwave is striking Europe, increasing mortality and creating disruptions. At the same time, forest fires have started again in Canada, displacing villagers and Indigenous communities. Events related to climate change are affecting populations across the world. Millions of people experience firsthand the consequences of climate warming, year after year. As we reached or even surpassed 1.5C degrees over pre-industrial levels, this won’t stop. 

Pollution and biodiversity loss are also worrisome trends leading to increased early mortality and wildlife decline. “Over the past 50 years (1970–2020), the average size of monitored wildlife populations has shrunk by 73%” (WWF 2024 report, https://wwflpr.awsassets.panda.org/downloads/2024-lpr-executive-summary.pdf). The same report indicates that “In the natural world, a number of tipping points are highly likely if current trends are left to continue, with potentially catastrophic consequences. These include global tipping points that pose grave threats to humanity and most species, and would damage Earth’s life-support systems and destabilize societies everywhere”. 

Environmental crises continue to unfold alongside growing social inequities and environmental injustices, consequences of colonization, political polarization, misinformation, and declining trust in institutions. Many feel overwhelmed, wondering what can be done.

Context matters for evaluation, and too often we have taken it for granted. As evaluators, we can no longer consider the context as stable. It changes, and fast. For us, these realities raise an important question: How should evaluation evolve to meet the needs of our time? 

 

A Growing Movement Within Evaluation

Across the globe, members of the evaluation community are already recognizing the importance of sustainability, regeneration, and systems transformation.

The Earth Day Evaluation Declaration 2024 reflects this growing commitment, calling for environmental, social, and economic sustainability criteria to be considered across evaluation practice (https://www.change.org/p/incorporate-environmental-sustainability-in-evaluations).

The Canadian Evaluation Society has included in evaluators’ competencies the consideration of “the well-being of human and natural systems in evaluation practice” (competence 1.4) and the examination of and response “to the multiple human and natural contexts within which the program is embedded” (competence 3.1) (https://evaluationcanada.ca/career/evaluator-competencies.html).

Many evaluation associations and organizations, globally and locally, are embracing these challenges. Many practitioners have been raising awareness and offering perspective and guidance too.

The field is moving, and that’s good news. This global movement reflects a broader recognition that evaluation itself can either reinforce the status quo or help support positive transformation. Far from being peripheral to societal transformation, evaluation can become one of its enabling forces. But pragmatically, how do we do that? What are the implications for our practice in evaluation? What approaches and methodologies can help us meet these challenges?

 

Foundations of Evaluation for Planetary Health

These questions sit at the heart of Foundations of Evaluation for Planetary Health. This book, just published in Open Access, offers a comprehensive framework for reimagining evaluation in the context of polycrises. It invites evaluators to rethink their role and to adapt their approaches in a world facing interconnected social and environmental challenges. If we were to apply planetary health lenses in all our evaluations, we would also address the 17 Sustainable Development Goals, not in a siloed manner, but in a holistic way.

Foundations of Evaluation for Planetary Health integrates planetary health lenses across all major evaluation questions and steps. It starts with logic models, of course. Then it explores the methodological implications for core evaluation questions, including logic analysis, effect analysis, implementation analysis, economic evaluation, needs assessment, and monitoring. By embedding planetary health perspectives into mainstream evaluation methodologies, this textbook equips researchers, evaluators, and policymakers with theoretical foundations and practical tools to address environmental and social interdependence in the Anthropocene. Rather than presenting planetary health as a specialized niche, the book argues that it should become a foundational consideration across all evaluation contexts. The book is intended for both newcomers and experienced practitioners.

It is published in Open Access and is free to read online or download:

https://onlineacademiccommunity.uvic.ca/press/foundations-of-evaluation-for-planetary-health/

 

Collectively, it will make a difference!

Just as in the Hummingbird fable, let’s do what we can, each at our own level, to extinguish these raging fires. Confronted with the existential challenges we are facing, let’s be hummingbirds in our communities. Let’s do what we can to bring about the transformational changes that are needed for a more sustainable and just future for all. Foundations of Evaluation for Planetary Health aims to be a starting point toward practical steps for transforming our practice and achieving transformational positive impacts on living beings and nature.

As Wangari Maathai, a 2004 Nobel Peace Prize laureate and Kenyan activist, shared during one of her talks: “Whoever we are, whatever we are, there is something in our lives that we can do, no matter how small it is. Collectively, it will make a difference! So, be a hummingbird in your community, wherever you are!” (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fHtFM1XEXas).

A short bio: Astrid Brousselle is a professor in the School of Public Administration at the University of Victoria (Canada), where she brings her expertise in evaluation approaches, theories, and methods to the fields of health and Planetary Health.