Evaluating Sustainability: Development and Validation of an Evaluation Checklist

Sustainability is a buzz word these days that permeates many levels of human activity. Interest in sustainability is grounded primarily in the sustainable development field which is concerned with the survival of humans on planet earth, and with the growing demands of meeting people’s long-term needs. In the North American evaluation literature, however, sustainability is primarily thought of in terms of continuing program activity beyond initial funding cycles via diversification of funding streams or institutionalization. As such, two distinct perspectives for evaluating sustainability were identified. The first is concerned with micro-level issues, that is, evaluators are concerned about the continuation of programs, policies, and other types of evaluation objects (i.e., evaluands). Second, there is a macro level perspective concerned with sustaining human, social, and economic development under consideration of protecting the environment. Both concepts are interdependent. Hence, sustainability evaluation should incorporate both concerns; the continuation of human activity (i.e., projects, programs, policies) and the maintenance of means for mankind to exist on earth (i.e., human, social, economic, and environmental needs). To address both issues requires evaluation (i.e., the determination of merit, worth, and significance) of sustainability (of evaluands) for sustainability (human survival on earth). While there are numerous evaluation objects within the larger sustainable development movement that can be linked to sustainability (e.g., products, programs, services, organizations), this dissertation assesses the value and usefulness of a sustainability evaluation checklist, specifically designed for programs and projects that address basic human needs and deal with the dynamics that exist between human, social, economic, and environmental dimensions of sustainability. The checklist was developed based on a review of the pertinent literature and was validated and refined based on feedback from experts and practitioners who provided critical reactions to the draft checklist, its potential, and usefulness for evaluating sustainability in diverse contexts.