Section 1: Evaluation Purpose and Partners

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  4. Step 4 
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  6. Step 6 

Step 1: Convene Partners to plan the Evaluation

Partners provide a variety of perspectives, helpful ideas, and useful resources to ensure the success of the evaluation.
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Reach out to existing colleagues and make a list of their contacts and networks.

AND

Investigate previous pedestrian safety initiatives and evaluation efforts in your community or state.

This information can help you determine what individuals and agencies to engage as well as well as what successes or challenges emerged as part of previous related efforts.

What partners?

Invite people from all walks of life to the table, including funders, decision-makers, advocates, implementers, evaluators, and members of the population of interest to discuss their respective interests and concerns related to pedestrian safety.

Identify those with wisdom and past experience working on pedestrian safety as well as those who are new to pedestrian safety, who offer fresh perspectives on how to create positive change in your community or state.

Key partners for evaluating pedestrian safety initiatives include representatives from:

  • Local, regional, and state government agencies
  • Academic institutions
  • Health care organizations
  • Civic, community, and advocacy groups
  • Funding organizations
  • Offices of elected and appointed officials and other policy- and decision-makers

How to engage partners?

Identify partners' interests and concerns related to pedestrian safety.

Varying viewpoints from diverse partners across different sectors and disciplines (e.g., design and planning, transportation, health, economics, and environmental science) can inform and enhance the breadth and dept1h of the purpose of your evaluation.

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Tip for Success

Engagement of members of the population of interest may require a strong partnership commitment to hiring residents, people who grew up in the community, and/or those who have the cultural and linguistic characteristics of the individuals living in this population.

Consider the "added value" of your pedestrian safety initiative to a wide range of potential partners concerned with different assets or goods affecting sustainability in your community or state, such as:

View the Resource Table

Generate a list of these individuals or organizations and their assets.

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Template

Partner Assessment and Engagement Plan
A template to guide partner engagement and assessment of assets for evaluation.

Partners' assets can offer insight into potential roles and responsibilities of partners as well as in-kind resources to support planning and implementation of the evaluation.

View the Resource Table
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Tip for Success

Create a brief partnership profile to share with potential new partners or to use as a tool for recruitment of new partners.

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Examples from the Field

New Orleans, LA partnership profile
An example of a partnership profile.

NC Watch 4 Me Community and Partner Profiles
Examples of different sized communities across North Carolina (e.g., 100,000+ population, < 25,000) participated in the Watch for Me NC Campaign including descriptions of partnership profiles and key outcomes.

With your partners, decide whether it makes sense to conduct the evaluation yourselves or to hire an external evaluator.

Next: Continue to Step 2
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