Our investigation in this area is focused on:

• Empowerment evaluation
• Evaluation of European politics and programs
• Evaluation of cooperation projects in development

Evaluation is one of GESPLAN's priority research areas, especially the field of policy evaluation related to EU regional and rural development, education, research, or development cooperation. Within this investigation collaborations have been established with American universities such as Stanford, which has a rich research tradition in terms of evaluation and institutionalization of evaluative practices in universities and public administrations.

Evaluation plays a key role in programs and projects of development. It is particularly important to emphasize the potential of evaluation, beyond the justification and proof of efficacy of an investment or public spenditure. Incorporating the evaluation process properly within the project can offer a way to strengthen and build capacities within the population, without neglecting the importance of results. Therefore, GESPLAN works and investigates with participatory evaluation methodologies such as "utilization-focused evaluation", "stakeholder-based evaluation" or "empowerment evaluation". These methodologies have been applied in collaboration with international organizations such as the EU Commission or the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR); with regional governments in Spain; with national governments such as Spain, Mexico or Peru; or private companies like IDOM.

There is still limited knowledge about the conditions that legitimize public and private decision making, which often leads to development and territorial cohesion policies of little adequate scientific basis. The overall objective of GESPLAN is to contribute to closing this gap by facilitating an adequate transfer of scientific results to institutions responsible for promoting development, cohesion and social integration. The goal is not only to generate new insights in development policies, but to actively disseminate and actively improve social welfare for a positive impact on the quality of life of citizens.