Our lines of research in this area are:

• 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 programmes and projects that seek to influence development, where it is important to insist on the use of the evaluation process as opposed to the exclusive use that is often made of evaluation results to demonstrate that investments work. It is important to support the appropriate use of the evaluation process as a way to strengthen and acquire the capacities of the population, without forgetting the importance of the use of the results. This is why GESPLAN works and researches with participatory evaluation methodologies such as "utilisation-focused evaluation", "stakeholder-based evaluation" or "empowerment evaluation". These methodologies have been applied in collaboration with international organisations such as the EU Commission or the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR), with regional governments in Spain, with national governments such as those of Spain, Mexico or Peru, or with private companies such as IDOM.

The examination of the conditions that legitimise public and private decision-making often shows that development and territorial cohesion policies often suffer from a lack of an adequate scientific basis. GESPLAN's overall objective in this area of research is to contribute to alleviating this limitation by means of an appropriate transfer of its results to the institutions responsible for promoting development, cohesion and social integration. The aim is not only to contribute to the generation of knowledge but also to improve social welfare with positive and practical consequences on the quality of life of citizens.