by Mónica Ballescá
I’m genuinely delighted to share a personal take on Chapter 7: Participatory evaluation of a public transport support policy: an inclusion and transformation perspective – Jalisco (Mexico), recently published in the book Evaluation, Democracy and Transformation: Experiences of Participatory Evaluation in Latin America. I co-wrote it with Sugey Salazar and Selene Michi, and together with other colleagues we reflect on what it really means to carry out public policy evaluation using participatory approaches from within the public sector.
This chapter sets out the details, practical insights and lessons from an evaluation process that, in my view, marked a real turning point in government practice in Mexico. It was one of the first participatory evaluations promoted from within the public sector at subnational level in the country, and the first to use a methodology that was later formalised and replicated in the years that followed.
The EvalParticipativa Podcast is a space for dialogue, exchange, and articulation within the Community of Practice and Learning in Participatory Evaluation in Latin America. It is conceived as a platform to strengthen collective learning, make situated experiences visible, and promote an approach to evaluation that is collaboratively constructed and grounded in local territories.
As we close this seven-year cycle of collective work, we wish to celebrate what we have built together: a vibrant community of practice and learning around participatory evaluation and inclusive approaches. Within it, every voice has contributed, every shared experience has enriched us, and every encounter has woven bonds that go beyond isolated practices, now reaching more than four thousand people and multiple organizations.
In 
With the enforcement of Mongolia’s Law on Special Protected Area 
The chapter we present in the book 
Dear friends of EvalParticipativa,
The EvalParticipativa Podcast is a platform for exchange and collaboration within the Community of Practice and Learning on Participatory Evaluation in Latin America. Each episode seeks to explore and share the knowledge and experiences of key figures in participatory evaluation across the region, where the professional intersects with the personal, and evaluative practice is closely linked to the lived experiences and stories of the interviewees.
Over the past two decades, the movement aimed at achieving evidence-based policies has gained importance and prominence. It holds that policymakers should base their decisions on the best available evidence regarding “what works,” rather than on ideologies or in response to particular interests.