BILINGUALISM

Canada is a country with two official languages, English and French, and the Canadian Evaluation Society (CES) itself is an officially bilingual organization. In keeping with the CES commitment to bilingualism, we will ensure that English and French are promoted and valued in all possible aspects of our Conference planning, delivery and reporting.

We will live this value by:

• adhering to the requirements of the CES policy on official languages;
• giving French and English equal status in all public written communications;
• requesting that representatives of the conference organizing committee use both official languages in public communications to the extent possible;
• reflecting both official languages in our Co-Chairs;
• inviting CES volunteers to participate in meetings in the official language of their choice; and
• contributing to improved bilingualism at future CES conferences through our reflections and learnings. 

EQUITY, DIVERSITY, AND INCLUSION

Diversity is the presence of difference within a given setting, such as a diversity of identities including gender identity, sexual orientation, race, ethnicity, religion, disability and other identities that are marginalized or at risk of marginalization. Inclusion is about people with different identities feeling and/or being valued and welcomed within all aspects of our conference. We will achieve our diversity and inclusion outcomes through our equity approach; we recognize that not everyone starts from the same place and that advantages and barriers exist. Our aim is to correct and address these imbalances wherever we can so that all identities have the opportunity to grow, contribute and develop through their participation in any aspect of our conference.

To assist us actively living this value of diversity, equity and inclusion is Joanna Kocsis, the co-chair of the CES Diversity Working Group as our EDI Co-Lead.

We will live this value by:

• actively seeking to make our volunteer team a safe and welcoming environment in which barriers to participation are reduced and opportunities for engagement are enhanced for all individuals;
• seeking out the voices of marginalized identities to better understand the imbalances and ways to overcome them;
• using inclusive language, including preferred gender pronouns, in our communications;
• providing diverse presenters in our pre-conference workshops and our program; and
• contributing to improved equity in future CES conferences through our reflections and learnings. 

ACTIVE RECONCILIATION

Our commitment to this value will allow us to actively acknowledge and support the self-determination of Indigenous peoples and take further steps to explore what meaningful reconciliation will look like and how C2021 can contribute to this.

We will live this value by:

• working with the Anishinabeg Nation leadership and community to determine how the conference can contribute meaningfully to active reconciliation;  
• educating our volunteers on the continued and harmful impacts of colonization on Indigenous peoples in Canada and how they can contribute to meaningful change;
• actively seeking out evaluators who identify as Indigenous to encourage submissions to the conference program (workshops, sessions and thematic breakfasts); and
• contributing to the active reconciliation of future CES conferences through our reflections and learnings.

ENVIRONMENTAL SUSTAINABILITY

The CES 2019-2024 strategic plan identifies leadership in environmental sustainability as a guiding principle to be embodied through CES operations and professional evaluation practice. Because the in-person annual conference has traditionally been CES’ largest and most resource-consumptive event, greening the C2019 conference was a major priority for operational sustainability. C2020 had adapted the prior year’s evaluative rubric in order to guide, document, and monitor annual progress in achieving sustainability at three levels: Basic: consume less; Moderate: recycle and offset pollution; High: have a positive influence on environmental sustainability and marginalization.

Switching C2021 to a virtual format has eliminated the “footprint” of the major categories of resource consumption that previous years worked to reduce and/or mitigate, such as: venue, hotel, transportation, catering, and print communications. C2021 therefore is focussing on having a positive “handprint” through communication, engagement, and professional development that raises awareness of the intersection of environmental stewardship with other C2021 foundational values of Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Active Reconciliation (some references:1,2).

Local CES chapters who organize in-person events around C2021 are encouraged to:

• Offer vegetarian cuisine that meets Canada food guide requirements and that is locally sourced (some references: 1, 2, 3).
• Promote personal water bottles to avoid one-time use containers (some references: 1, 2, 3).
• Make documentation easily available electronically to avoid printing (some references: 1, 2, 3).
• Recycle/compost any unavoidable packaging, printing and food waste.
• Where applicable, adjust the registration fee and purchase of carbon offsets to mitigate the impact of delegate travel and other sources of greenhouse emissions (some references: 1, 2, 3).

Inform and engage delegates about steps to reduce and mitigate the event’s footprint.