"Let’s Tell Science Stories"

Even though the field of scientific evidence is constantly growing, there is a challenge with the implementation of the findings. Scientific results often do not reach the targeted groups. One reason for this evidence-to-practice-gap is the complex terminology that is generally used in research. Therefore, proper science communication is crucial: What kind of knowledge should be transferred to whom? Understanding population dynamics – such as non-scientific, non-literate and non-digital literate people, or hundreds of languages spoken – is essential for reaching and empowering stakeholders.  

“Evidence Tori Dey” is pidgin language and translates to "Let's tell science stories" – it’s an African-led approach that translates complex research findings into simple language that can be understood by all. DEval’s ECD & CoP-Team – Juan Sanz, Nuria Domenech and Anna von Werthern – spent one week in Limbe, Cameroon to explore this storytelling approach firsthand.  

“Storyteller colleagues are convinced that stories provide a much more complete and accurate picture of reality than other tools that evaluators usually use, such as interviews, statistical data or documents,” says DEval evaluator Anna von Werthern. “On the other hand, storytellers showed great interest in using evaluation as a tool to improve and expand the impact of their storytelling interventions.” 

In the coming two years the team will work on the question of how tradition and innovation can work together to bring about change - first in people and then in the programs. In addition, they will explore how storytelling can be used not only for sharing evaluation results but also for collecting data. Moreover, the team will investigate how we can reach a common understanding of evaluation across diverse contexts. Above all stands our mission to create a trusting and sustainable South-South-North cooperation, in line with the BMZ guidelines “Evaluation of development cooperation”. 

The Storytelling Retreat "Leveraging Indigenous Heritage for Participatory and Innovative Evaluation", organized by eBase Africa, EvalParticipativa, and DEval took place in Limbe from September 16-20, 2024.