Visionary evaluation: Approaching Aboriginal ontological equity in water management evaluation

Abstract

The 2017 Traditional Owner evaluation of the implementation of the Murray-Darling Basin Plan developed an approach to evaluation that tested the use of Standpoint Theory in the field of natural resource management. This methodological choice was intended to enable First Nation approaches to data generation and use in equal measure to non-indigenous approaches. The method is implemented as a nested, up-hierarchy of scale, enabling a pan-optican dimension of vision from "below" and "above". The paper does not present the evaluative results regarding the implementation of the Plan because that information is co-owned by the participating Nations for their uses. Instead, and in respect of that arrangement, the paper presents the evaluation practices funded by the Murray-Darling Basin Authority. The methodology was negotiated and implemented with the Nations in the pilot study as a co-production across cultural boundaries. The approach was then evaluated by the participants, and these results are reported. All those reviewing the methodology were directly involved in some aspect of the evaluation, 64 % of whom identified as Traditional Owners, 67 % of whom were involved in high level decision-making about the evaluation approach. Traditional Owners rated cultural competence of the tested approach at 68 %, the benefits of the approach at 75 %, satisfaction with the standard of the evaluation at 72 %, and satisfaction with complying with the Basin Plan’s requirements for evaluation at 78 %. Recommendations for broader engagement and better science communication are made.