We are a cross-institutional and interdisciplinary team of researchers and practitioners based at Lancaster University, united by a shared passion for evaluative practice. This blog is a space where we share our latest writings and publications, reflect on past work, and explore key themes in evaluation. We also discuss thought-provoking ideas, highlight inspiring readings and experiences, and offer insights into the culture of LEG. Whether you’re an academic, a practitioner, or simply curious about evaluation, we invite you to join the conversation and engage with our reflections, discussions, and discoveries.
Our Team
Marina Bazhydai
Pınar Ceyhan
Elisavet Christou
Bethan Garrett
Carys Nelkon
Violet Owen
Matthew Pawelski
Murray Saunders
Marina is Lecturer in the Department of Psychology at Lancaster University, UK. She directs the Active Learning Lab (ALL). Her research interests span knowledge acquisition, transformation and transmission in early development, including topics such as children-led information seeking and information giving, curiosity, wonder, and creativity. She also conducts programme evaluation studies to understand the impact of child-focused interventions on curiosity, teaching and creativity.
Pınar is a design researcher, designer and educator. She serves as an International Lecturer in Design, at the Lancaster Institute for the Contemporary Arts, Lancaster University. Her current research focuses on evaluation design, evaluation methods, tools, and processes, as well as the role of designed experiences in cognition and meaning-making.
Elisavet is a Lecturer in Management and Organisation Studies, at the department of Organisation, Work and Technology at Lancaster University Management School. She is an inter and trans-disciplinary researcher and educator and works within and across evaluation, design, computing, digital arts and digital media.
Beth is a Lecturer in the Morecambe Bay Curriculum (MBC), based in the Department of Educational Research at Lancaster University, UK. The MBC focuses on supporting educators across the Bay to embed sustainability, environment and place into their practice and she works with communities across Lancashire and Cumbria to encourage creative and innovative curriculum design. She has been involved in developing the North West Beach Schools network and is interested in how education can support engagement and wellbeing, both for teachers and pupils.
Carys specialises in developing programmes that make long lasting social change. Carys is currently working with the local community and civic partners to develop the Morecambe Bay Curriculum, a place-based environmental education movement. Before this, Carys helped establish Arts Emergency, growing it from a grassroots project to a nationwide charity. She has varied experience working with charities, higher education and the cultural sector both in the UK and Australia. Carys is a trustee at the Energy Saving Trust Foundation and is known more widely as a mentor and a Clore Leader.
Violet is a Senior Research Associate for the EPSRC Fixing the Future: The Right-to-Repair and Equal IoT project. Her current research is exploring how Serious Games can be used to encourage social transitions towards cultures of smart technology repair. Violet is also a Postgraduate Researcher at ImaginationLancaster. Her doctoral research focuses on Creative Evaluation approaches, and how these can be used to establish the social impact of Social Innovations. Violet is also a Graphic Designer and created the brand identity and website for LEG.
Matthew is an Impact Development Manager working across Lancaster University’s Management School and Faculty of Health and Medicine. In previous roles he has supported impact development in the Faculties of Arts and Social Sciences and Science and Technology, and lead on evaluation strategy development and implementation in Widening Participation and Social Mobility. He has a PhD in History.
Murray is Emeritus Professor of Evaluation in Education and Work at Lancaster University. His research has focused on evaluative practice. This has been in a wide range of contexts but mainly in education. It has involved both undertaking evaluations of, in recent times, Higher Education policy and practice in the UK and internationally and also the research of evaluative practice itself in Higher Education settings. He has adopted, broadly speaking, a social practice approach to evaluation. This has two implications. The first is to understand evaluation as a social practice. The second is to understand the effects of policies and programmes on people as changes (or not) in their practices, either directly or embedded in policies and systems.
Lancaster Evaluation Group 