L’inclusione dei decisori nel processo di valutazione: alcune evidenze da una esperienza di valutazione di programmi locali di supporto al self-employment

The article presents a 10 years long evaluation experience of provincial Programs supporting enterprise creation in the form of self-employment financed in Italy by Pedemont Region with the contribution of European Social Fund (ESF). After a brief presentation of the most important evaluations of enterprise creation Programs carried out in Italy, mainly focused on methodological issues, Programs monitoring and evaluation design suggested by Pedemont Region and its following implementation are described. Implementation description concentrates specifically on evaluation techniques and evaluation models (intended as logics) that were activated with reference to the different areas of each Program; in this context, also the main changes that occurred in the evaluation systems and activities during the years covered by the experience are illustrated. Finally, the article proposes a list of the main elements that, in Author’s opinion, fostered the utilization of evaluation results by technical and political local decision makers.