ABSTRACT
This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book explores the complex problem of how to measure the success of social organizations, projects and activities. It describes how the values-based framework has developed through time, learning from a variety of global action research projects and the many participants involved, so as to iteratively move towards more valid, community-led and locally empowering versions of the approach. The book looks at three case studies in detail, to illustrate what such a values-based framework looks like in practice, and some of the diverse ways civil society organizations can use it. It focuses on Education for Sustainable and Responsible Living (EfSRL) teaching in schools, and how this might be better achieved. The book gives examples of the kinds of impacts this is producing, such as groups offering new types of measures to funders, and the funders in turn using these to assess group effectiveness.
