ABSTRACT
This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book points out the concept of crises and disaster, among others, are often used in interchangeable and concurrent ways. It discusses what can be regarded as turbulent times on a more aggregated societal level or within a policy field. The book also points out that evaluation in turbulent times has to be part of processes that are about—literally—immediate changes and improvements of different actions. It emphasizes that evaluation in crises has to be conducted in a way that gives decision makers information about the realities of day-to-day operation, based on the experiences within the World Bank Group. The book shows how evaluation can be compared within such emergency policy making. The idea of crises as a transition point is based on the assumption that stable periods in a society are replaced by more turbulent ones.
