To feel a sense of place is a fundamental human need and in order to understand people's experiences, it is critical to understand their place. This is particularly important in the rural, bicultural communities of Aotearoa New Zealand, many of which have not been well served by research and evaluation. Place consciousness is not a new concept in evaluation theory, particularly as an aspect of cultural and contextual responsiveness. However, the concept of place is not easily defined or well articulated in relation to evaluation theory and practice. This article reflects on the findings of the author's 2014 literature review, which focused on the concept of place and its implications for evaluation design. The author promotes a place-conscious approach to evaluation that recognises and honours features of the places where people live their lives. A place-conscious evaluation requires evaluators to consciously assess the implications of place and pay explicit attention to place-connected knowledge. It provides a foundation for evaluators to work collaboratively with communities to enhance evaluative thinking and develop more meaningful, relevant, and useful evaluation insights as a basis for positive action.
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