Methodologies (co)developed at the Athena Institute
Reflexive Evaluation (RE)
Reflexive Evaluation has been developed by the Athena Institute together with the Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency (PBL) to complement goal-attainment policy evaluation. RE is designed to support policy learning. This is crucial in experimental and adaptive policy programs. It creates a learning infrastructure to assist those involved to reflect and help revise their actions during a program’s lifetime. Based on joint work between Athena and PBL as commissioned by ministries and provinces, Reflexive Evaluation has evolved in Transformative Learning Evaluation (TLE) to assist policy makers working in programs geared at societal transformation to deal with their complexity, and scrutinise and help change persistent routines and structures into political decision-making.
Reflexive Monitoring in Action (RMA)
RMA fosters learning in multi-actor networks that collaborate in system transformation projects with a sustainability agenda. This agenda requires action that ‘goes against the grain’ of standing practices and institutional structures. Those involved stand to benefit from monitoring their actions in a way that shows how they affect and interact with dynamics in their environment. Learning from such reflexive feedback may inform a revision of their actions. RMA, which has been developed some 15 years ago in a joint effort between the Athena Institute, Wageningen University and others working on system transformation, is nowadays widely used to identify ways of disrupting dominant narratives and institutional logics. Applying RMA in the domains of food, healthcare, disability and employment, and youth protection, over time, Athena has refined the methodology into a well-defined framework, offering key principles and intervention strategies.
Transformative Capacity Flywheel
The Transformative Capacity Flywheel is a hands-on, practice-based method developed by the Athena Institute together with PBL for diagnosing and strengthening a government’s ability to instigate, accelerate, and redirect sustainability transformations. It offers governments a way to assess their strengths and weaknesses in orchestrating, adapting, and legitimising efforts at societal change. Adopting the Flywheel perspective clarifies concrete options to strengthen the effectiveness of such efforts, by lowering coordination costs, accelerating momentum, and co-developing actionable improvements. Developed at the Athena Institute with PBL, the Flywheel has informed reviews of the Dutch national climate policy and of the Province of North Holland.
Dynamic Learning Agenda (DLA)
The continuously evolving Dynamic Learning Agenda (DLA) is a flexible tool that supports change by fostering collective reflection. Developed in close collaboration with participants themselves, it captures their desired learning questions, framed as: “How can we achieve objective X, despite condition Y?” Collectively, these questions identify challenges and guide action in complex transformation processes. By regularly revisiting and updating the agenda, DLA encourages adaptive learning and responsiveness. It is used to structure reflexive engagement and support meaningful, participant-driven change in real world contexts.
Transformative Learning in Action (TLA)
Transformative Learning in Action articulates Theories of Change in an actionable manner in support of stakeholders engaged in transformation-oriented projects and policies. Through structured working sessions applying a tool (transformatie-denkraam), it invites participants to jointly explore and align their ambitions, actions, in view of barriers they face. The tool and workshops help to identify untapped opportunities and clarify who needs to be included in next steps to support achieving long-term goals. TLA fosters practical insights and targeted collaborations, keeping projects adaptive and aligned with the ambition of lasting societal change.
Methodologies regularly used at the Athena Institute
Living Labs (Social Labs)
Living Labs are collaborative, real-world experimentation spaces where diverse stakeholders—researchers, policymakers, and practitioners—come together to co-create solutions to complex societal challenges. These labs are facilitated, semi-structured environments (that may include physical or online spaces) that foster dialogue across different ways of knowing. They offer a safe yet engaged setting for testing ideas, building mutual understanding, and exploring transformative change. At the Athena Institute, Living Labs are used to bridge theory and practice, enabling innovation that is both socially grounded and reflexively developed.