Traditionally, many academics and practitioners seek the added value of evaluation primarily to highlight errors and shortcomings. As a consequence, evaluative inquiry risks becoming associated with failure and, therefore, best to be avoided. It seems that, in this respect, evaluators may be their own worst enemies: how much of the perpetual questions and disappointments that often still seem to plague our craft – perceived lack of relevance and, hence, attention and utilization – can be blamed on our natural focus on problems and failure? What could be gained from a positive evaluation approach, in which the evaluator actively seeks to improve policy programmes by focusing on success? How can it contribute to effective learning? What benefits and challenges would emerge? Taking the ‘Sustainable Road Safety’ programme of The Netherlands as an example, this article investigates potential answers to these questions. Starting from a definition of positive evaluation and learning theory, I will describe the opportunities of positive evaluation for more effective policy-oriented learning processes. From this example, the positive – but cautious – conclusion is that, in order to contribute to effective learning while seeking to optimize policy programmes, an evaluator could do well to opt for ‘looking for success’ first. (Author/publisher)
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