The Faculty of Tropical AgriSciences at the Czech University of Life Sciences Prague (FTZ) actively co-organized this year’s Annual Conference of the Czech Evaluation Society, held on 12 June 2025 directly on the faculty’s campus. The conference, titled Evaluation in a Dynamic World, reflected the rapidly evolving demands on evaluation and responded to feedback from previous years by adapting its format—this year, the entire program was condensed into one intensive day.
The opening plenary panel set a high professional standard for the event. Daniel Svoboda, President of the Czech Evaluation Society, welcomed the participants and introduced the program and the society’s mission. Professor Michal Lošťák, Vice-Rector for International Relations at CZU, emphasized the role of universities as spaces for sharing, reflection, and innovation in the field of evaluation. The international dimension of the conference was enhanced by Peter van der Knaap, President of the European Evaluation Society, who spoke about the relationship between evaluation and democracy. Former Minister for Legislation Michal Šalomoun addressed the use of evaluation findings in legislative processes, highlighting both opportunities and challenges in this area.
The conference program offered a rich combination of interactive workshops and panel discussions. Participants had the opportunity to try out analytical tools such as MAXQDA, engage in discussions on power structures in evaluations, and learn about cost-benefit analysis methods. Panel sessions featured inspiring contributions on new evaluation methods, the involvement of universities, the use of artificial intelligence, and experiences from development cooperation evaluations. With its expertise and international experience, FTZ contributed significantly to the conference's main goal—to foster open, expert-driven dialogue on evaluations in the context of today’s challenges.
Representing FTZ, Petra Chaloupková and Jana Mazancová delivered a presentation within a professional session titled “Internal, External, Effective? Comparing Evaluation Approaches in Erasmus+ Projects”, sharing valuable insights from the international Erasmus+ project ADVALUE. Their contribution compared internal and external evaluation strategies used in European educational projects and highlighted key factors influencing the effectiveness of evaluation processes. Once again, FTZ demonstrated its active role in the field of evaluation and international collaboration.
The winner of the student evaluation competition are from FTZ
The program also included the official announcement of the winners of the student evaluation competition, which supports emerging talent in the evaluation field. The winners were students and recent graduates of the ICARD bachelor’s program at FTZ—Adéla Kohoutová, Joshua Brejcha, and Klára Sieglová. Our heartfelt congratulations go to all the winners!
