The Finnish Evaluation Society (in Finnish Suomen Arviointiyhdistys, SAYFES) was founded in 1999. It is a registered association with approximately 100 members and 10 organisation members. The Society was launched when evaluation started gaining increased importance globally and a new profession of evaluators was growing fast. Professionalism was also needed for those commissioning evaluations and those using and interpreting evaluation results. SAYFES was established to serve as a platform for those interested and involved in evaluation related matters.
SAYFES members by their roles
- Evaluator 50 %
- Subscriber of evaluations 10 %
- Evaluator researcher 10 %
- User of evaluation results 25 %
- Other 5 %
- Evaluator 50 %
- Subscriber of evaluations 10 %
- Evaluator researcher 10 %
- User of evaluation results 25 %
- Other 5 %
The SAYFES members have on average over 12 years of experience on evaluations, variation being from 1 to 30 years. The mission of SAYFES is to promote the evolution of evaluation theory, practice and understanding, as well as the deployment of interdisciplinary evaluation know-how in society. Its goal is to contribute to the dynamic, international evaluation culture in the activities of public, private and third sector. The members of the society represent different fields of society.
SAYFES members by sectors
- Municipality 15 %
- Government agency 25 %
- University or school 20 %
- Civil society organisation 10 %
- Private sector 20 %
- Other 10 %
- Municipality 15 %
- Government agency 25 %
- University or school 20 %
- Civil society organisation 10 %
- Private sector 20 %
- Other 10 %
In order to meet the objectives of knowledge development and dissemination of evaluation and its education, SAYFES organizes seminars, discussion forums on current evaluation topics, workshops on evaluation methods and breakfast meetings where evaluation activities of different institutions are introduced. Between 2003 and 2010 SAYFES has also published an annual evaluation supplement in the referee-journal of Administrative Studies. In 2017, SAYFES has also introduced an annual award for excellent evaluation action for the first time. In 2022, SAYFES introduced the annual award for an excellent evaluation thesis.
International cooperation has been an important part of SAYFES activities since the beginning. Meetings and exchange of knowledge with the Nordic evaluation societies and NESE are important, as well as the collaboration with the European Evaluation Society (EES).
Contact information:
Mari Räkköläinen, President, SAYFES
Email: puheenjohtaja(at)sayfes.fi
Tel. +358 29 533 5558
Sari Rannanpää, Secretary, SAYFES
Email: sihteeri.sayfes(at)gmail.com
Tel. +358 50 523 6872
