Participatory evaluation: a useful tool for contextualising cluster policy?

Insufficient attention is often given to the underlying context in which policies that seek to facilitate cooperation between firms are implemented, inhibiting their expected outcomes. This article analyses the processes involved in a participatory cluster policy evaluation experience that was designed to integrate fundamental and ongoing concern with context and how it interacts with the policy. The premise of the argument is that participatory evaluation itself can directly support the aims of the policy (cluster cooperation) and contribute to policy learning. Nevertheless, we find that success is not guaranteed; several obstacles have to be overcome to obtain learning outcomes that strengthen policy-making. While the contribution is primarily methodological, the article also contributes to conceptual debates on the significance of cluster context in policy design, implementation and evaluation. The participatory evaluation process explored in the article, alongside the findings around key practical considerations, can be usefully applied in other policy contexts that aim to enhance cooperation between firms and other economic agents.