2025 Reflections
As we reach the end of another year, the familiar pairing of celebration and reflection is very much in the air. This season brings an extra sense of gratitude, and at ARTD, we find ourselves: reflecting on our impact and celebrating our shared progress (preferably with a good pudding or two).
It’s been a year of delivery and growth for our teams. We’ve welcomed new faces to our offices, who bring a wealth of experience in quantitative research and evaluating with lived experience researchers, as well as evaluation theory and leading project delivery. Our operational teams have also expanded, with the addition of our marketing assistant and we’ve celebrated the promotions of several colleagues, reflecting the ongoing evolution of our people.
It was fantastic to see our evaluation of the Towards Zero Suicides initiatives delivered in partnership with Taylor Fry, academic and peer researcher partners receive the 2025 AES Public Sector Evaluation Award this year. This project is continuing to shape the way we think about and evaluate complex challenges. We’re looking forward to continuing the conversation at the 2026 National Suicide Prevention Conference in Sydney.
To celebrate our hard work and 2025 successes, strengthen our capacity, and create plans for the year ahead, our team came together in early December for two-days of professional development and strategic planning. We delved into the results of a recent staff survey (always a good excuse for some whisker plots), to understand key strengths and interests, and where we can build our knowledge and skills further.
It’s also been a year of deepening our impact and adapting our approaches to meet our clients’ needs as they tackle multi-faceted, cross-sectoral and complex challenges that require a systems approach. As Jade highlighted in our end-of-year newsletter, we’ve seen a shift from delivering stand-alone programs, to working with our clients and partners to help ‘shift entire systems’. This evolution challenges us to think differently about our role as evaluators. It calls for a more holistic understanding of the problems we’re addressing, drawing on data from a range of sources, including lived experience, practitioner insight, and research evidence.
Above all, Jade’s message reminds us that central to meaningful change are our partnerships and collaboration. As we wrap up the year, we’re grateful for the relationships we’ve strengthened and look forward to continuing this important work together in the year ahead.
If you want to stay updated with our work and read Jade’s full end-of-year reflections, make sure you’re subscribed to our mailing list [https://mailchi.mp/artd/i5xmqz8rej].
Wishing you a restful break and a very good start to the new year
