Michael P. Canares, managing consultant of Step Up Consulting Services, upon invitation by the Vienna University of Economics and Business, attended a training on Evaluation of Sustainability of Development Assistance and Projects in Prague last 25 September to 2 October 2010. The training was held in the Czech Republic in the capital city of Prague and in the historic town of Slavonice.

Mr. Canares was the only Filipino of the 28 participants who attended the training. The other participants come from Vietnam, India, China, Spain, Australia, the United Kingdom, USA, Brazil, Germany, Poland, Hungary, Austria, Germany, Ireland, Ukraine, Czech Republic, Slovak Republic, and Turkey.

The opening and closing programs were done in Prague while the whole training activity was done at the building of the Institute for the Future at Slavonice.  Workshop facilitators were renowned evaluation practitioners Wolfgang Meyer, Simon Bell, and Monical Lomena.  In the class, Mr. Canares was the group animator of the one of the teams that proposed for the evaluation of a Mayan Reserve in Guatemala.

Mr. Canares said that the training was a very enriching experience for him.  The last time that he attended an international training of this scale was last year when he was granted a fellowship by the International Development Research Center to attend a summer course on evaluation of peacebuiling programs in Ireland.