Evaluation plays a crucial role in the attempts to develop European level criteria for reforms in education (e.g. Memorandum on LLL, Copenhagen declaration on vocational education). Researchers and academic institutions are supporting the process by providing evaluation tools and evaluative findings on education, but also by promoting specific professional paradigms and divisions of governance, which structure the educational field under evaluation. The paper will discuss two European projects (Re-enter and Re-integration) as examples of and platforms for reflecting and negotiating the emerging pedagogical practices and governing structures in education, especially in relation to social, economical and educational inclusion of people in Europe. A critical narrative and interpretation will be given of the research process, which moved from responding to administrational expectations about trans-national steering towards supporting innovation of inclusive pedagogical practices at local/actors´ level.