Adaptation Evaluation Toolkit: A guide for local decision-makers in the US on monitoring and evaluation for climate adaptation

Funded by GLISA Internal (NOAA RISA)

 

Project Summary

Program evaluation plays an important role in ensuring program accountability and in improving adaptation planning and outcomes. While adaptation professionals and other decision-makers are currently implementing numerous adaptation programs and projects, tools to help evaluate the effectiveness of these projects can be difficult to access. Recognizing this need, GLISA pursued the development of a new adaptation monitoring and evaluation toolkit to help meet the adaptation policy and program evaluation needs of local decision-makers in the Great Lakes and across the U.S. We partnered with evaluation specialist Dr. Michaela Zint, who developed a tool for the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) that has been used to conduct and improve evaluations of environmental education programs. The toolkit, which is currently in its pilot testing phase, provides a number of vetted resources that 1) introduce adaptation professionals to monitoring and evaluation and their benefits, 2) support the preparation for and execution of internal or external adaptation evaluations, 3) explain how to work with evaluation consultants and 4) enable further exploration of the topic. It contains explanations, reports, and examples for users with different goals, types of projects, and levels of experience with program evaluation (from beginner to advanced). GLISA and our partners organized a workshop at the 2018 Great Lakes Adaptation Forum to introduce the toolkit and solicit feedback from potential users, and an advisory board provided additional input. The adaptation monitoring and evaluation toolkit is housed on the new GLISA website, and user testing is ongoing.

Project Accomplishments

Research Findings

Practitioners are interested in evaluating adaptation projects and programs, but it can be challenging to know where to start in the midst of the wide variety of resources on adaptation monitoring and evaluation. Accessible explanations and targeted resources from trusted sources can help provide a starting point for monitoring and evaluation.

GLISA’s Contribution

GLISA created the web-based toolkit consisting of several modules with resources that serve practitioners with varying evaluation goals, levels of evaluation experience, and funding.

GLISA Contact

Jenna Jorns, Program Manager, jljorns@umich.edu