Monitoring and Evaluation (PM&E)
There is now widespread recognition, in name at least, that participatory development is critical for achieving sound resource management. However, this kind of development requires a more flexible and evolving process towards planning for change, and poses new challenges for decision makers and evaluators alike. In particular, this requires major institutional reorientation at the policy level to ensure responsiveness to local demand, and to empower and enable stakeholders to act. At the programme level, it means detailed outlines for action can no longer be drawn up at the outset since problem solving is based on partnerships and cooperation, and not the quest to achieve some externally identified goal. Because these programmes are designed to be responsive to changing stakeholder needs, one of the most pressing challenges is to develop participatory and systems-based monitoring and evaluative processes to allow for ongoing learning, correction, and adjustment by all parties concerned. The following pages illustrate some of the work that Landcare Research has done in this area.
Harmsworth, G. 2002: Co-ordinated Monitoring of New Zealand Wetlands, Phase 2, Goal 2: Māori environmental performance indicators for wetland condition and trend. A Ministry for the Environment SMF Project - No.5105
Allen, W.; Bosch, O.; Kilvington, M.; Harley, D.; Brown I. 2001. Monitoring and adaptive management: addressing social and organisational issues to improve information sharing. Natural Resources Forum 25(3): 225-233
Kilvington, M. & Allen, W. (2001). A Participatory Evaluation Process to Strengthen the Effectiveness of Industry Teams in Achieving Resource Use Efficiency: The Target Zero Programme of Christchurch City Council. Landcare Research Contract Report: LC0001/62
Allen, W.J. 1997: Towards improving the role of evaluation within natural resource management R&D programmes: The case for learning by doing. Canadian Journal of Development Studies (Special issue on results-based evaluation) 18: 629-643.
Bosch, O.J.H.; Allen, W.J.; Williams, J.M.; Ensor, A. 1996: An integrated system for maximising community knowledge: Integrating community-based monitoring into the adaptive management process in the New Zealand high country. The Rangeland Journal 18(1): 23-32
Bosch, O.J.H.; Allen, W.J.; Gibson, R.S. 1996: Monitoring as an integral part of management and policy making In: Proceedings of symposium: "Resource management: issues, visions, practice", Lincoln University, New Zealand, 5-8 July, Pp. 12-21.
Kilvington, M. 1998: The Whaingaroa Catchment Management Project: A Multi-stakeholder Approach to Sustainable Catchment Management. Landcare Research Contract Report: LC9899/021