Part 3 of the EcoAdapt Monitoring and Evaluation of Adaptation Series
When
This session will offer a comprehensive set of criteria for evaluating adaptation projects, examine evaluation efforts in the U.S. conservation sector, and share examples of evaluation in action. An opening presentation by Dr. Lauren Oakes will introduce a “scorecard” of 16 criteria for evaluating adaptation projects that was developed and honed through interviews and surveys with adaptation experts and conservation practitioners. She will also share results from an analysis of monitoring and evaluation (M&E) plans from 76 site-based adaptation projects designed to benefit conservation targets that span a diversity of ecosystems and climate impacts. This analysis examined the types of indicators practitioners are monitoring in relation to reported ecological and social outcomes, to what extent they may be adopting M&E best practices, what factors enable more comprehensive M&E efforts (e.g., partnering with researchers), and practitioner views on what could improve evaluation of adaptation actions. The session will also include presentations by practitioners describing the purpose of their M&E efforts, indicators linked to near- and long-term goals, and practical aspects of evaluating adaptation projects in coastal South Carolina and in forests and rangelands of California.
Presenters:
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Lauren Oakes, Conservation Scientist, Forests & Climate Change, Wildlife Conservation Society
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Liz Chamberlain, Director of Strategic Innovations, Blue Point Conservation Science
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Joy Brown, Marine Program Manager, The Nature Conservancy - South Carolina Chapter
Moderator: Molly Cross, Science Director of the Climate Adaptation Fund, Wildlife Conservation Society