Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) plays a critical role in informing and improving adaptation polices and activities. It helps us to understand:
- what works (or not) in what circumstances and why
- guide more efficient and transparent adaptation investment decisions
- and ensure that future adaptation efforts ‘stand on the shoulders’ of past projects and programmes
Our portfolio of resources has been produced in response to demand for guidance and support.
- AdaptME – Adaptation monitoring & evaluation
- M&E: a review of the landscape
- M&E: A synthesis of tools, frameworks and approaches
- M&E reviews
- M&E guidance notes
- Journal article – M&E: a review of the landscape
- National monitoring, reporting and evaluation of climate change adaptation in Europe
AdaptME – Adaptation monitoring & evaluation
September 2011
Organisations who have undertaken adaptation activities now face the challenge of evaluating what worked, what didn’t, how and why. This toolkit will help you to think through an evaluation of your adaptation activities, and equip you to design a robust evaluation.
- AdaptME – Adaptation monitoring & evaluation (pdf, 3.8 MB)
Monitoring and evaluation of climate change adaptation: a review of the landscape
UKCIP worked with regular collaborators Dennis Bours and Colleen McGinn to edit a special issue of New Directions for Evaluation. The free-to-access Editors’ notes set out the main challenges for those working on M&E in adaptation, while the chapters feature innovations and reflections from a group of international experts.
- Editors notes (open access)
- Full issue (subscription may be required)
Monitoring and evaluation for climate change adaptation: A synthesis of tools, frameworks and approaches
Second edition: May 2014
This report from SEA Change and UKCIP reviews the current major monitoring and evaluation frameworks, identifying key strengths, gaps, and the most suitable audiences for each resource. It highlights the opportunities and challenges facing the implementation of climate change adaptation programmes, enabling professionals and practitioners to identify which materials will help them most.
- Monitoring and evaluation for climate change adaptation: A synthesis of tools, frameworks and approaches Second edition (pdf, 6.6 MB)
First edition: October 2013
- Monitoring and evaluation for climate change adaptation: A synthesis of tools, frameworks and approaches (pdf, 3.4 MB)
Monitoring and evaluation reviews
May 2014
A series of reviews distilling findings from evaluations of climate change M&E.
Paper 2 identifies trends in how selected international agencies have approached the M&E components of climate change adaptation programmes.
The third paper highlights lessons learned from the evaluation of a group of climate change adaptation programmes in high-risk coastal areas of Asia and the Pacific.
- ER3: Evaluating programmes through a climate adaptation lens: Reflections from coastal areas in Asia and the Pacific (pdf, 900 KB)
Monitoring and evaluation guidance notes
January 2014
In a series of Guidance notes, SEA Change and UKCIP examine the complexities of monitoring and evaluation of climate adaptation programmes. Three short reports look at the specific challenges of M&E for climate change adaptation, how to select indicators, and examine how the Theory of Change approach works in this context.
- Guidance note 1: Twelve reasons why climate change adaptation M&E is challenging (pdf, 630 KB)
- Guidance note 2: Selecting indicators for climate change adaptation programming (pdf, 720 KB)
- Guidance note 3: Theory of Change approach to climate change adaptation programming (pdf, 1.9 MB)
Journal article – Monitoring and evaluation of climate change adaptation: a review of the landscape
September 2015
A special issue of New Directions for Evaluation, co-edited by Patrick Pringle, Dennis Bours (evaluation consultant for the GEF IEO) and Colleen McGinn (independent consultant), examines the issue of monitoring and evaluation of climate change adaptation at a range of different scales and in a variety of contexts. It draws upon experiences from across the world to provide a practical resource for academics, policymakers, programme managers and evaluators. The open access Editors’ Notes consider the main themes examined in the later chapters and set out some of the main challenges for those working on adaptation M&E.
- Editors’ notes: New Directions for Evaluation, Fall 2015(147): 1
National monitoring, reporting and evaluation of climate change adaptation in Europe
December 2015
A new report from the European Environment Agency, co-written by Patrick Pringle, brings together adaptation monitoring, evaluation and reporting experiences from across Europe. It aims to support the effective implementation of national adaptation policies.
