ASSESSMENT ITEM 2: BID PRESENTATION

 identify options for addressing key natural resource management problems in

Aligned subject learning small island states;
outcomes  evaluate and design options for addressing natural resource management
problems using small island states as case study regions.

Group or individual individual assessment item

Weighting and due date 20%, during practical, November 10

Requirements for
successful completion of You must obtain a score of at least 50% to pass this assessment
this assessment item

ASSESSMENT ITEM 2: DESCRIPTION

What is monitoring, evaluation, reporting and improvement/learning planning in NRM?

Formalised monitoring, evaluation, reporting and improvement planning is an important
part of natural resource management, for a variety of reasons. Done well, monitoring
evaluation and improvement planning can increase our:
 understanding of the environmental benefits per dollar spent in a particular project,
to help guide future decision making about funding;
 double and triple-loop learning (identifying and understanding causality and then
taking action to fix it; and exploring our values and the reasons why we do certain
things, to ascertain how we make the decisions that frame our work), so that future
projects and processes can be improved.

The MERI framework (monitoring, evaluation, reporting and improvement) is commonly

used in Australia to understand government investments in NRM. It relies upon program
logic that links foundational activities to outcomes, and then overall programme goals.
However there are alternative frameworks, some of which may be superior (depending on
the reasoning for understanding monitoring and learning). Theories of change, for example,
are a growing and increasingly influential framework – this framework backward maps from
a desired change to identify what it needed to lead to that change.

Your task
You are a NRM consultant who has been asked by the United Nations Environment Program
to bid on a project to prepare a monitoring, evaluation, reporting and learning plan for a
specific project. This project is a landscape restoration project for an area in the south east
of Efate Island that was logged historically and is now clear of vegetation, contributing to
soil erosion.

As part of your bid, you will need to give a five minute presentation (ideally using
PowerPoint or equivalent) on how you intend to design your plan. Please note, you are not
being asked to present the plan itself – rather, you are being asked to present the approach
for making your plan, so your potential client can decide who has the best approach.
We expect you to explore the grey literature to understand what types of content are
covered in monitoring, evaluation and learning plans, as well as the peer reviewed, with a
view towards improving upon current processes. You will need to strongly justify why your
proposed approach is the best way to prepare a monitoring, evaluation, reporting and
learning plan. You will also need to think through your client’s needs.

You will work on these tasks individually. You will present your plan during our practical
class.

ASSESSMENT ITEM 2: CRITERIA SHEET (OR RUBRIC)

Marks
Was the content well organised, following a coherent and logical structure? /4
Was the presentation aesthetically pleasing, and was information visually /3
presented in ways that enhanced understanding?
Was the presenter’s verbal skills strong, convincing and confident? /4
Did the presenter display a sound understanding of the content by, for example, /7
drawing upon multiple commonly used monitoring, evaluation and learning
plans, and answering questions confidently/convincingly?
Did the presenter tailor the presentation to the particular context and intended /2
audience?