• Understand what monitoring and evaluation (M&E) is

• Discover why M&E is important in EbA projects and learn about associated challenges
• Learn four steps for designing and implementing M&E for EbA, which include:
o Gaining knowledge on two key approaches for M&E, namely the Theory of Change and
the use of indicators
o Gaining awareness on how to collect, manage, store and use data
o Understanding how to evaluate a project
o Learning from M&E and communicating the results and lessons learned to different
actors

All definitions below are taken from GIZ, UNEP-WCMC and FEBA (2020).

• Monitoring: The process of systematically collecting and analysing data and information to
detect signs of change in relation to a baseline.
• Evaluation: The process of examining the monitoring data collected to understand what
difference an action has made and what lessons can be learned.
• Theory of Change (ToC): Highlights the theory and assumptions causing a pathway of change
from the implementation of prioritised EbA actions to expected results; helps show both short-
and long-term impacts of an EbA action and highlights complex inter-relationships; and
identifies cause and effect relationships that can help explain links among observed changes and
the EbA action or other factors.
• Activities: What the EbA action does to bring about change.
• Outputs: Produced by activities.
• Outcomes: The biophysical and/or behavioural changes brought about by the activities.
o Short-term outcomes provide something we can measure before long-term outcomes
become visible and show progress towards longer-term results.
• Impact: The long-term, lasting changes brought about by the action’s activities.
• Risks: Possible impacts on an EbA project which may reduce its success.
• Assumptions: Expected conditions necessary for a pathway of change to occur.
• Indicators: Units of information about particular objects, conditions, characteristics or
behaviours that can represent or act as markers for the broader environmental, socio-economic
or climatic situation. They can be quantitative or qualitative.
• Baseline: A description of the initial condition/situation before an action takes place.
• Target: A standard (benchmark) to demonstrate progress or the achievement of success.

1. M&E allows us to assess the effectiveness of an EbA action and is critical for tracking progress
on adaptation. It helps with the adaptive management of EbA actions and determines if
implemented actions are delivering their intended adaptation benefits.
2. M&E contributes to the sustainability of EbA actions on the ground through adaptive
management, learning and knowledge sharing.
3. There are four general steps for designing and implementing M&E for EbA:
• Step 1: Developing a results framework
• Step 2: Defining indicators, baselines and targets
• Step 3: Operationalising the M&E system
• Step 4: Using and communicating the results

4. For step 1, a ToC framework is used. A ToC illustrates pathways of change between actions and
ultimate impacts and shows how and why EbA actions are meant to achieve their desired goals.
5. For step 2, indicators, baselines and targets must be established. A baseline describes the initial
situation before an EbA action, while targets are standards to measure the success of actions.
Indicators are used to track progress between the baseline and targets.
6. For step 3, the selection of an evaluation design is necessary to operationalise the M&E system.
A good evaluation design will help you understand what changes have occurred because of the
project and because of external factors. In this unit, a theory-based evaluation design is
presented, which tests whether the actual results support the expected outcomes.
7. For step 4, communicating M&E results is important because it helps inform adaptive
management and national and international reporting, increases awareness, and is crucial for
sharing lessons learned.

• Guidebook for Monitoring and Evaluating Ecosystem-based Adaptation Interventions (by Sylvia
Wicander for GIZ, UNEP-WCMC and FEBA, 2020). This guidebook details four steps for
designing and implementing M&E for EbA, as highlighted in the course unit. It also helps
planners and practitioners to understand the importance of M&E in EbA and navigate challenges
in the M&E process.
 • Voluntary guidelines for the design and effective implementation of ecosystem-based
approaches to climate change adaptation and disaster risk reduction and supplementary
information (by the CBD, 2019). This document consists of three sections. The first section
highlights the advantages of EbA and discusses how it can be integrated into plans and policies
focused on climate adaptation and disaster risk reduction. The second section provides
guidelines to practitioners on how to effectively design and implement EbA at the programme
and project levels. And the third section covers outreach to different sectors.
• Constructing theories of change models for Ecosystem-based Adaptation projects: A guidance
document (by Conservation International, 2013). This document introduces the ToC approach,
guides users through the necessary steps in developing a ToC and provides recommendations to
project managers on how to facilitate the development of a ToC within their project team.
• Evaluating the impacts of conservation interventions on human wellbeing. Guidance for
practitioners. (by Emily Woodhouse et al., for IIED, 2016). This document covers four key steps
in an evaluation: 1) determining the aim; 2) defining indicators; 3) designing the evaluation; and
4) collecting data. It also presents four scenarios where different challenges arise and suggests
ways in which practitioners can navigate the situations.

Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH, United Nations Environment Programme
World Conservation Monitoring Centre (UNEP-WCMC) & Friends of Ecosystem-based Adaptation (FEBA).
(2020). Guidebook for Monitoring and Evaluating Ecosystem-based Adaptation Interventions. GIZ: Bonn,
Germany. 84 pp. https://www.adaptationcommunity.net/download/ME-Guidebook_EbA.pdf
Flood Forecasting and Warning Centre (FFWC) & Bangladesh Water Development Board (BWDB). (2020). Annual
Flood Report 2020. 134 pp. http://www.ffwc.gov.bd/images/annual20.pdf
Ministry of Water and Environment Uganda Director of Water Resources Management. (2018). Vulnerability
Assessment Report of Sipi sub-Catchment, Awoja Catchment, Kyoga Water Management Zone. Kampala,
Uganda. 123 pp.