Evaluation Sourcebook (.pdf) - School of Natural Resources and ...

INTRODUCTIONHow do I use the Sourcebook to engage in evaluation?Now that you know how the sourcebook is organized, you can use it in different ways tomeet your evaluation needs. The following steps can help you select the relevant sections ortools to support an existing planning, evaluation or adaptive management processes or todevelop a new evaluation plan.1. Get a feel for the Sourcebook contents by skimming the Map of Sourcebook Topics,p. 15 and the introductory pages of each section:Ecological Objectives, p. 21Social Objectives, p.57Organizational Objectives, p.87Threats & Assets, p.105Strategies, p.1752. Develop lists of your project goals, what you think is hindering (threats) or helping(assets) your progress towards those goals and the strategies that you are using.You could do this alone or in a group, from scratch or by consulting existingplanning documents.3. Use the content of the topic-specific 2-page spreads that correspond to your listedgoals, threats/assets and strategies to prompt your thinking about:a. What do we need to know to inform decision-making or document progress?(X Evaluation questions)b. What will we measure to answer our evaluation questions? ( Indicators)c. Where could we get the information we need? (Data Sources)d. How will we use this information in decision-making or to gain support orunderstanding for what we do? (Example)4. If you would like more guidance on how to develop an evaluation plan consultMeasuring Progress – An Evaluation Guide for Ecosystem and Community-Based Projects. This is a step-by-step workbook that takes you through the processof creating a systematic plan for measuring progress (available as a downloadablepdf or an interactive program on the EMI web site – see next section).The following page shows how the Sourcebook can be used at each stage of theMeasuring Progress workbook. You can also simply use these questions to guideyour evaluation thinking.Ecosystem Management Initiative 10