DESIGNING PROJECTS IN A RAPIDLY CHANGING WORLD

Recommendations

Info

RAPTA COMPONENTS 1. Scoping: a standard component of project development that summarises the purpose and nature of the project. These guidelines highlight the aspects of scoping that are unique to RAPTA. Applying RAPTA in the project identification stage involves a “light pass” through all seven components, after which Scoping is revisited to confirm or revise the initial plan. 2. Engagement and Governance: Effective stakeholder engagement means getting the right people involved, in the right way, at the right time, using ethical and transparent processes. Stakeholder engagement seeks to develop shared understanding of the many perspectives on problems and solutions. Defining the roles, responsibilities and accountabilities of stakeholders involved in project design, implementation and governance should be an important component of projects seeking to integrate resilience. Engagement and Governance is essential to all phases of the project cycle. Using RAPTA, it comes in early and is continually strengthened and modified as the project develops. 3. Theory of Change: Existing Theory of Change methods can be complemented and enhanced by RAPTA, by systematically considering resilience, adaptation and transformation (e.g. there is a deliberate consideration of options for transformational versus incremental change). It emphasizes the testing of initial hypotheses, improvement through learning and responsive management. Theory of Change is a key activity in the project identification phase and early in the project design phase. It is also an important input into the implementation phase of a project and underpins monitoring and assessment, and project evaluation. 4. System Description: Drawing from stakeholders’ diverse perspectives, as well as the literature, the System Description produces a record of the current understanding of what the system consists of and how it is connected, and the assumptions and evidence underpinning this understanding. It forms a fundamental base for assessing the system’s resilience, and underpins both the next two components. 5. System Assessment: The System Assessment identifies potential risks, points of no return and key controlling influences (‘controlling variables’) associated with anticipated future shocks or changes, as well as opportunities for adaptation or transformation. It draws heavily on resilience concepts and tools that are central to the RAPTA. It is a major focus early in the project cycle and is often revised, through Learning. 6. Options and Pathways: Here, the intervention options are identified and arranged into a provisional order for implementation. Their qualitative and quantitative benefits and costs are estimated. This helps form an implementation plan which is closely linked to Learning and is actively updated and adaptively managed over time. 7. Learning: an iterative component, which encompasses Monitoring and Assessment and Knowledge Management, that connects all other RAPTA components. Effective learning requires a structured approach that utilises the system description and system assessment to guide the focus of monitoring and assessment (M&A) (e.g. data collection and interpretation), so that the insights gained are used in project design and implementation. Results of M&A inform adaptive management and testing of the Theory of Change. Learning is captured to inform future phases of the project and program, as well as future projects. The engagement of stakeholders (e.g. land users, government policymakers, NGOs, community members) in Learning is essential to enhance self-assessment, awareness of their roles and their capacity to influence future action. 10
WHERE TO START? The RAPTA components are presented in the order which we think works well. However, following this order is not essential: users should choose a sequence that best suits their project. Each project is a complex social system in its own right and requires its own capacity to learn and adapt in a sequence that best serves its goals. Within each component, these guidelines offer a logical sequencing of tasks. Users may wish to adapt the sequence to suit their own project – for example, the component on Options and Pathways will be more robust if all of the previous components are completed, but may still be of use in adaptation planning even if a full resilience assessment is not conducted. Rather than prescribing an order or sequence, the components and their steps can form a checklist, to help the project team reflect on project activities and ensure that all components have been considered. Where a well-established practice for a particular component (e.g. Theory of Change) already exists, the guidelines are not intended to replace it but rather show how it can be adapted to incorporate resilience thinking. SUMMARY RAPTA supports the design of actions which can help to guide linked social and ecological systems into the future, informed by sound science, underpinned by a structured learning process to gather and analyse evidence, followed by continual adjustment of actions based on what has been learned. It opens a new way to think about development projects, one which offers more durable and flexible outcomes and longer-lasting benefits in the face of the rapid, unpredictable change, whether global or local, human or environmental, which confronts the modern world. 11
Page 1 and 2: DESIGNING PROJECTS IN A RAPIDLY CHA
Page 3: DESIGNING PROJECTS IN A RAPIDLY CHA
Page 6 and 7: CONTENTS FOREWORD..................
Page 8 and 9: LIST OF FIGURES AND TABLES FIGURES
Page 10 and 11: 6
Page 12 and 13: ABSTRACT RAPTA is a unique tool to
Page 16 and 17: HOW TO USE THIS REPORT RAPTA was de
Page 18 and 19: 14
Page 20 and 21: INTRODUCTION TO RAPTA AND ITS APPLI
Page 22 and 23: 1.2 KEY CONCEPTS: RESILIENCE, ADAPT
Page 24 and 25: BOX B Seven principles of resilienc
Page 26 and 27: BOX C Intervention options and adap
Page 28 and 29: gaps. In short, it is a flexible, a
Page 30 and 31: OVERVIEW OF THE RAPTA PROCESS 2 If
Page 32 and 33: The “systems view” encouraged b
Page 34 and 35: description is available. The Syste
Page 36 and 37: are not intended to replace current
Page 38 and 39: and requirements that RAPTA could b
Page 40 and 41: 36
Page 42 and 43: RAPTA GUIDELINES FOR PROJECT IDENTI
Page 44 and 45: Scoping is a standard component of
Page 46 and 47: Step 5 Review how resources are to
Page 48 and 49: 3.2.3 Steps to Multi-Stakeholder En
Page 50 and 51: • How should the identified stake
Page 52 and 53: BOX G Example of engagement process
Page 54 and 55: • How do you make this RAPTA comp
Page 56 and 57: 3.3 THEORY OF CHANGE RAPTA PROCESS
Page 58 and 59: BOX I Use of term ‘Pathways’ in
Page 60 and 61: 3.4 SYSTEM DESCRIPTION RAPTA PROCES
Page 62 and 63: assess the difficulty or not of cha
Page 64 and 65:
Step 4 Describe key social-ecologic
Page 66 and 67:
shared and used to inform adaptive
Page 68 and 69:
BOX L Example: different domains in
Page 70 and 71:
BOX N The RESILIENCE ATLAS and Vita
Page 72 and 73:
3.5.4 What this component will prod
Page 74 and 75:
3.6.3 Steps to take Step 1 Draw on
Page 76 and 77:
Table 1 Characterizing and prioriti
Page 78 and 79:
long-term role of the Theory of Cha
Page 80 and 81:
decision points, implementation tri
Page 82 and 83:
Learning serves four objectives:
Page 84 and 85:
all RAPTA components and activities
Page 86 and 87:
BOX R An approach to learning for p
Page 88 and 89:
HOW TO USE RAPTA IN THE GEF PROJECT
Page 90 and 91:
input of different knowledge types,
Page 92 and 93:
Table 3 The RAPTA components, activ
Page 94 and 95:
System Assessment Options and Pathw
Page 96 and 97:
APPENDICES 5 92 Appendices
Page 98 and 99:
APPENDIX B GLOSSARY AND KEY CONCEPT
Page 100 and 101:
Multi-stakeholder Engagement Projec
Page 102 and 103:
B.3 STABILITY DOMAINS The term “d
Page 104 and 105:
APPENDIX C SUPPLEMENT TO SECTION 3.
Page 106 and 107:
FACTORS THAT MAY HINDER IMPLEMENTAT
Page 108 and 109:
APPENDIX D LEARNING EXAMPLES Table
Page 110:
106 Appendices
show all

DESIGNING PROJECTS IN A RAPIDLY CHANGING WORLD

You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles

Delete template?

Save as template?