DESIGNING PROJECTS IN A RAPIDLY CHANGING WORLD

Part II: Detailed RAPTA Guidelines for project designers
• Chapter 3 contains the guidelines themselves, and provides a level of detail relevant to those who wish to design
a project that incorporates the principles of resilience, adaptation, and transformation. Although the guidelines
are aligned mainly with the Food Security IAP, they can also be used in other sectors, particularly those related to
natural resource management.
• Chapter 4 provides specific information on how to use RAPTA in the GEF project cycle to develop the required
elements of project documentation. It is, therefore, of particular interest and relevance to those who are designing
and implementing GEF projects.
Further guidance for readers with different needs is provided in Table (i) and Figure (i). Ultimately, we intend to
produce a set of documents (with dynamic links) to describe RAPTA and guide users:
• a technical manual covering the background and science
• a “field guide” for RAPTA users, and
• a set of worked examples (e.g. on food security, sustainable cities or biodiversity) to further assist users to apply
RAPTA in different contexts.
This report is an interim guidance document to support the immediate needs of project developers, so it covers
each of these three aspects to some extent. The three documents listed above will be produced after pilot testing
of RAPTA is complete.
Table(i) Recommended use of this document by readers with different needs
Audience
Are you designing or delivering a Global
Environment Facility (GEF) project?
Are you a decision maker, researcher or
student, or in a policy area? Interested in
a quick overview of RAPTA and in how
it can be used to enhance project design
and delivery generally?
Are you designing or implementing
projects not funded by GEF?
Do you want to know how to use RAPTA
to embed resilience, adaptation, and
transformation into the design of projects
in other areas such as disaster management,
conservation or resilient cities?
Are you a researcher or practitioner in the
area of resilience, adaptation or transformation,
who is less familiar with the
requirements of working in applied areas
of development and aid?
Are you a farmer, a donor or a project
stakeholder with a general interest in
the ideas of resilience, adaptation, and
transformation (rather than project design
and delivery)?
Recommended use of document
The whole report is relevant to you. These Guidelines were commissioned to
help integrate resilience into the GEF’s Food Security IAP, and the examples
in Chapter 3 are relevant to this type of application. The Guidelines are also
applicable to other sustainable development project types.
You may be well-versed in some of the components (such as Scoping, Theory
of Change, Engagement and Governance, and Learning components. We
have included them for completeness and have focused on the aspects that
may need to be done differently to capture the core concepts of RAPTA. You
may find these additional resources useful for providing more background on
the science behind resilience thinking (see Resource links sections in Ch 3).
Chapter 4 explains how you can use RAPTA throughout the project cycle to
deliver the specific documentation required by GEF.
Part I is for you.
Chapter 1 provides a broad overview of RAPTA’s context and application. If you
want more details, read Chapter 2 as well.
Chapters 1, 2, 3 are relevant to you. Although the context might be quite
different, the generic approach is adaptable for use in different areas. Chapter
4 relates specifically to the use of RAPTA in GEF projects and is less relevant.
The RAPTA process is compatible with, and complementary to, the many
integrated assessment and/or adaptive management approaches and project
management practices already in use. RAPTA requires further testing and
development for use across a broader range of applications.
Part I will be most useful, but if you are developing a project then Chapter
3 will be of use. You may be familiar with much of the material in System
Description, System Assessment, and Options and Pathways, but may find it
useful to read Theory of Change, Multi-Stakeholder Engagement and Governance,
and Learning as well as becoming familiar with the different phases of
the project cycle (project inception, design, implementation and post-project
legacy) which differ from the usual academic research project design.
Though the early chapters provide an overview, perhaps you might like to start
with something more general – see, for example, the references in Resource
links section 3.4.5.
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