Author(s): Claudia Hellberg; Matthew Davis; Clare Feeney; Will Allen
Linked Author(s):
Keywords: Catchment; Management plans; Evaluation framework; Logic model; Orders of outcomes
Abstract: Stormwater has the single biggest impact on Auckland? s marine ecosystems and urban streams, which in turn has adverse impacts on the social, cultural and economic values of the regional community (Boston Consulting Group, 2004). To focus on stormwater and simultaneously address exacerbating factors from sustained urban growth, the Auckland Regional Council (ARC) adopted the Stormwater Action Plan in 2004. Integrated Catchment Management Plans (ICMPs) are one workstream of the Stormwater Action Plan. The ARC? s? ICMP workstream strategy? sets out the context for the ICMP workstream (ARC, 2005). It acknowledges the importance of committed partnerships and potential hindrances to success, identifies objectives, describes target audiences and team links, lists key outcomes and measures of success, and identifies resources and activities. Key objectives are to: (1) raise the bar with respect to stormwater planning and future stormwater issues; (2) ensure a consistent approach to and standard of integrated catchment planning across the region; (3) allow the ARC to provide assistance, in the form of funding[based on the ICMP Funding Guideline (ARC, 2006) ] to Territorial Authorities (TAs) to ensure that the first two points are met; and (4) form the technical basis for future network consents; and (5) form the basis of implementation of stormwater management for each TA in a co-ordinated manner. After several ICMPs have been prepared by TAs in the region, it was considered timely in 2007 to evaluate how well the ARC has been able to assist their development, how well they meet the relevant statutory and non-statutory requirements, and how successful they are in meeting the objectives above. An evaluation programme was developed that can be used by the ARC to monitor and evaluate what has been done and what can be planned in the future. The ICMP workstream activities fell into three categories for evaluation: 1) Funding: financial support for preparing ICMPs 2) Good plans: supporting best practice plan preparation (Ericksen et al., 2003) and implementation 3) Building interagency relationships, awareness, linkages and alignment. A logic model, a graphical representation of the main elements of the programme, was developed for the ICMP workstream to summarise the situation analysis, vision, inputs, outputs, and outcomes based on an? orders of outcome? classification (UNEP/GPA, 2006). The orders enable the measurement of outcomes from short to long periods of time through the sequence of institutional, behavioural and social/environmental changes that can lead to more sustainable development, which comprises a balance between environmental and economic needs. The model provides a conceptual framework of cause and effect that clarifies the evaluation process. In 2008 and 2009 the evaluation was carried out involving ongoing internal ICMP reviews and scoring, annual external reviews and questionnaires for key stakeholders. A number of key lessons were learned. This paper will focus on these and show how they have helped to incrementally improve the workstream activities. The paper covers the logic model and'orders of outcomes'evaluation framework, the benefits and practicalities of undertaking a transparent and consistent internal review of ICMPs, and other outcomes from the evaluation. These include a new ICMP training workshop for TAs and consultants, and a proposed updated ICMP Guideline. This paper also highlights further gaps for research and improvement that have come from the evaluation. Finally, it shows how using a participatory process can also contribute to supporting the wide engagement that is needed for successful catchment management planning.
Year: 2010