Abstract

Monitoring and evaluating impacts is usually both costly and laborious. Often, it is also a challenging process, particularly when complex causal linkages or uncertain framework conditions are involved. All of this applies to climate change adaptation (CCA) projects, which present further methodological and practical challenges that complicate the assessment of concrete adaptation results. However, providing evidence about the impact of an intervention is often indispensable when it comes to generating knowledge about what works and what doesn’t, initiating organisational learning processes, monitoring the progress made or simply being accountable for the use of resources. 

The Impact Evaluation Guidebook for Climate Change Adaptation Projects seeks to support project managers by providing an overview of different impact evaluation methods and how they can be applied to climate change adaptation projects based on its characteristics and the available resources. The application of the Guidebook is further illustrated by a case study of an adaptation project in Bangladesh.

While many evaluation approaches claim to provide some kind of indication about project impacts, robust evidence can only be provided by sophisticated evaluation designs that comply with scientific standards and are based on valid empirical data. Evaluations that use such sophisticated designs and involve the collection of a considerable amount of empirical data are also called rigorous impact evaluations (RIEs). 

This Guidebook provides practitioners in the field of CCA with a selection of RIE designs, differentiated according to the type of impact (i.e. micro, meso or macro-level impacts) they are able to measure. It aims to address the challenge of producing more and better impact evaluations, giving practitioners the necessary know-how in order to plan, implement and steer an RIE. It enables practitioners to identify which of the RIE designs are suitable for successfully evaluating their particular project or programme, and also reveals the respective potentials and limitations of the different designs when it comes to their application in the field of CCA.