Environment for Growth

Monitoring and Evaluation:

The Why, What and How

Calvin Jones

Monitoring Requirements

• WEFO requires monitoring estimates of visits and direct jobs

• This is not straightforward – and does not speak to strengths of tourism & visitation

• Hence need for evaluation of E4G investments

• Previous experience suggests this will be easier during rather than after the projects

E4G M&E: Today

• Make clear the need for a bespoke approach to E4G projects

• Emphasize the benefits of the E4G M&E approach:– To Assembly, Visit Wales, CADW, CCW &

partner sponsors– To individual projects and managers– To the wider Welsh economy– To site users and project beneficiaries

E4G M&E: Today

• Explain the materials, guidance and resources that will be made available to project managers

• Deal with specific issues that may arise around volunteering & volunteers

• Establish practical approaches to measuring visitor volumes & undertaking surveys

• A chance for you to tell us what matters

E4G M&E: Not Today

• Non site-based projects (e.g. interpretation)

• Impact of capital spending

• Social/Qualitative impacts

but all under consideration for integration

E4G M&E: Why this Approach?

• E4G is unusual in EU/ERDF funding terms:– Multiple sites, sponsors &managers across 7

strategic projects– Varying focus & interest of project managers– Very different sites in very different places– Some non-site based projects

• Yet common WEFO evaluation criteria and a need to evaluate the E4G projects as a whole…

The Commitment from us

• Centralised approach to monitoring and evaluation of E4G projects to minimise cost to the public sector

• Remove need for projects/SPs to develop their own M&E toolkits and approaches

• Provide guidance & advice on M&E activity• Provide site and project specific reports on

economic impact & help projects that wish to move beyond economic impact…

• Carry on learning

The Commitment from you

• Provide basic information about site type and activities

• Measure visitor volumes at appropriate times via counts or tickets

• Monitor project-specific fuel use.

• Selected larger projects: survey (with our advice) visitors to your sites

Summary: Why is this Necessary?

• E4G is unusual in ERDF terms

• Visitor impacts in large part arise away from destinations (E4G sites)

• This makes them hard to capture

• … and makes it difficult for tourism/visitor projects to stack up against traditional interventions and win continued support