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Monitoring and evaluation of an IEA process and its impacts focuses on how the assessment process Module
has been organized to have a desired impact on policy making.

Let’s understand how monitoring, evaluation and learning can be used as complementary tools that 8
build on each other’s impact to improve an IEA process (Table 1).

Monitoring is a planned, systematic process of observation that closely follows a course of activities, and

compares what is happening with what is expected to happen. Monitoring the IEA process makes sure
the environmental assessment meets its goals, while working within the scope of allocated resources Abu Dhabi, UAE
(i.e., time, financial, human, informational and technical).

Evaluation is a process that assesses an achievement against preset criteria. Evaluations can have a
variety of purposes (Section 2.1), and follow distinct methodologies (process, outcome, performance,

etc). Evaluation of the IEA process determines the extent to which achievements (outputs, outcomes
and impacts) are comparable with the originally intended purpose, and what lessons can be learned for
the next environmental assessment and management cycle. The evaluation of the process is, first and
foremost a capacity-development opportunity.

Table 1

Attribute Monitoring Evaluation
Main focus Collecting data on progress. Assessing data at critical stages of the process.

Sense of completion Sense of progress. Sense of achievement.
Time focus Present Past – future.
Main question What needs to happen now to Have we achieved our goal?
reach our goal? How can we do better next time?
Attention level Details. Big picture.

Inspires Motivation. Creativity.
Periodicity Continuous throughout the whole Intermittent; at the beginning or end of significant
process. milestones.
Supports Implementation of a plan. Designing the next planning cycle.

Skills required Management. Leadership.
Output processing Progress indicators needs to be Evaluation results need to be discussed, processed
closely monitored by a few people and interpreted by all stakeholders.

IEA Training Manual Workshop for the National Reporting Toolkit (NRT) 7