Capacity building: Twenty eight new trained in Policy and Program Impact Evaluation

Participants from Latin America and the Caribbean completed the Environmental and Resource Economics Training Course on Impact Evaluation by LACEEP at CATIE

Twenty eight practitioners and students from countries across Latin America and the Caribbean completed the environmental and resource economics training course on Impact Evaluation. The course was organized by EfD-CA´s partner program, The Latin American and the Caribbean Environment and Economics Program (LACEEP). The course was held at CATIE´s campus between July 18 and 27. LACEEP is directed by EfD-CA Center Juan Robalino.

The course was taught by Professor Paul J. Ferraro, Department of Economics at Georgia State University and Professor Rodrigo Arriagada, Department of Agricultural Economics at Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile in Santiago. The faculty is well known for their research contributions on the topic; they are both very active intellectual on impact evaluation.

The fundamental principal for evaluation impact is to ask the question, what would have happened if there had been no intervention? This way of approaching evaluation impact (the counterfactual thinking approach) goes beyond the simple description of indicators which is important for documenting processes. Nonetheless, programs and policy interventions need to be evaluated based on whether the intervention causes any change in behaviors that affect its outcome.

Some of the central themes of the course were:

· What has program evaluation found in relation to environmental policy?
· The role of evaluation in environmental policy.
· The State of the Evidence-base in Environmental Policy
· Program evaluation methods
· Experimental and Non-experimental Designs
· The role of program evaluation in environmental policy and barriers to program evaluation in environmental policy

Resources on Impact Evaluation

Handbook on impact evaluation : quantitative methods and practices http://www-wds.worldbank.org/external/default/WDSContentServer/IW3P/IB/2009/12/10/000333037_20091210014322/Rendered/PDF/520990PUB0EPI1101Official0Use0Only1.pdf

Rough Guide to Impact Evaluation of Environmental and Development Programs http://www.sandeeonline.com/uploads/documents/publication/847_PUB_Working_Paper_40.pdf

Introduction to Evaluation http://www.socialresearchmethods.net/kb/intreval.htm

Better Policies for Better Lives http://www.oecd.org/home/0,2987,en_2649_201185_1_1_1_1_1,00.html

Environment for Development

Environment for Development

Capacity building: Twenty eight new trained in Policy and Program Impact Evaluation

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