What Indicates Improved Resilience to Climate Change? A Learning and Evaluative Process Developed From a Child-Centered, Community-Based Project in the Philippines

© 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc., A Wiley Company, and the American Evaluation Association. Community-based climate change adaptation and resilience (CCAR) projects increasingly recognize that climate change impacts are localized, requiring context-specific interventions. Conventional approaches to monitoring and evaluation (M&E) are, however, ill-suited to understanding the impact of such CCAR interventions. To address this gap, research based on a child-centered community-based adaptation project in the Philippines has developed a practical and replicable process for developing evidence-based, local-level indicators of effective adaptation. The process assesses how the project influenced children's knowledge, advocacy efforts, and impact on policy and practice. Evidence was generated from qualitative inquiry, primarily through focus group discussions with children. The analysis included scalar ratings to help to meet quantitative reporting requirements. A detailed guide was developed for implementing agencies to systematically understand, measure, and communicate evidence. The process can also be translated to community development projects seeking to evaluate change under uncertainty