Here are a few case studies of recent projects that illustrate our key areas of work

POLICY AND DECISION-MAKING TOOLS AND APPROACHES

• EVALUATION OF THE BIODIVERSITY OFFSETTING PILOT PHASE

CEP with the Institute of European Environmental Planning (IEEP) were commissioned by Defra (Department for the Environment Food and Rural Affairs) to undertake a two-year (2012-2014) evaluation of the six biodiversity offsetting pilots and complementary projects.

The evaluation considered how biodiversity offsetting can:

• Help to use resources more effectively to deliver greater benefits for biodiversity.
• Streamline the process of agreeing compensation for biodiversity loss as required by planning policy, in a cost effective way.

The project involved detailed qualitative research, with a diversity of partners and stakeholders, into the planning system and its current and potential consideration of biodiversity. The project also included research looking at the existing costs of biodiversity compensation within the English planning system (this informed the counterfactual for the evaluation) and a review of the German approach to biodiversity offsetting.

The final evaluation report and supplementary reports are published on Defra’s project webpage or contact Collingwood Environmental Planning’s Dr Bill Sheate (Technical Director) w.sheate@cep.co.uk

• MONITORING AND EVALUATION OF NATURE IMPROVEMENT AREAS: PHASE 2

CEP with partners GeoData Institute and Cascade Consulting were commissioned by Defra (Department for the Environment Food and Rural Affairs), in collaboration with Natural England, to undertake the Monitoring and Evaluation of the Nature Improvement Areas Phase 2 project. Nature Improvement Areas (NIA) are places where a shared vision for the development of the natural environment exists among a wide partnership of local people, including statutory and voluntary sectors.

The NIA Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) Phase 2 project is a three year project (February 2013 – November 2015) with the following overall aims:

• Gather evidence of approaches used within the NIAs and their outcomes, to maximise learning from the pilots and build a practical evidence base to inform future extension of the NIA approach.
• Assess the individual and aggregated contribution of the NIA pilots towards meeting the outcomes included in the Natural Environment White Paper and other agreed policy outcomes.

The project combines qualitative research methods, online indicator based monitoring and detailed thematic investigations, for instance: exploring monitoring and evaluating habitat management activities at the landscape scale and social and economic well-being benefits; the development and testing of innovative approaches to understanding the counterfactual for landscape scale initiatives; and the development of lessons for future landscape scale monitoring and evaluation programmes.

The final evaluation reports are published on Defra’s project webpage or contact Collingwood Environmental Planning’s: Owen White (Principal Consultant) o.white@cep.co.uk Ric Eales (Managing Director) r.eales@cep.co.uk

CAPACITY BUILDING AND ENGAGEMENT

• EVALUATION OF THE CATCHMENT-BASED APPROACH – PILOT STAGE

Cascade Consulting (lead company), CEP, eftec and Yvonne Rees with Prof. Kevin Collins (Open University) and Dr Nigel Watson (University of Lancaster) undertook the evaluation of the pilot phase of Defra’s Catchment Based Approach (CaBA).

The pilots were part of the UK Government’s review of river basin planning (RBP) strategy in the context of the European Water Framework Directive (WFD). The Government’s aim was that the 25 pilots would provide a means for stakeholders to learn how to develop effective, partnership-based approaches for catchment improvement.

The evaluation used a mixed-method approach including a learning programme for the pilots that was led by CEP. The summative work involved multiple surveys, reviews of outputs, cost/benefit assessment and in-depth case studies (led by CEP) involving interviews, focus groups and document analysis. The project team worked closely with Defra (Department for the Environment Food and Rural Affairs) and the Environment Agency team so that the results of the evaluation informed the development of the policy framework for catchment management in England.

For further information see Defra’s project webpage or contact Collingwood Environmental Planning’s Paula Orr (Principal Consultant) p.orr@cep.co.uk or Clare Twigger-Ross (Technical Director) c.twigger-ross@cep.co.uk

KNOWLEDGE BROKERAGE

• FLOOD RESILIENCE COMMUNITY PATHFINDER EVALUATION

The increase in the risk of flooding as a result of extreme weather and climate change make it essential for local authorities and communities to take ownership of this issue. Defra (Department for the Environment Food and Rural Affairs) provided grant funding to 13 local authorities throughout England under a new Community Flood Resilience Pathfinder Scheme aimed at stimulating community action to increase resilience. The measures developed included property-level protection, flood resilience groups, volunteer flood wardens and community champions, engagement with more vulnerable groups and efforts to increase financial resilience. 

The CEP-led evaluation followed UK Government good practice guidance – specifically the Magenta Book. It includes a Rapid Evidence Assessment (REA) to provide an overview and synthesis of the available evidence on the topic to inform the development of an evaluation framework. Team coordinators worked with each of the pathfinder projects to understand their focus and priorities and any methods of evaluation they had put in place. The evaluation was carried out over the entire pathfinder period and reported on the progress made by the individual projects and on the results and impacts of the scheme, identifying lessons for building community resilience in the future.The evaluation also used a series of indicators of community resilience to evaluate changes in outcomes within the Pathfinders.

The evaluation built on Cutter et al.’s (2010) model for categorising community resilience capacities/resources and discussed the pathfinder project interventions in terms of the five resilience categories: social, institutional, infrastructure, economic and community capital.

The CEP consortium included: the Flood Hazard Research Centre at Middlesex University; the University of Surrey; Northumbria University; the Centre for Evidence and Policy at King’s College London; and nef consulting Limited.

For further information see Defra’s project webpage or contact Collingwood Environmental Planning’s Paula Orr (Principal Consultant) p.orr@cep.co.uk or Clare Twigger-Ross (Technical Director) 

GOVERNANCE AND ACCOUNTABILITY

• BLOSSOM – BRIDGING LONG-TERM SCENARIO AND STRATEGY ANALYSIS: ORGANISATION AND METHODS

CEP, with Milieu and Stockholm Environment Institute, developed the BLOSSOM approach for the European Environment Agency (EEA) to understand the extent to which long-term perspectives were embedded in policy making. We undertook a study of the use, impacts and effectiveness of scenario planning in environmental policy across the EU. A comparative analysis of eight country case-studies (later extended to 12) explored similarities and differences between the countries, and between content (whether certain topics were receiving more attention than others) and process factors (role and function alongside the cycle of policy-making). We also explored the benefits of different organisational and institutional approaches. The project covered the EU with country case studies in Austria, Finland, France, Germany, Hungary, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden and United Kingdom was completed in 2010. A further separate BLSSOM project for Switzerland (for the Federal Office for the Environment) was completed by CEP in 2013.

For more information please contact Owen White o.white@cep.co.uk (Principal Consultant) or Dr Bill Sheate w.sheate@cep.co.uk (Technical Director)

Research and Creative Thinking

• e-Highway 2050

The e-Highway2050 project is a 40 month project which started in September 2012 and is supported by the EU Seventh Framework Programme. It aims to develop a methodology that can support the planning of the Pan-European Transmission Network – i.e. the electricity transmission network to serve the European Union and beyond – to ensure the reliable delivery of existing and potential new sources of renewable electricity as well as supporting the integration of the wider pan-European market. The project looks to the future, to the period 2020-2050, and will result in a modular development plan for implementing possible future electricity transmission grids.

CEP provided the following to this large and multi-disciplinary project: