Target group
Officials from central, regional and local government, programme officers and managers, as well as project managers and developers involved with the implementation and evaluation of Structural and Cohesion Fund projects and programmes in 2014-2020. The seminar is also open to economic and social partners involved in Structural Funds and evaluation activities, such as NGOs, higher education establishments, and consultants.

Description
This two-stage seminar looks at the new Evaluation and Monitoring framework for 2014-2020, as well as covering the fundamentals of evaluation:

Stage 1 (Day 1) will deal with the essentials: the Evaluation-Policy Cycle, evaluation terminology and concepts, monitoring and reporting tasks. This should include an understanding of the basic methods used for conducting ex ante programme and project appraisals, evaluations during the programming period and ex post impact assessments of projects and programmes. We will look at the implications of the new emphasis on result-orientation for evaluation and monitoring in the 2014-2020 programming period. The quantification of programmes using result and output indicators for projects and programmes will be examined. There will be exercises with indicators, project appraisal and job creation.

Stage 2 (Days 2 & 3) assumes that participants have the background knowledge of methods and concepts covered in Stage 1. There are keynote speeches from the European Commission and expert consultants in the field. The European Commission will outline their expectations for Evaluation Plans, as well as describing what they see as particular challenges for Member States in the new programming period. Other areas of focus will be on:
• theory-based and counterfactual evaluations, and other favoured best practice techniques in evaluation;
• key issues for evaluations during the programme period and ex post evaluations;
• ex ante project appraisal techniques (with reference to the new Major Projects application form and a basic introduction to cost-benefit analysis);
• designing evaluation plans, conducting evaluation studies, aspects of fieldwork.

We will also consider further the changes to reporting requirements within the Annual Implementation Report and the challenges for programmes of the Performance Framework and the Performance Review.

Learning methodology
There is a series of presentations from regional practitioners, expert consultants and EC officials. Discussions and exchanges of experience are encouraged. Mini-workshops and exercises are used both to develop simulations of essential elements of evaluation and monitoring to provide a clear view of good practice in the key disciplines involved.

Objectives
At the end of the seminar the participants should have a clear understanding of all the basic evaluation and monitoring requirements associated with EU cohesion policy. Participants should also have a quick general tool kit for undertaking programme and project appraisal, theory-based and counter-factual evaluations and the process of generating indicators and measuring performance.

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