Result Orientation in Interreg CENTRAL EUROPE Annual Meeting, Luxemburg, 15 September 2015 Monika Schönerklee-Grasser, Joint Secretariat

Result orientation in Thematic contributions to policies

CENTRAL EUROPE Focusing on output and result-oriented approach as strategic implementation principle  Emphasis on the development of concrete, relevant and visible outputs and results throughout the project (and programme) lifetime Project selection: Quality assessment criteria and expert-based assessment Project implementation: Careful analysis of project main outputs and results (also using additional indicators) Programme capitalisation: Critical analysis of project thematic achievements, highlighting success stories and gaps and providing recommendations Programme independent evaluation confirmed that results are being integrated into political agendas and are developing new skills (or strengthening existing ones) within regional and local authorities High participation of private actors (18%) Result orientation in

What`s new? Further intensification and formalisation of the programme result-oriented approach (intervention logic) Intensive capacity building of applicants Even higher emphasis on assessment of outputs and results within the selection process  Projects must be able to deliver realistic results, driving a measurable change (improvement) of the initial situation in the programme area Relevant programme specific objective Relevant programme specific objective Result orientation in

Result indicators Challenge to capture the envisaged change in the entire cooperation area for a large transnational programme  Result indicators depict changes of capacity of the target groups defined for each programme specific objective (covering policy, legal and economic frameworks, institutional and human resources development etc.) Result orientation in Result indicator Component 1 Component 2 Component 3 Appraisal by national thematic experts qualitative description including semi-quantitative elements (Likert scale) Programme evaluation

Result indicators - Procedure for data collection (baseline and progress monitoring) Result orientation in Establishment of 5 thematic expert panels (in total 45 experts comprising national experts of all CENTRAL EUROPE Member States) Combined approach 2014/ BaselineMeasurement of progressVerification of target achievement Timing:

Baseline establishment – example Result indicator 2.1: Status of capacities of the public sector and related entities for increased energy efficiency and renewable energy use in public infrastructures achieved through transnational cooperation Technical knowledge on energy efficiency methods and renewable use in public infrastructure Awareness on available energy related certification systems and harmonisation of national and European energy standards for public infrastructures Knowledge on financing schemes for the implementation of energy efficiency measures and renewable energy use in public infrastructure Qualitative description of baseline situation (joint expert statement): Mostly adequate existing policy framework for energy efficiency and renewable energy use in public infrastructure Significant gap between available and required technical and managerial skills to initiate and implement EE & RES measures Lack of sufficient work force, e.g. energy managers, especially in smaller municipalities Prevailing tendency of applying national energy audits and certification systems of buildings, only moderate awareness and knowledge of European energy-related certification systems and standards Discrepancies of financial capacities and in the level of knowledge on available or innovative financing schemes for the implementation of EE measures and RES use …..  Score agreed by thematic expert panel: 2.9 (moderate)

Baseline establishment was coordinated by JS Challenges: Difficult identification of thematic experts at MS level and challenging scheduling of the focus group discussions Setting a common understanding of the result indicators and a harmonised appraisal within experts Consolidation of national expert appraisals at the level of the programme area (comprising more and less advanced territories) Time and resource consuming exercise for programme bodies Overall, lack of concrete guidance and practical experiences with regard to ETC in general and transnational programmes in particular Positive experiences: Interesting exchange with experts and building up of further internal thematic expertise New thematic insights providing added value to initial territorial analysis  contributing to further improving the quality of the programme Confirmation of the relevance of the programme scope and strategy by experts Baseline establishment – experiences

Result orientation in : Focus on communication Specific, quantitative communication results were defined per objective and will be monitored and evaluated against baselines

Summary and conclusions Result-orientation was an underlying principle already in Additional emphasis and better formalisation into the programme life cycle in More structured and straight-forward indicator system Successful establishment of baseline describing thematic key characteristics of the programme area (despite of disparities between Member States) Future monitoring of result indicator progress - challenge to capture the positive change in the entire programme territory (large, highly heterogeneous area) through:  direct project achievements for the beneficiaries and target groups in the participating regions  transfer (“roll-out”) of project results to other stakeholders and regions Result orientation in

Contact Interreg CENTRAL EUROPE Programme Monika Schönerklee-Grasser Head of Evaluation and Monitoring Unit Joint Secretariat Kirchberggasse 33-35/ Vienna Austria Phone +43 (0) Mail Web FB LinkedIn