1. Danish Case Study presentation
Dea Cordt Kragh
Danish Business Authority
National Support Unit
Nordic-Baltic Networking Meeting
12-13 September 2016, Jelgava, Latvia

2. The Danish National Rural Network
Organisation:
A specific intervention in the Danish RDP
Divided into two, but within the MA/PA:
Danish Business Authority – LAG/LEADER
Danish Agrifish Agency – rest of RDP – co-ordinator

3. Purpose of evaluation
To be a learning tool for the design, quality and implementation of rural development policy in the future
We would like to demonstrate the
Progress
Achievements
Results
Impacts
Relevance
Effectiveness and efficiency
- of the Danish RDP
If at all possible – explore the causal-effect:
To what extent … has the change happened … due to the programme
The purpose of the evaluation is to evaluate whether we have lived up to the objectives supporting the RDP implementation.
These objectives are:
Contribute to fulfill the objectives of future rural development programme
Contribute to the dissemination of knowledge and best practice between European, national, regional and local networks
Strengthen the transnational cooperation and networks between local actors, different sectors and different regions,
Promote dialogue between national, local and regional authorities on rural sectors’ development,
Help the development of rural areas through capacity building activities and training,
Prevent the exclusion of remote areas.
These will be some of the main areas of focus for the evaluation.

4. Form of evaluation and responsibilities
Within the RDP evaluation
MA for the RDP is the main responsible, and will have the overall co-ordination
LEADER area – Danish Business Authority is responsible
It will probably carried out by an external evaluator
The most probable scenario is, that the evaluation will be organized within RDP evaluation.
The MA for the RDP is the main responsible, and will have the overall co-ordination. This is the Danish Agrifish Agency. They are both MA and PA for the Danish RDP as a whole, with exception of the LEADER area. The Danish Business Authority, where I come from, is MA and NSU for the LAGs, and we also have the responsibility to introduce self-evaluation procedures for the LAGs. We will start working with this during this autumn. Of course, we work in close co-operation with the Danish Agrifish Agency.
The Danish Rural Development Programme is presently undergoing an ex post evaluation. The purpose of the evaluation is to document the results of the programme as well as provide a learning tool for the design, quality and implementation of rural development policy in the future. The evaluation must fulfill the EU requirements. In addition, there is a national focus on the evaluation of measures that are continued in the new programme period ( ). The evaluation will be submitted to the EU Commission by 31 December 2016.
External evaluators contracted by the Managing Authority conduct the evaluation, and the next one will probably be the same. A steering committee has been established in order to ensure the involvement of the stakeholders working with the RDP. The steering committee as well as the monitoring committee for the RDP must approve the final report before it is submitted to the Commission.
The evaluation draws upon several methods, such as surveys with beneficiaries, desk research, interviews with caseworkers, beneficiaries and other stakeholders, as well as other data sources.

5. Approach and data sources
Based on information collected throughout the programme period
External evaluators will be contracted
A steering group will be established
Methods: Surveys with beneficiaries, desk research, interviews,
Data collected from self-evaluation
PROMIS – for LAG and FLAG intervention in RDP
The evaluation will draw upon several methods, such as surveys with beneficiaries, desk research, interviews with caseworkers, beneficiaries and other stakeholders, as well as other data sources.
Presently, the external evaluators are in the process of collecting and analyzing data for the ex-post evaluation. One of the main challenges is that the evaluation covers a period beginning in 2007.
Often beneficiaries are not able to recall the details of grants they have received so long ago. Therefore, it is important to set up ways of documenting information when it is top of mind.

6. PROMIS (Project Result Oriented Management Information System)
Application form for applicants under the LAG intervention in DK
Prioritization tool for the LAGs to select among the project applications
End reporting template for project holders
Effect evaluation tool for LAGs
Self evaluation document for LAGs to Ministry
According to the Rural Development Regulation, and due to a requirement from the EU Court of Auditors, the LAGs must prepare transparent and objective prioritization criteria as a tool for them to select among project applications. The idea is that such a set of prioritization criteria may be useful for selecting projects, that will generate results and impacts in line with the objectives of the CAP pillar 2 objectives: Quantifiable and verifiable results and impacts must be generated and documented.
Thus, the Danish Ministry of Housing, Urban and Rural Development - responsible at that time for the full administration and implementation of the LAG-intervention under the Danish RDP - in June 2014 started developing a system, which could be used by the LAGs for this prioritization exercise. An IT based integrated solution was proposed, containing a number of tools:
Application form for applicants under the LAG intervention in DK:
The application form is generic and electronic or smart, and it will develop on the screen when the applicant clicks his choices in the menus. He will therefore only see questions to answer and data/information to deliver, which are linked to what he chooses to apply for: Data and information and indicators will be different for an Agro tourism project than for a Culture oriented project. He will be asked to provide info about a number of baselines linked to his project and to his expected outputs, results and impacts. Baseline data on turnover, jobs, capacity etc., and objectives/quantified targets related to the same indicators.
Prioritization tool for the LAGs to select among the project applications
When the call for applications has ended and the LAG has a number of project applications uploaded in the database, the coordinator (or the board) can give each project a score  (a number of scores) distributed on 8 prioritization criteria and a number of sub-criteria for each main criteria. The criteria and the selection of projects should live up to the local development strategies.
End reporting template for project holders
When the project comes to an end, the project holder must submit an end-report. He will fill-in the end-report from his file in the central database. The end-report will be pre-prepared by the IT system in the sense that it will include all the applicants baseline data and his expected objectives/targets. He will then fill in the factual results and impacts and upload the report to the database. He will also provide narrative explanations on why or why not he has done well or bad compared to his objectives.
After two years he will be notified to fill in a new end report (2-years report) where the actual results and impacts are reported. This will contribute to the mapping of the sustainability of the results and the impacts as well as to map the impacts, which do not appear from the first day after the project ended.
Effect evaluation tool for LAGs
The LAG can aggregate the baselines, the expected results and impacts and the realized results and impacts in a so-called effect evaluation tool to be reported to the Ministry. This report gives an overview over all baselines, expected results and impacts and realized results and impacts. All data can be related to the money spent and in this way generate data on efficiency. Where do we get most jobs for the money or other interesting results and impacts.
The generic impact indicators used are:
Number of jobs maintained and created (FTE)
Economic development (change in turnover and gross value added)
Population covered by the services provided by the projects
But many other indicators are used in order to cover economic, environmental, climate, social and cultural effects. Indicators are also proposed by the individual projects depending on the character of the project.
Self evaluation document for LAGs to Ministry
Finally, the LAG can fill in a self evaluation tool, where a number of predefined questions related to the effectiveness and efficiency of the work of the LAGs are included. The LAG will reply to the questions based on the effect evaluation tool and its experiences with the work in the LAG over the project period.

7. Current state of play – LAG area
Creation of intervention logic and evaluation questions related to LAG
Training for LAG in self-evaluation
Training to use the information in PROMIS
TIME is a challenge
We will in the next half year provide training for the LAGs, and we will, in co-operation with the LAGs set up an intervention logic and create evaluation questions.

8. Thank you for your attention
Dea Cordt Kragh Head of Section National Support Unit for LAGs DANISH BUSINESS AUTHORITY Managing Authority for LAGs Phone: