Structural and cohesion funds/ESIF

Monitoring and Evaluation of EU Structural and Cohesion Fund Programmes: Measuring Progress and Impact in 2021-2027

About 400 new Structural and Cohesion Fund programmes for the 2021-2027 period are now being implemented. Member States have set up monitoring and reporting systems and evaluation plans have been agreed on for the new period. Within this context, are you aware of what the New Regulations say about the new monitoring and evaluation requirements?

About this course

Nearly 400 new Structural and Cohesion Funds programmes for the period 2021-2027 were agreed before the end of 2022 and are now being implemented. Member States have set up monitoring systems and many are still finalising Evaluation Plans for the new period. Are you aware of what the New Regulations say about the new monitoring and evaluation requirements?

Many programme authorities continue to conduct evaluations of their 2014-2020 programmes and projects, as well as planning evaluations for the 2021-2027 period. Are the managing authorities collecting the best possible monitoring and evaluation data? Are they aware of how to measure the impact of interventions and what evaluation methods to use – theory-based or counterfactual? Are they considering ex-post CBA?

Member State Recovery and Resilience Fund plans are being implemented rapidly. How do their monitoring procedures and data needs differ from Cohesion Policy?

What will you learn:

This face-to-face course in Prague is over 3 days:

  • Day 1 deals with the new monitoring requirements, choice of programme indicators, data challenges and the new Performance Framework. Helena Barbořáková, a highly experienced Czech Ministry official, will assess the lessons learnt from 2014-2020 and the implications of the new requirements for programmes in 2021-2027.
  • We will also review a selection of new Programmes and look at the Reporting template for the new Structural Funds programmes, highlighting the special link between finance and performance, and how will you report programme progress.
  • We look at how RRF plans in Member States will be monitored and evaluated
  • Days 2 & 3 examine the preparation of Evaluation Plans and how to conduct impact evaluations (and “evaluations during the programming period”). Dr. Vladimir Kváča, a leading evaluation consultant-economist, will help us plan realistic evaluations – ones that are useful for evaluation stakeholders. He will consider the appropriate timing of evaluation studies and the implications for data gathering. We will review the two recommended broad evaluation methods – theory-based and counterfactual evaluations – and the choices for project / programme evaluations on the ground.
  • We will also describe how to complete an ex post cost-benefit analysis (ex post CBA) for infrastructure and other large projects.

At the end of the course, participants should have:

  • A clear understanding of all the monitoring and evaluation requirements for current and future programmes; and
  • A quick general tool kit for undertaking impact evaluations for projects and programmes

Workshops and exercises will be used to develop simulations of essential elements of evaluation and monitoring to provide a clear view of good practice in the key disciplines involved.

You are invited to send us your problems, issues and questions before the course, if you wish.  We will do our best to address the problems/answer the questions during the course!

Who will benefit most?

  • Officials from central, regional and local government, programme officers and managers involved with the implementation and evaluation of Structural and Cohesion Fund projects and programmes
  • Project managers and developers
  • Economic and social partners involved in Structural Funds and evaluation activities, such as NGOs, higher education establishments, and consultants.

Course venue
Novotel Praha Wenceslas Square
38 Katerinska
12000 Prague (CZ)

Programme Organiser
Ms Rafaella Giussani
Tel: +31 43 32 96 372
r.giussani@eipa.eu

Fee
The fee includes documentation, refreshments, lunches and a reception. Accommodation and travel costs are at the expense of the participants or their administration.

Discounts
EIPA member fee
EIPA offers a discount to all civil servants working for one of EIPA’s supporting countries, and civil servants working for an EU institution, body or agency.

Who are the supporting countries?
Civil servants coming from the following EIPA supporting countries are entitled to get the reduced fee: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Spain and Sweden.

For all other participants, the regular fee applies.

Early bird discount
The early bird discount is not cumulative with other discounts or promo codes, except for the EIPA member fee.

Meals
Dietary preferences can be indicated on the registration form.

Hotel reservation
EIPA has special price arrangement with the hotel where the course takes place. Should you wish to make use of this possibility, please book directly via the link below. Please note that the reservation can only be cancelled, free of charge, until 15 days before the day of the course. Payment is to be made directly and personally to the hotel upon checking out.

Novotel Praha Wenceslas Square****
38 Katerinska
12000 Prague (CZ)
Participants can book their room via this link.

Confirmation
Confirmation of registration will be forwarded to participants on receipt of the completed online registration form.

Payment
Prior payment is a condition for participation.

Cancellation policy
For administrative reasons you will be charged €150 for cancellations received within 15 days before the activity begins. There is no charge for qualified substitute participants.

EIPA reserves the right to cancel the activity up to 2 weeks before the starting date. In that case, registration fees received will be fully reimbursed. EIPA accepts no responsibility for any costs incurred (travel, accommodation, etc.).

A few days before the start of the course you will receive the log-in details for accessing the course materials. You can log in here.

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Our experts

robin smail new photo 2024
Project leader

Robin Smail

Robin Smail Training & Consultancy

Programme

DAY 1
Monitoring, indicators and the Performance Framework
08.40Registration of participants
09.00Opening of the course and meeting the participants: introduction to the objectives and methodology of the course
Marco Lopriore, Expert, EIPA, Maastricht, Netherlands
Robin Smail,Visiting Expert EIPA and Consultant (UK) (former National Expert EC, and former Senior Executive within Evaluation Division, Scottish Enterprise)
09.30Monitoring and reporting project and programme progress, 2021-2027

  • Programme cycle, key monitoring tasks, data requirements and challenges
  • Indicators, intervention logic, result-orientation, understanding the impact chain
  • The Performance Framework – old and new
  • Reporting in 2014-2020 and 2021-2027: moving to real-time reporting
  • The new OP template and examples of new programmes

Robin Smail

10.45Coffee break
11.15Workshop and discussion: indicators by sector

  • What are we measuring?
  • Programme-specific indicators by sector
  • Fund Regulation Annexes – common indicators

Robin Smail

12.15Management Challenges for Member States in collecting and managing data

  • lessons learned from the first years of implementation
  • data collection, MIS, interpreting data for the AIR
  • problems for the PF, measuring progress

Ing. Helena Viktorie Barbořáková, Managing Authority, Operational Programme – Research, Development and Education, Ministry of Education, Youth and Sport, Czech Republic

13.00Lunch break
14.15Management Challenges for Member States in collecting and managing data (contd).

  • programme amendments
  • the new requirements 2021-2027

Ing. Helena Viktorie Barbořáková

15.00Workshop: using benchmarks for the Performance Framework

  • the OP template and new programmes – baselines and setting targets
  • the Reporting template – measuring progress
  • unit-cost benchmarks

Robin Smail

15.45Coffee break
16.15Measuring progress in Recovery and Resilience Facility compared to EU Cohesion

  • RRF Milestones & Targets (M&T); the 14 Common RRF Indicators
  • EC Scoreboard and delegated act on social expenditure in RRF
  • Comparing M&E of EU Cohesion and RRF
  • RRF Comparison between Member States: resources and M&T

Marco Lopriore

17.00Case study with RRF

  • Are the indicators adequate? Are we measuring inputs, outputs or results?
  • Primary and secondary targets

Marco Lopriore

17.30End of first day
18:30Group dinner
DAY 2
Evaluations during the programming period
09.00Evaluation and measuring impact, 2014-2020

  • the purpose of evaluation – criteria, measuring impact, Value for Money
  • evaluation cycle, evaluation methods, techniques
  • evaluation and monitoring requirements, 2021-2027

Robin Smail

10.15Exercise: evaluation questions – by sector

Robin Smail

10.45Coffee break
11.15Evaluation in the context of Programme Management

  • Evaluation and its neighbourhood (discussion)
  • Evaluation types and purposes
  • Evaluation stakeholders
  • Evaluation of projects and evaluation of programmes
  • Evaluation Plans and their challenges – The Czech experience
  • Internal, external and mixed team evaluations

Dr. Vladimir Kváča, former Director-General, Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs, Prague (CZ), and former President of the Czech Evaluation Society

12.15Workshop:  Managing evaluation studies, part 1:

  • the intervention to be evaluated,
  • the purpose of evaluation
  • evaluation stakeholders

Vladimir Kváča

13.00Lunch break
14.15Evaluation questions

  • Three kinds of evaluation questions (descriptive, normative, causal)
  • Divergent and convergent phase of questions formulation
  • Asking the right questions; methods

Vladimir Kváča

14.50Workshop: Managing evaluation studies, part 2:

  • Asking the right questions; methods

 Vladimir Kváča  

15.30Coffee break
16.00Choice of methods and techniques: theory-based and counter-factual evaluations

  • What limits the choice of methods?
  • Theory-based evaluations – an overview of some methods: process tracing, congruence analysis, qualitative comparative analysis
  • Design of case studies

Vladimir Kváča

17.15Workshop: Managing evaluation studies, part 3:

  • Theory of change /Causal mechanism
  • Testing the theory

Vladimir Kváča

18.00End of second day
DAY 3
 
09.00Counterfactual Evaluations

  • Understanding bias and importance of randomization
  • A quick inventory of counter-factual methods
  • Working with Difference-in-Difference; Propensity Score Matching
  • (Hidden) Assumptions
  • Understanding the main strategies for the identification of counterfactual and its limitations and assumptions

Vladimir Kváča

10.15Workshop: Counterfactual Evaluations

  • Choice of three levels:
    • Maths class
    • Antiviolence therapy
    • Enterprise support

Vladimír Kváča

11.00Coffee break
11.30Preparing for and Managing Evaluation Studies

  • Managing evaluations, stages of evaluation
  • Preparing for studies
  • The Call for Proposal, Terms of Reference
  • Selection and award criteria
  • Deliverables
  • Using the evaluation results

Vladimir Kváča

12.20Break-out groups: Preparing for and Managing Evaluation Studies

  • Deliverables
  • Using the evaluation results

Vladimir Kváča

13.00Lunch break
14.10WORKSHOP: assessing risk in projects

Robin Smail

14.40Ex post cost-benefit analysis

  • Project objectives, context and rationale, market failure, theory of change
  • Demand, feasibility, options, environmental impact assessment
  • Financial and economic appraisal: calculating the costs, the benefits (NPV, IRR for major projects)

Robin Smail

15.15Coffee break
15.30Ex post cost-benefit analysis (contd).

  • Risk assessment, sensitivity analysis
  • Case study

Robin Smail

15.45Exercise with revenue-generating projects

Robin Smail

16.05Course conclusions, evaluation feedback
16.15Close of the course

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Evaluation and Monitoring of EU Structural and Cohesion Funds Programmes

17 Oct 2023 - 19 Oct 2023
Prague (CZ)
Register before: 2 Oct 2023

Simultaneous interpretation can be offered. Contact the programme organizer for more information and conditions.

 1.550 per attendee
 1.395 for EIPA members
Registration closed

Discount policy

EIPA offers a discount to all civil servants working for one of EIPA’s supporting countries, and civil servants working for an EU institution, body or agency.

Who are the supporting countries?

Civil servants coming from the following EIPA supporting countries are entitled to get the reduced fee: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Spain, Sweden.

For all other participants, the regular fee applies.

Early bird discount

For a limited number of training courses, EIPA offers an early bird discount.

For more information please contact us.

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Register before: 2 Oct 2023
Registration closed