Project background
The Federal Office for Agriculture and Food (BLE) commissioned Arepo to evaluate the funding instrument of the Federal Ministry of Agriculture (BMEL) for the promotion of bilateral research cooperation and knowledge exchange for international sustainable forest management (FinW). The FinW funding instrument was introduced in 2014 and promotes forestry research cooperation between Germany and third countries (outside the European Union) and the transfer and exchange of expertise in the forestry sector. The aim is to promote sustainable forest management to combat deforestation and forest degradation by improving the database, developing solutions for multifunctional, resource-efficient and climate-adapted forest management, combating illegal timber use, ecologically enhancing plantation forests and researching relevant framework conditions and policy effects. The objects of funding include forestry research projects, specialist events, knowledge transfer in Germany and group training courses abroad.
Tasks
The aim of the evaluation is to systematically assess existing experiences in order to support the further development of the FinW funding instrument and to develop concrete recommendations for its optimization and future design. The focus is on assessing the achievement of objectives (effectiveness), cost-effectiveness (efficiency), coherence and relevance.
Arepo carries out the following steps, among others, as part of the evaluation:
1) Creation of a methodological concept including reconstruction of the intervention logic
2) Design, implementation and evaluation of an online survey
3) Implementation and evaluation of (group) interviews with relevant stakeholders