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Evaluation of Resource Efficiency Yorkshire
What our client wanted
Yorkshire Forward co-invested in a wide range of interventions aimed at increasing business resource efficiency and these have historically been evaluated separately and on an individual basis. This included interventions such as Recycling Action Yorkshire (RAY), the regional Green Business Support Organisation (GBSO), National Industrial Symbiosis Programme (NISP), WhyWaste and interventions supported through WRAP, CO2Sense, Defra and Envirowise among others.
To coincide with the transfer of coordination responsibilities to new umbrella body Resource Efficiency Yorkshire (REY), the company was commissioned to design an evaluation framework and to undertake an overall impact evaluation for this combined activity. At the heart of the commission was the need for a more strategic overview of all activity that had been supported to date and to provide a cumulative assessment of impact. The client wanted the evaluation framework to develop and use a consistent set of metrics to enable all activity to be commonly reported upon and benchmarked. The evaluation was also expected to inform delivery activity on an ongoing basis throughout the course of the Programme.
What we did
The commission began in late 2008 with the summative impact evaluation with findings drawn from a performance and output review for all interventions, an online impact survey of 70 businesses and consultations with delivery partners and strategic stakeholders. Topic guides and questionnaires were designed by us (in close liaison with Yorkshire Forward) to develop a thorough understanding of the initiatives and this research was subsequently used to produce the first overview report of all REY activity.
Towards the end of the summative evaluation, development began on suitable performance metrics to include in the REY evaluation framework for 2009-onwards. Further consultation and liaison with the REY team was timed to inform the launch of monitoring and management database systems which were developed externally. The evaluation framework was unique not only due to the high number of partner organisations involved but also because of the diverse responsibilities covering different materials and emissions. In completing this stage, we drew upon extensive experience of developing evaluation frameworks and used a logic chain approach to trace resource inputs through to net impacts and wider outcomes. To further help project managers within REY, we produced a guidance handbook which explained the evaluation process in greater detail.
Relatively early into the REY programme, responsibility transferred and became fully embedded within CO2Sense, which is the national umbrella for all resource efficiency and related activities. Although the move to CO2Sense also brought with it a new set of structures, the evaluation framework has been retained to shape continuing activity in Yorkshire. Since 2010, we have renewed research and consultations each year to develop annual evaluation reports.
What difference we made
Throughout the assignment, our approach has been to seek the views of direct beneficiaries of support, as well as the views of those responsible for the strategic direction of the Programme and its operation. The experiences of the business beneficiaries, and the benefits accruing to them, are an important part of the evaluation, particularly as the REY Programme/CO2Sense has moved more firmly into a phase of delivery with a greater focus on outputs.
The stability of the evaluation framework combined with ongoing strategic feedback (through the annual reporting) has helped the client to manage and keep up with considerable changes in the broader economic and national policy context. The economic backdrop of recession and the downturn has affected business profitability and viability which has had both a positive and negative effect on the likelihood of businesses and organisations investing in resource efficiency measures. On the one hand, any activity to reduce business costs is welcomed, on the other hand, margins for investment in skills and resource efficiency measures/kit have been reduced.
What our client said
‘it was a really good report’
‘the report is a really good summary of the 09-10 impact’