Participatory Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation of Multi-Stakeholder Platforms in Integrated Landscape Initiatives

Area of Science:

• Environmental governance
• Social-ecological systems analysis
• Participatory action research

Background:

• Integrated landscape initiatives aim to improve governance through multi-stakeholder platforms.
• These platforms facilitate collaboration among diverse actors in landscape management.
• Platform objectives often require periodic re-evaluation and adaptation.

Purpose of the Study:

• To propose a participatory method for planning, monitoring, and evaluation of multi-stakeholder platforms.
• To pilot and assess the method's utility in Ghana and Indonesia.
• To support adaptive management and performance assessment of landscape governance.

Main Methods:

• A three-component participatory method was developed.
• Component 1: Identifies future collaboration priorities based on common platform aspirations.
• Components 2 & 3: Focus on internal process improvement and outcome evaluation against objectives.

Main Results:

• The method was successfully piloted in Ghana and Indonesia.
• The three components can be used independently or together.
• The method provides insights for platform planning, adaptive management, and intervention design.

Conclusions:

• The proposed participatory method effectively supports multi-stakeholder platforms in integrated landscape initiatives.
• The method aids in adaptive management, performance demonstration, and future intervention planning.
• Experiences from Ghana and Indonesia demonstrate the method's practical applicability.