Relating Outputs, Outcomes and Impact in the Evaluation of International Development Projects

Background: The recent controversies on the pages of the JMDE regarding UNDP evaluations, as well as the DAC criteria, are discussed in the light of two UNDP/GEF evaluations in Latin America for which the author was primarily responsible.Purpose: The author defends the utilization of all five evaluation criteria of the Development Assistance Committee of the OECD (the DAC criteria), and their integration via Theories of Change.Setting: The pine/oak forest of Honduras and the mangrove regions along the coast of Brazil.Intervention: Two projects of the Global Environment Facility (GEF) and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), with the respective governments.Research Design: Mid-term evaluations with site visits and interviews.Data Collection and Analysis: In the Brazilian case, longitudinal analysis of available data was conducted and related to the findings of the interviews and observation, as well as published reports and studies. A Theory of Change (action model) of the Honduran project was structured and graphically portrayed based on desk review of the project document and other documentation, adapted following initial interviews, and field tested.Findings: In Brazil, preliminary evidence derived in part from Management Effectiveness Tracking Tool (METT) questions with reference to results indicates a relative lack of project effectiveness and of preliminary signs of impact. The state of Pará offers one possible exception, related in part to the fact that a certain momentum had already been built up in that state prior to project start-up and in part to the early adoption through the project of a new method of transportation of the fiddler crab (Ucides cordatus), in baskets covered with wet sponges rather than in sacks. The Honduran project, with the strong support of the national government and the UNDP field office as well as GEF, successfully adapted the provisions of the project document to pursue a more community- and community organization-centered approach, rather than relying on the outside consultants originally specified. Project-supported gathering of impact data raised environmental awareness, strengthened the local university and established a baseline for future ex-post impact evaluation.  Keywords: Theory of Change; DAC criteria; capacity development; displacement of goals; UNDP/GEF

ECONOMIC AND ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTS OF NUTRIENT LOSS REDUCTIONS ON DAIRY AND DAIRY/POULTRY FARMS

Livestock Production/Industries,

The Pan Americanism of Joaquim Nabuco

Pan Americanism, or mutual understanding and co-operation between the various American countries, can be traced to the sympathy of the United States for the Spanish colonies in their struggles for independence. Since then Pan Americanism has been advanced as an international policy set up by statesman from both North and South America. With the exception of the Monroe Doctrine, none of these attempts was of lasting or great import until the establishment of the Pan American Union in 1889, at the First International American Conference, in Washington. The Second International Conference, in Mexico City in 1901-1902, was relatively ineffective. Joaquim Nabuco presided at the Third Conference, held in Rio de Janeiro in 1906. He had been active in having the 1906 session held in Rio de Janeiro, and in arranging its agenda. This meeting can be regarded as marking a change on the part of the Americas from polite agreement with the theory of Pan Americanism, to a willingness to apply the ideas inherent in the theory. The Rio de Janeiro Conference was a successful one both in what it accomplished and in the ground work that it laid for future successes, and some of this change was probably due to Joaquim Nabuco. Between 1906 and 1910 Nabuco continued to play a most important role in improving inter-American relations

The CAVE (TM) automatic virtual environment: Characteristics and applications

Virtual reality may best be defined as the wide-field presentation of computer-generated, multi-sensory information that tracks a user in real time. In addition to the more well-known modes of virtual reality -- head-mounted displays and boom-mounted displays -- the Electronic Visualization Laboratory at the University of Illinois at Chicago recently introduced a third mode: a room constructed from large screens on which the graphics are projected on to three walls and the floor. The CAVE is a multi-person, room sized, high resolution, 3D video and audio environment. Graphics are rear projected in stereo onto three walls and the floor, and viewed with stereo glasses. As a viewer wearing a location sensor moves within its display boundaries, the correct perspective and stereo projections of the environment are updated, and the image moves with and surrounds the viewer. The other viewers in the CAVE are like passengers in a bus, along for the ride. 'CAVE,' the name selected for the virtual reality theater, is both a recursive acronym (Cave Automatic Virtual Environment) and a reference to 'The Simile of the Cave' found in Plato's 'Republic,' in which the philosopher explores the ideas of perception, reality, and illusion. Plato used the analogy of a person facing the back of a cave alive with shadows that are his/her only basis for ideas of what real objects are. Rather than having evolved from video games or flight simulation, the CAVE has its motivation rooted in scientific visualization and the SIGGRAPH 92 Showcase effort. The CAVE was designed to be a useful tool for scientific visualization. The Showcase event was an experiment; the Showcase chair and committee advocated an environment for computational scientists to interactively present their research at a major professional conference in a one-to-many format on high-end workstations attached to large projection screens. The CAVE was developed as a 'virtual reality theater' with scientific content and projection that met the criteria of Showcase

BAYESIAN DECISION STRATEGIES APPLIED TO PRODUCTION AND MARKETING DECISIONS FOR COW-CALF FARMS IN THE SHENANDOAH AREA OF VIRGINIA

Livestock Production/Industries,

Considerations for the future development of virtual technology as a rehabilitation tool

BACKGROUND: Virtual environments (VE) are a powerful tool for various forms of rehabilitation. Coupling VE with high-speed networking [Tele-Immersion] that approaches speeds of 100 Gb/sec can greatly expand its influence in rehabilitation. Accordingly, these new networks will permit various peripherals attached to computers on this network to be connected and to act as fast as if connected to a local PC. This innovation may soon allow the development of previously unheard of networked rehabilitation systems. Rapid advances in this technology need to be coupled with an understanding of how human behavior is affected when immersed in the VE. METHODS: This paper will discuss various forms of VE that are currently available for rehabilitation. The characteristic of these new networks and examine how such networks might be used for extending the rehabilitation clinic to remote areas will be explained. In addition, we will present data from an immersive dynamic virtual environment united with motion of a posture platform to record biomechanical and physiological responses to combined visual, vestibular, and proprioceptive inputs. A 6 degree-of-freedom force plate provides measurements of moments exerted on the base of support. Kinematic data from the head, trunk, and lower limb was collected using 3-D video motion analysis. RESULTS: Our data suggest that when there is a confluence of meaningful inputs, neither vision, vestibular, or proprioceptive inputs are suppressed in healthy adults; the postural response is modulated by all existing sensory signals in a non-additive fashion. Individual perception of the sensory structure appears to be a significant component of the response to these protocols and underlies much of the observed response variability. CONCLUSION: The ability to provide new technology for rehabilitation services is emerging as an important option for clinicians and patients. The use of data mining software would help analyze the incoming data to provide both the patient and the therapist with evaluation of the current treatment and modifications needed for future therapies. Quantification of individual perceptual styles in the VE will support development of individualized treatment programs. The virtual environment can be a valuable tool for therapeutic interventions that require adaptation to complex, multimodal environments