'Universita degli Studi di Milano-Bicocca Symphonya Emerging Issues in Management'
Abstract
Integrating a larger set of instruments into
Rural Development Programmes implied an increasing
focus on monitoring and evaluation. Against the highly
diversified experience with regard to implementation
of policy instruments the Common Monitoring
and Evaluation Framework has been set up by the EU
Commission as a strategic and streamlined method of
evaluating programmes’ impacts. Its indicator-based
approach mainly reflects the concept of a linear,
measure-based intervention logic that falls short of
the true nature of RDP operation and impact capacity
on rural changes. Besides the different phases of the
policy process, i.e. policy design, delivery and evaluation,
the regional context with its specific set of challenges
and opportunities seems critical to the understanding
and improvement of programme performance.
In particular the role of local actors can hardly
be grasped by quantitative indicators alone, but has
to be addressed by assessing processes of social
innovation. This shift in the evaluation focus underpins
the need to take account of regional implementation
specificities and processes of social innovation as
decisive elements for programme performance.
