82132 - Management, Monitoring and Evaluation of Projects

Learning outcomes

The course consists of several modules at which students are required to attend by engaging in practical exercises. The modules are organized as follows: Project cycle in the international development cooperation; Methods and tools for the assessment of development projects adopted by major international agencies, from the EU and the OECD; Fiscal budget: reading and interpretation; Social report: reading and interpretation; Quality and ethics of accountability in Public Administrations.

Course contents

The Lab aims at providing the relevant knowledge and skills for the preparation, management, monitoring and evaluation of project proposals under international and European calls for proposals, with particular reference to international cooperation. This is achieved through both class and house work. The methodology for the preparation and evaluation of development projects is based on the approaches adopted and recognized by the major international (e.g., the European Commission) and national organizations (e.g., the General Directorate for Development Cooperation of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs).

Module 1 – An introduction to 2014-2020 EU programmes

This module will define the involved parties in European projects and the tools used by the responsible bodies and organizations for the provision of funding and grants. The module provides a critical analysis of the mode of disbursement of these funds and outlines the initial assessments needed to decide whether to participate in a call or not.

The aim of this module is to provide students with useful knowledge in order to critically read the calls.

1.1 EU programmes and funds 2014-2020

1.2 Involved institutions and organizations

1.3 Disbursement methods: call for proposals and call for tenders

1.4 How to critically read the TOR (terms of reference) of a call.

Module 2 – The project cycle in the practice of international development cooperation

The module aims at analyzing the methodology first introduced by the European Commission to improve the quality of project design and management in the international cooperation and beyond. It includes the analysis of the stages of preparation and implementation of development projects, defining for each phase the role of the involved players and the decisions they must make.

The aim of this module is to provide students with the relevant knowledge in order to define a project idea, identify problems and define the objectives of a development project.

2.1 Definition and taxonomy

2.2 The six steps of the project life cycle management (PLCM)

2.2.1 Programming

2.2.2 Identification

2.2.3 Appraisal

2.2.4 Financing

2.2.5 Implementation

2.2.6 Evaluation

Module 3 – The Logical Framework Approach (LFA)

The module analyses the logical framework methodology as a necessary tool to draw up a project proposal which is consistent in all its parts and then to monitor and evaluate the results. The module explains the different investigations needed in order to undertake the formulation of an initial idea of the project, which will be then detailed and organized by the logical framework.

The aim of this module is to provide students with a vast range of tools for drawing up the first draft of a proposal, following the LFA methodology adopted by the European Commission since 1992. This means identifying the relevant problems and their priorities, identifying the objectives of the project, the expected results and activities to be implemented, identifying indicators that allow to monitor the implementation of the project and its ultimate success, identifying possible risks and possible strategies to address them.

3.1 Definition and taxonomy

3.2 Stakeholder analysis

3.3 Problem tree

3.4 Objective tree

3.5 The “logical framework”

3.5.1 The action logic (overall objectives, project purpose, results, activities)

3.5.2 Indicators

3.5.3 Sources of test

3.5.4 Risks and assumptions

Module 4 - The project submissions' budget and details

The preparation of a good project submission requires good programming skills. This requires the ability to plan what it is needed to do, how to do it, who will do it and what will happen once it has been done. There is a number of documents to be prepared in support of the logical framework to provide details concerning the operational aspects of the project and which are just as necessary as the logical framework itself.

The aim of this module is to provide students with the relevant knowledge to draw up a budget for the project along with a coherent and realistic timetable for the phases of the project activities and to find the most suitable project partners.

4.1 Preparing the project budget

4.2 Gantt chart

4.3 Defining roles and responsibilities

4.4 Sustainability

4.5 Finding project partners

Module 5 - Project monitoring

In order to successfully complete a project it is important to reach the expected results with respect to times and methodologies planned in the project submission. It is therefore required a constant monitoring of the implementation of the activities in order to identify as quickly as possible any differences between what was planned and what is achieved. The module introduces the concepts of monitoring and evaluation and then delve into the first one, identifying the purpose and methods of monitoring.

The aim of this module is to provide students with the relevant knowledge to monitor the progress of a project, interpret the results of such monitoring and, where appropriate, take the necessary corrective measures.

5.1 Terms and aim of monitoring

5.2 Monitoring times

5.3 Monitoring methods and tools (indicators, operational planning, reports)

Module 6 - Evaluation

While monitoring a project mainly focuses on the times and costs of activities implementation as well as the timely achievement of the results, evaluating requires to consider comprehensively, objectively and in a critique way the appropriateness of the objectives set before and achieved during the project, the quality of the implemented actions in relation to the results, the effects and the needs that are intended to be satisfied, the adequacy of the resources allocated and used. Evaluating does not only means using a technique, but also developing a process whose steps must be planned throughout the whole project lifecycle.

The module will review the main methods and tools consolidated so far in the evaluation of development projects.

The aim of this module is to provide students with the relevant knowledge and tools to implement the evaluating process during the different phases of the project implementation.

6.1 Types of evaluation

6.2 Evaluation and criteria

6.3 Times, definitions and operational aspects of:

6.3.1 Ex ante evaluation

6.3.2 In-itinere evaluation

6.3.3 Final evaluation

6.3.4 Ex-post evaluation

6.4 Implementation evaluation

6.5 Performance analysis

6.6 Outcomes evaluation: counterfactual approach, selection bias, omitted variables

6.7 Impact evaluation: experimental and non experimental design

6.7.1 Difference in difference

6.7.2 Random growth rate model

6.7.3 Propensity score matching

6.7.4 Instrumental variables

Module 7 - Balance sheet and social report

This module aims at providing students with the relevant knowledge for the interpretation and drafting of the balance sheet and of the corporate social responsibility report of an organization. At this purpose, the module is divided into two parts. The first part analyzes the structure in the fiscal budget of the balance sheet and the profit and loss accounts employed in for profit and non profit organizations. These are important information concerning visibility and transparency, as well as key elements in order to benefit of a good degree of trust and credibility from partners, stockholders and stakeholders. The second part of the module provides students with the knowledge required for the interpretation and drafting of a corporate social responsibility report, intended as a powerful tool for the certification of the ethical profile of for profit e non profit organizations. The module will show students how the organizations can state with this report their strategies, activities, results and the utilization of private and public resources in a given period. In this way, the stakeholders and the general public will be able to know and make a judgment on how it has been interpreted and implemented the institutional mission.

The aim of this module is to disseminate the awareness of the importance of the corporate social responsibility report, and, therefore, of the social value, vis à vis the economic one, produced by an organization through its choices and actions, following the guidelines of the United Nations with the Global Compact initiative.

7.1 The balance sheet: reading and interpreting an economic and financial report

7.1.1 In for profit organizations

7.1.2 In non profit organizations

7.2 The corporate social responsibility report: reading and interpreting a social value report

7.2.1 In for profit organizations

7.2.2 In non profit organizations

Readings/Bibliography

Module 1

Compulsory readings:

European Commission, Project cycle management guidelines, Bruxelles, European Commission, March, 2004.

Suggested readings:

Viesti G. and Prota F. , Le politiche regionali dell'Unione Europea, Bologna, Il Mulino, 2007.

Module 2

Compulsory readings:

European Commission, Project cycle management guidelines, Bruxelles, European Commission, March, 2004.

Suggested readings:

Blackman R., Project cycle management, Teddington, ROOTS, Tearfund, 2003.

FAO, Project cycle management technical guide, Roma, SEAGA Programme, 2001.

FORMEZ - Dipartimento della Funzione Pubblica della Presidenza del Consiglio dei Ministri, Project cycle management. Manuale per la formazione, Roma, FORMEZ, 2002.

Regione Emilia-Romagna - ERVET, Tecniche progettuali adottate dalla Commissione Europea in merito agli interventi di cooperazione internazionale, Bologna, ERVET, 2001.

Module 3

Compulsory readings:

European Commission, Project cycle management guidelines, Bruxelles, European Commission, March, 2004.

Suggested readings:

Blackman R., Project cycle management, Teddington, ROOTS, Tearfund, 2003.

FORMEZ - Dipartimento della Funzione Pubblica della Presidenza del Consiglio dei Ministri, Project cycle management. Manuale per la formazione, Roma, FORMEZ, 2002.

Regione Emilia-Romagna - ERVET, Tecniche progettuali adottate dalla Commissione Europea in merito agli interventi di cooperazione internazionale, Bologna, ERVET, 2001.

Spreckley F. [http://lib.leeds.ac.uk/search%7ES4?/aSpreckley%2C+Freer./aspreckley+freer/-3,-1,0,B/browse], A project cycle management and logical framework toolkit: A practical guide for equal development partnerships, Birmingham, G.B. Equal Support Unit, 2006.

Module 4

Compulsory readings:

European Commission, Project cycle management guidelines, Bruxelles, European Commission, March, 2004.

Suggested readings:

Blackman R., Project cycle management, Teddington, ROOTS, Tearfund, 2003.

European Commission, Evaluation of EU activities. An introduction, Bruxelles, European Commission, January, 2005.

European Commission, Evaluating EU activities: A practical guide for the Commission services, Bruxelles, EU publication Office, July, 2004.

FORMEZ - Dipartimento della Funzione Pubblica della Presidenza del Consiglio dei Ministri, Project cycle management. Manuale per la formazione, Roma, FORMEZ, 2002.

Regione Emilia-Romagna - ERVET, Tecniche progettuali adottate dalla Commissione Europea in merito agli interventi di cooperazione internazionale, Bologna, ERVET, 2001.

Module 5

Compulsory readings:

European Commission, Project cycle management guidelines, Bruxelles, European Commission, March, 2004.

Suggested readings:

The World Bank, Monitoring and evaluation: Some tools, methods and approaches, Washington D.C., The World Bank, 2004.

Module 6

Compulsory readings:

G. Antonelli, Analisi di efficacia ed efficienza nelle valutazioni in itinere ed ex post dei progetti di sviluppo locale, SDIC, Università di Bologna, 2006 (mimeo).

G. Antonelli (ed.), Valutazione e sviluppo locale. Principi teorici e applicazioni all'Appennino Bolognese, SDIC, Università di Bologna (mimeo), chaps. 4 and 5.

Suggested readings:

Stock J. H., Watson M. W., Introduzione all'econometria, Torino, Pearson Education Italia, 2005.

Module 7

Compulsory readings:

Ferrara L., Cosa è e come si legge il bilancio, Milano, Gruppo24Ore, 2010.

Suggested readings:

Decreto Legislativo 4 dicembre 1997, n. 460, Riordino della disciplina tributaria degli enti non commerciali e delle organizzazioni non lucrative di utilità' sociale, Gazzetta Ufficiale n. 1 del 2 gennaio 1998 - Supplemento Ordinario n. 1.

International Labour Organization (ILO), Decent work. Report of the Director General, Geneva, ILO, 1999.

Teaching methods

The course programme includes both lectures and exercises to be carried out both individually and / or in small groups. These exercises will take place partly during class hours and in part will be carried out independently by the students outside of these hours. The results of these exercises will then be discussed in the classroom.

Assessment methods

Tests and assessments are designed to verify the achievement by students of the following learning objectives:

- ability to identify the objectives of a project proposal (and their hierarchy)

- ability to prepare a logical framework of the project proposal.

The assessment includes a written test and it is only evaluated in terms of passing/not passing the test (no 1-30 point scale marks).

Students who attend classes can perform one or more presentations using slides, involving parts of the modules of the program. All presentations will be commented and discussed in the classroom

Teaching tools

Teachers will be available on appointment to repeat concepts or give further details concerning parts of the program. For questions, clarifications and information you can use e-mail. The guided use of some websites presented during the lectures might prove particularly useful in the search for documentation, information and data on specific issues.

Office hours

See the website of Luca Cattani