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Policy evaluation is an important and well-established part of the policy process, facilitating and feeding back to promote the ongoing effectiveness of policies that have been implemented or anticipating policies in the making. Environmental policy is a special case which presents new complexities uncommon to other areas, and which standard evaluation tools are ill equipped to grapple with. It is also an area that is experiencing rapid growth throughout the world and knowledge is now needed at all levels of government and in NGOs, businesses and other organizations, all of whom are required to assess the effectiveness of their policies.
The Handbook of Environmental Policy Evaluation is the first guide to environmental policy evaluation in practice. Beginning with an introduction to the general principles of evaluation, it then explains the particular complexities native to the environmental sphere. The third section provides a comprehensive toolkit of evaluation methods and techniques which the practitioner can employ and refer to again and again. The fourth section considers design issues which may face the policy evaluator, including involvement of stakeholders, the sensitivities between them, the a priori assessment of the evaluability of a field, the maximization of the utilisation of the evaluations' outcomes, and much more. Throughout, the theory is illustrated with practical examples from around the world – all together making this the essential companion guide for anyone tasked with ensuring that environmental policy fulfils its aims and achieves its potential.
- Introduction
- Policy Evaluation and Environmental Policy
- Problems and Limitations of Environmental Policy Evaluation
- Approaches to (Environmental) Policy Evaluation
- Approaches for Designing Evaluation Research
- Index
Ann Crabbé is a researcher at the Faculty of Political and Social Sciences of Antwerp University. She recently completed her Ph.D. with a thesis on integrated water management in Flanders, Belgium. Pieter Leroy is a Professor of Political Sciences of the Environment, Nijmegen University, the Netherlands.
"The broadening field of environmental policy is in great need of evaluation and this handbook will be a most welcome, timely and useful tool for this mission."
– Evert Vedung, professor emeritus of political science, Uppsala University
"The Handbook of Environmental Policy Evaluation is the first guide to evaluation in this field and provides a comprehensive toolkit for any practitioner involved in environmental policy planning and implementation. With regular illustrations drawn from practical answers throughout the world, this is an excellent guide for success in this tricky area."
– The Environmentalist
