LVIA – Project evaluator consultant – Italy – Cooperation info

LVIA is selecting a “In Cibo Civitas” project evaluator consultant to be included in its operation in Italy . Duration 24 months. Deadline for applications 01/16/2023

TERMS OF REFERENCE FOR THE EVALUATION OF THE PROJECT “IN

FOOD CIVITAS: Empowerment, Actions, Territory for a citizenship that nourishes the future”- AID 012618/01/9

Sought after location

Expert* for the‘implementation analysis and the impact assessment of the project, in order to determine the changes triggered by the intervention on the beneficiaries and on the target territories.

Experience required

The Consultant must meet the following requirements:

• At least 3 years of experience in drafting final evaluation and impact reports of projects;
• Previous experience in evaluating projects with a focus on global citizenship education and/or environmental sustainability;
• Knowledge of methodologies and IT tools in the collection, management and analysis of data, processing/administration of questionnaires;
• Knowledge of the Italian Strategy for Global Citizenship Education
• Knowledge and application of project evaluation methodologies related to the Theory of Change
• Excellent organizational and process management skills, flexibility, precision

Necessary requirements for participation, under penalty of exclusion

• The figure who will be selected cannot have, nor can they have had, in the three years preceding the presentation of the proposal, stable collaborations with the Executing Subject.
• Furthermore, the consultant cannot have more than three evaluations of projects co-financed by AICS in progress at the same time with the Executing Entity. For these purposes, the consultant must issue a specific declaration in lieu of an affidavit pursuant to articles 47 and 76 of Presidential Decree 445/2000.

More info

The evaluation must be implemented on actions that the project Partners carry out in the 4 Regions of the project (in particular in the territories of Turin, Cuneo, Florence, Borgo San Lorenzo, Forlì, Cesena, Palermo, Castelbuono). LVIA and its Partners will accompany the process throughout the period, providing all the useful information and necessary documents.

The LVIA project coordinator will be the consultant’s reference and will facilitate the exchange of information.

The project

Territorial reference: Piedmont; Emilia Romagna; Tuscany; Sicily;
Duration of action: 24 months
Topics:Sustainable food systems, protection of natural resources, fight against waste, circular economy
Donor: AICS – Italian Agency for Development Cooperation
General objective: Contribute to the development and strengthening of a concept of “citizenship”, understood as belonging to the global community, contributing in a pragmatic way to individual and collective change for the creation of a more sustainable and just world
Specific objectives:

1. Improve the skills and participation of citizens, especially young people, to encourage the implementation of inclusive, sustainable and equitable food systems.

2. Strengthening young people’s green skills to foster engagement and employability opportunities in all sectors related to the food supply chain

3. Strengthening of civic networks for the implementation of sustainable food policies and community development

Expected results:

R1. Increased skills in global citizenship and sustainable development education, information and awareness of teachers and students on more sustainable food systems

R2. Strengthening young people’s green skills to promote engagement and employability opportunities in all sectors related to the food supply chain

R3. Strengthening of civic networks for the implementation of sustainable food policies and community development

Lead partner: LVIA
Partners: Slowfood Italia APS ImpactSkills Municipality of Cuneo City of Turin City of Florence; Municipality of Borgo San Lorenzo Municipality of Forlì; Municipality of Cesena; Municipality of Castelbuono; University of Turin (UniTo), Department of Philosophy and Educational Sciences (Disef)

ASSESSMENT

Purpose and objectives of the evaluation

The purpose of the consultancy is to carry out a final evaluation on the process and impact of the initiative in question and to provide recommendations to guide the implementing partners in proposing the implementation of similar initiatives in the future. The final evaluation will aim to determine the extent to which the project was able to achieve the objectives set through the activities planned in line with the approach result based oriented. Therefore, one of the goals of the evaluation will be to highlight recommendations and lessons learned during the project action analysis.

Evaluation methodology and criteria

The final evaluation will be carried out within the methodological framework of the Theory of Change and will therefore be based on a participatory process through which to understand the cause-effect relationship between the long-term objectives (impact) that have been set and the conditions identified as needed to achieve them, by determining whether project activities have brought about the change intended at the time of writing.

The evaluation process will be aimed in particular at analyzing the

1. relevance,
2. Consistency,
3. Effectiveness,
4. Efficiency,
5. f) Sustainability of the action as a whole (OECD-DAC, 2019).

The analysis of relevance it will verify the degree of analysis of the context and of the problems faced and will compare the contribution of the initiative to satisfying the specific needs identified among the target groups. Will analyze the consistency of the project with respect to the needs, policies and strategic and operational guidelines of local institutions in the field of sustainable food systems. The verification of efficiency compares the use of resources, in terms of costs and implementation times for the achievement of the project results with reference to the IOV of the QL. The analysis of effectiveness verifies the level of identification and achievement of general, specific and outcome for the target area. The impact analysis will study the effects generated by the project on target groups and the analysis of sustainability will evaluate the project’s ability to generate lasting positive effects.

Outcomes

The implementation analysis will have the objective of providing the implementing subjects with a description of the salient aspects of the project implementation process, identifying the critical points, through the solicitation of (self)critical narratives, and instead the positive functioning mechanisms.

The impact assessment of the project will have to coordinate with the internal evaluation by the Department of Educational Sciences of the University of Turin (project partner), which will specifically analyze the increase in the skills of teachers and students. With regard to these results, therefore, the evaluator will be able to base himself on the quantitative and qualitative elements collected by the research pool useful for the evaluation, integrating them with what will be collected with field research for the remaining components at the level of beneficiaries, institutions and organizations (directly or indirectly involved).

The outcome of the impact assessment identified when writing the project are the following:

• strengthening teachers’ competences in global citizenship and sustainable development education, the ability to adapt and re-use, according to the needs of the class
• development of students’ awareness and skills in transforming what they have learned about local food systems and short supply chains into informed purchasing choices, healthy diets, waste reduction, biodiversity, local/global dimension of food systems.
• increasing the knowledge of the young people involved on the actors involved in the local economy of their territories, on alternative systems and ethical and inclusive business models and strengthening of green key skills to promote engagement opportunities and increase employability opportunities in various sectors related to food chain.
• strengthening of young people’s skills in using animation and community development methodologies and tools through the creation, in a network with local stakeholders, of activities and events open to the local area that enhance sustainability poles
• strengthening of participation in civic networks for the implementation of sustainable food policies and community development through the creation / strengthening of tables (at least 4, 1 per Region) of tables on local food policies
• increasing citizens’ information on the themes and results of the project

Evaluation results and timing

The expected result of the evaluation will be a final report of about 40 pages, in Italian, based on the analysis of the information and data collected, with respect to the activities and indicators contained in the QL, including any recommendations and suggestions. The final report is required by on 02/16/2025. An abstract of the evaluation findings and recommendations should be available by 16/12/2024.

In addition to the description of the project, the scope and objectives of the evaluation, the report should also contain the methodology and tools used, return the lessons learned and provide recommendations to the partnership on what to improve.

Support in the design of monitoring tools

The evaluator will also be asked for support in setting up the monitoring tools, which will be used together with the project coordinator for the analysis of the implementation of the activities and which will be useful for the final impact assessment by the selected subject.

How to apply

Submit by January 16, 2023 to italia@lvia.it indicating in the subject “SELECTION OF CONSULTANT FINAL EVALUATION PROJECT IN CIBO CIVITAS” and attaching Signed CV, motivational letter, technical proposal containing:

• methodology and type of qualitative and quantitative data collection tools to be adopted with beneficiaries e stakeholders/associations;
• analysis of the available literature and primary and secondary sources of information;
• detailed work plan, including meetings, interviews, i focus group discussions

with the stakeholders;

• data collection system and tools for analyzing the information collected;
• economic offer (gross of VAT and other expected charges) with respect to the requested service, including logistics costs.

At the end of the analysis of the applications received, only those who pass the first selection phase and who will be invited to an introductory interview will be contacted

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