CATCH self-assessment tool customized to monitor Zwolle’s Climate Adaptation Goals
‘Monitoring and evaluation’ is the sixth step in the planning cycle for climate adaptation (CATCH, Climate-ADAPT, consistent with ISO 14090). Recently a step-by-step approach and the contours for a customized monitoring strategy have been presented. The CATCH decision support tool is mainly used by Zwolle for self-assessment. Zwolle needs customization that matches its own climate adaptation goals. While the self-assessment in CATCH is based on indicators in the three Water-Sensitive City pillars, Zwolle seeks to have indicators which connect with its five climate adaptation goals. These five goals are formulated in the Zwolle Adaptation Strategy (ZAS, 2019), the city’s Vision on Spatial Planning and the Environment (2020) and in the 'plan of action' to build the Climate-Resilient Growth Region Zwolle (2021).
The proposed step-by-step approach for developing, applying and organizing the monitoring of the Zwolle climate adaptation goals consists of the steps that have already been taken (incl. CATCH) and a proposal for next steps. These next steps include the elaboration of the monitoring strategy, its application (instrument and protocol) and the administrative and organizational safeguarding, under the leadership of the municipality of Zwolle. The climate adaptation goals relevant to Zwolle are usually of a strategic nature. The translation of the strategic (qualitative) goals into operational (quantitative) goals has been proposed as an intermediate step. This way it is possible to become more concrete with regard to the indicators to be applied and the possible mutual hierarchy and differentiation to be applied, both in terms of objectives and spatial scales (neighbourhood, city and region).
The protocol of the monitoring process aims for: (a) consistency in diagnostic application, e.g. comparing different years, (b) reliable valuation/scoring indicators, (c) independence and accountability. The CATCH decision support tool does not provide a monitoring process or protocol yet. When scoring strategic (qualitative) indicators, like the CATCH self-assessment tool, this is overcome by involving (10+) participants with sufficient diversity (backgrounds) in the monitoring process. In addition, the supervision is preferably provided by two external and independent facilitators (outside the municipal organisation). These facilitators are preferably accredited, based on different type of indicators (strategic and operational). The monitoring process is supported by a checklist. When focusing on operational indicators, the protocol may be less extensive. In that case, an instrument could suffice, while a method must be agreed upon when valuing/scoring strategic goals. It should be considered to appoint one or two (independent) observers.
