Project Preparation & Screening Process Workshops Report
Des Mahony, CIDT
FONERWA designed for / / FMT financed by /
Table of Contents
1. Background
2. Description
3. Analysis of feedback
4. Conclusions and recommendations
ANNEXES
1. Workshop Agenda
2. Participant attendance lists
3. Actual cost of the 4 workshops
4. Participant evaluation feedback
5. The FONERWA Monitoring and Evaluation Results Matrix for 2012-2018 (6 year period)
6. Project Profile Document A DRAFT WORKED EXAMPLE
7. The Workshop Task lists
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1. Background
The FONERWA Fund Management Team mobilized the ‘project preparation & screening’ workshops in order to alert and orientate likely grantees to commence planning and preparing grant applications to the FONERWA fund. Prior to the workshop delivery in March planning and preparation of materials commenced in February, involving email and skype discussions between CIDT and the FMT. Once a workshop program had been agreed and prepared the following invitation was sent to participants.
As the invitation outlines the workshop program was designed to be in two parts. The 1st half day being lectures to orientate and explain the FONERWA fund and the 2nd and 3rd half days being group practice at developing a project proposal. Bookings were made at the Umubano Hotel, handouts and powerpoints (PPs) were finalized, photocopied and placed in folders. Stationary was purchased; Jon Macartney and Des Mahony flew in from UK to be part of the workshop delivery along with Alex Mulisa and Richard Niyongabo.
2. Description
The workshops took place over 2 weeks from Tuesday 5th – Friday 15th March 2013, The four facilitators shared the delivery of the workshop. The workshop agenda is given in Annex 1 and was delivered as itemized. Each of the 4 workshops was opened and introduced by the DG REMA and this was very helpful as it added gravitas and validity to the events. It had been expected that more senior participants would depart after the morning but in fact >95% stayed for the full 1½ days.
Immediately after the introduction Alex Mulisa then described to the participants, with PP slides, the national context and modalities of the FONERWA fund while Jon Macartney explained, with the aid of PPs and charts, the International context for climate change financing. This culminated in a question and answer session to clarify points. Richard Niyongabo then introduced, with PP and handout, the overall 6-year FONERWA monitoring matrix logframe.
Refreshment breaks and lunch was provided for participants and FMT staff. In the afternoon Des Mahony orientated the participants into working groups to achieve the following 2 objectives:
• Participants will be familiar with the Project Profile Document (PPD) potentially for submission to FONERWA
• Participants, in groups, will develop a very draft project proposal
Accordingly heavy reference was made to the handouts, issued to each participant, as given in Annexes 5, 6 and 7 of this report. Stress was made on the importance of the overarching 6-year FONERWA matric framework, given in Annex 5, and particularly its Outputs 1,2 and 3 linkage to the funding windows; as what all projects must report up to. Then the Project Profile Document (PPD) , illustrated in Annex 6, was thoroughly explained with a worked example. All participants had a blank PPD and were asked to fill it in with their own notes and ideas. Then the groups were taken through a series of group exercises with the aid of PPs, handout and charts. The workshop adopted the theory that adults learn best by ‘doing’; so groups were set the challenge to develop very draft project proposals and to set their ideas down on a wall chart on post its. Their work received feedback through guidance from the facilitators during the day and a peer review process toward the end of the 2nd day. Groups went through the steps outlined in the group task handout given in Annex 7.
As shown in the table below and detailed in Annex 2, a total of 91 participants attended the workshops. The local costs of venues, refreshments, DSAs, stationary and transport was UK£7,000 so the local unit cost was £50/day.
Workshop no. / Number of participants / Costs in UK£ / 1 ½ day workshop1 / 23 / 1,391
2 / 16 / 1,092
3 / 18 / 970
4 / 34 / 2,947
Stationary & printing / 609
Total / 91 / £7,009 / =£51.35/participant/day
The workshops were well received. The facilitator team adjusted the delivery as a result of experience from each workshop. It was found that too many group work tasks were attempted in the first workshop so the number of tasks were reduced from the 2nd workshop onward.
3. Analysis of feedback
The participants were each given feedback forms and the summary of their feedback is given in Annex 4 against each workshop. The main findings from the feedback are as follows:
Strengths:
· The introductory sessions were well received and appreciated with the vast majority of participants considering they better understood the what?, why? and how? of FONERWA. The competence and knowledge of the Facilitators was appreciated.
· The friendliness and enthusiasm of the Facilitators was universally appreciated.
· The emphasis on the PPD and the steps and principles of project design was universally appreciated.
· The group work and peer review processes was enjoyed and appreciated.
· All elements of the workshop were appreciated and valued. Most participants were hungry for more information and found the subject areas interesting.
· The timeliness, at the beginning of planning for EDPRS 2, was appreciated.
Improvements:
· Participants asked for more concrete case study examples and also more time. Many fed back that 3 days was needed to more effectively cover the subject matter; especially the group exercises.
· For the future Participants specifically request more assistance with M&E and setting Indicators and VfM unit costs.
· Language was mentioned as a constraint for some non-english speakers.
· Participants struggled to understand the FONERWA M&E matrix and logframe format and needed more time to be introduced to the principles and terms associated with logframes and RBM.
Overall the workshop design of theory input followed by group practice did work and was well received.
Conclusions and recommendations
Future Training needs:
The feedback contains a wealth of good ideas and should be referred to for future capacity building planning. In summary Participants are keen to receive greater depth of follow up and support. The workshops were sufficient for Participants to understand the depth of skills required to submit a successful PPD; they appreciate how much they don’t know! It was clear this round was an introduction.
It also should be taken into account that this orientation training targeted primarily Government sector staff and many important Civil Society and Private sector participants are still to be reached.
Of the three Window areas it was observed that the Participants were relatively comfortable with areas 1 and 3. Window area 2 on CC adaptation and technology transfer was the weakest area in terms of group understanding and yet this is the area of great importance for green growth, job creation and access to international climate funds. More knowledge and technical understanding needs to be built in this area.
Recommendations;
1. In May a more detailed 3 day workshop should be offered on project log frame development with emphasis on the M&E framework and Vfm unit costs and how these elements are to be expressed within a PD.
2. In order to reach a wider audience a training of trainer approach should be developed. International staff can focus on training up a cadre of Rwandan trainers who in turn cascade to a wider audience and translate to local languages.
3. The web site should be used as a supplement to the trainings.
4. The Umubano Hotel is a very convenient venue for the workshops but if required local unit costs could be reduced by training in REMA or other venues.
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FONERWA project preparation & screening workshop report Page 2 of 46
ANNEX 1. Workshop Agenda - FONERWA Project Preparation & Screening Process
Location: Umubano Hotel
Date: March, 2013
DAY ONE Indicative agendaTIME / TOPIC / Presenter/ Facilitator
0830 / Registration
0900 / Opening remarks from Dr Rose Mukankomeje / DG REMA
0915 / What is FONERWA?
· The objectives and scope of FONERWA / Alex Mulisa
0930 / What is environmentally sustainable, climate resilient and green economic growth?
· The linkage to Rwandan national development objectives / Jon Macartney
Alex Mulisa
1030 / HEALTH BREAK
1100 / · Summary FONERWA structure and procedures
· Who can access FONERWA?
· How will the FONERWA application process work?
· Once funded how projects will be monitored?
· Open question and answer session / Alex Mulisa
Richard Niyongabo
1300 / LUNCH
1400 / What is a Project Profile Document? / Alex Mulisa
1415 / The project design steps and stages (choosing a project)
· Group work of PPD / Des Mahony
1430 / The project design steps and stages (what is the justification/need?)
· Group work on PPD / Des Mahony
1500 / HEALTH BREAK
1520 / The project design steps and stages (what is the justification/need?) continued
· Group work on PPD / Des Mahony
1545 / The project design steps and stages (setting objectives)
· Group work on PPD / Des Mahony
1640 / · Peer Review
· Open Question & Answer / All
1700 / Close
DAY TWO Indicative agenda
0900 / The project design steps and stages (considering risks)
· Group work on PPD / Des Mahony
0945 / The project design steps and stages (setting indicators)
- Project monitoring and evaluation
· Group work on PPD / Richard Niyongabo
1030 / TEA BREAK
1050 / The project design steps and stages (setting budgets)
- Value for money criteria
· Group work on PPD / Jon Macartney
1130 / Peer review of groups project chart work
· Group discussion on best practice / Des Mahony
1200 / Completion of PP Documents
· Group work on PPD / All
1245 / Action planning, workshop review and proposed follow up,
Close / All
1300 / LUNCH
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ANNEX 2. Workshop Participant attendance lists
ANNEX 3. Actual cost of the 4 workshops
FONERWA project preparation & screening workshop report Page 2 of 46
ANNEX 4. Participant Evaluation Feedback
ANNEX 4a 1st workshop Tue 5th – Wed 6th March 2013
FONERWA project preparation & screening process workshop
EVALUATION QUESTIONNAIRE-
We request your help in ensuring the quality of our work. We would appreciate your frank responses to the following questions:
Evaluation of the Outputs of the workshop.
Please tick (ü) the box which most nearly accords with your views:
The workshop has clarified the structure and objectives of the FONERWA fund and its linkage to International Climate Change drivers / 14 / 6
The workshop has introduced some key principles of project design / 12 / 8
The workshop has clarified the ‘PPD’ process of application for project funds from FONERWA / 12 / 8
Others, please state:
-Structure, application process and where?
-the time allocated is not enough
-very interesting wkshop but time allocated is not enough
(2a). Workshop Content / Value of session to your job and professional development
Session Topic / Very Useful / Useful / Of Limited Use / General Comments
What is FONERWA? – objectives and scope of FONERWA / 12 / 7 / 1 / I am impressed
What is environmental sustainability, climate resilient & green growth? / 14 / 6
Linkages to the Rwandan national objectives / 14 / 6
FONERWA structure and procedures. How will FONERWA application process work? / 9 / 9 / 2 / To be reviewed
Panel question and answer session / 10 / 8 / 2 / Limited time for discussion
What is a Project Profile Document? / 11 / 6 / 1
The project design steps and stages (identification, problem analysis, setting objectives and indicators) group work / 17 / 3
Project Monitoring & Evaluation / 11 / 9 / Need enough time on it
Value for money / 12 / 8 / New session on CBA needed
Peer review of groups project chart work / 9 / 11 / Limited time
Workshop Review and support needs / 9 / 11
Completion of PPD / 8 / 10 / 2 / Limited time
(2b). Please add any general comments on the content you may wish to make:
· Limited time
· Would have appreciated if a 30-60 min discussion focused on individual sector , ie. Sector specific analysis (like health, education etc)
· Time not enough for this workshop however it can be programmed other session specifically on project elaboration, M&E process
· Review the logframe and the detailed M&E framework so that each institution is able to understand for which outcome he can contribute to
· This wkshop was timely especially with the EDPRS & elaboration process
· There should be more public awareness about FONERWA
· I have a concern regarding scheduling and costing in the PPD because I think its an estimate and for that reason the project scope, time and cost are associated with too much risk.
· The wkshop was useful and the info’ was needful for common understanding and knowledge on FONERWA
· Make the application process more practical not only or presentation show how and from where to where
· Other training on PPD design
· Content interesting but time allocated to each task was not nearly enough x2
· The session about project monitoring & evaluation not enough. Beneficiaries have limited skills on M&E of projects & use of funds
(3). Evaluation of the Learning from the workshop.
Please tick (ü) the box which most nearly accords with your views:
I am confident of my ability to explain to others what the FONERWA fund is and how to develop and submit a draft project proposal to FONERWA / 13 / 7
I would advocate FONERWA as a modality of funding support to my colleagues / 12 / 8 / Need to clarify all mechanisms for fonerwa resource mobilisation
I feel able to develop a project proposal for submission to the FONERWA fund / 8 / 12
I think the project design principles useful for the management of projects / 14 / 6 / Need to focus more on project appraisal document rather than PPD
(4). Please write any comments about your current attitude to FONERWA that you feel reflect the achievement of the workshop: -