The 2017-2018 AHIA MEEM study is now completed and available.

How could policy-driven monitoring and evaluation be improved to better support adaptive ecosystem management? The Monitoring and Evaluation for Ecosystem Management (MEEM) study, a 2017-2018 ALTER-Net high impact action project, investigated this key question.

The MEEM project was interdisciplinary in nature and pan-European in scale. Led by social scientists at the James Hutton Institute (Aberdeen, Scotland), this project was supported by research partnerships with ALTER-Net member institutes in nine additional European countries:

• The Finnish Environment Institute (SYKE)
• The Flemish Institute for Nature and Forest (INBO)
• The Estonian University of Life Sciences (EMU)
• The Norwegian Institute for Nature Research (NINA)
• The Slovak Academy of Sciences (SAS)
• The Hungary Academy of Sciences Centre for Ecological Research (MTA)
• The University of Bucharest
• The Ecological and Forestry Research Applications Centre at the University of Barcelona (CREAF)
• The Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SLU)
  
  

Monitoring and Evaluation for Ecosystem Management

Sustainable ecosystem management requires monitoring & evaluation (M&E) that helps us to learn and to update our actions. To do this we need to monitor and appraise all aspects of socioecological systems; use a range of information types and sources; and transparently feed that information into decision-making. Ultimately, monitoring and evaluation allows for the improvement of future ecosystem management.

In Europe, a number of environmental policies determine the way in which ecosystems are managed and monitored. The MEEM project assessed three of the most influential European environmental policies: the Natura 2000 Directives; the Water Framework Directive; and Agri-Environment Schemes under the Common Agricultural Policy.

How are these three key policies shaping monitoring and evaluation in Europe? This question was addressed with three specific aims:

1. Synthesis of the current state of policy-driven monitoring and evaluation across Europe
2. Comparison of these practices to the current recommendations in the literature
3. Identification of accessible recommendations for improving monitoring and evaluation in order to better support adaptive ecosystem management
   

Project Outputs

The MEEM project was completed in Summer 2018. Its results and conclusions provide critical insights for the future of European ecosystem management. Learn more about this exciting, pertinent research in the following project outputs:

• Project Briefing: A four-page briefing addressing the main challenges and implications for improving monitoring and evaluation.
• Slideshow: A Powerpoint overview of the MEEM project and its findings.
  
• MEEM Webpage: The MEEM project page on the James Hutton Institute website.
• The main academic insights have been captured in a manuscript that was submitted to an academic journal in September 2018.This will be made available as soon as it has been accepted by peer review.
  
  

For more information about this ongoing research, contact Kerry Waylen ([email protected]).