NextBillion - An Initiative of the William Davidson Institute at the University of Michigan

Background

Providing last-mile energy access continues to be a challenge and opportunity that clean energy practitioners need to deliver to vulnerable communities, often with support from donor governments, philanthropic organizations, and the private sector. In this space, monitoring and evaluation systems towards tracking and measuring developmental outcomes are essential (ESMAP 2020). These systems ensure that interventions are carefully constructed and lessons can be cascaded and are replicable, to understand different needs and on-the-ground realities (O’Cathain, et al. 2019) (Asian Development Bank 2019). These cover process and methods that ensure equity-focused implementation and create ethical protocols for intervention strategies as well as measuring evidence, which must be accessible to all stakeholders.

This ACEF Side Event will focus on an area many clean energy practitioners are familiar with but may struggle to fully understand and carry out seamlessly. Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) is anonymously used with measuring of impact, management of data systems, research, auditing, building of log frame analysis, data collection etc. These measures are at times are used interchangeably depending on the stakeholders involved who are creating these systems. Within this M&E spectrum, components of learning, monitoring data, evaluating changes and goals, understanding needs and realities can create an environment to build to better interventions for clean energy/ energy access and learn from them.

The panel will discuss the system needs of M&E processes within energy access programmes like community needs, aspirations, technological assessments, and interventions — alongside other “acronyms” that practitioners have to deal with and/or carry out. The panel will also discuss the importance and incorporation of various process towards capturing these change(s) and the need for these systems to be seen as a strategy towards building community centric interventions. The panel would be guided by the cross-sectoral approach (technological, socio-economic, etc) towards inclusive energy access and/ or transition especially working with vulnerable communities.