4.5. Institutions Indicators and Measures
Sep 20th, 2007 by leb3
In the Landscape Measures framework, the institutional performance goal is principally concerned with the capacity for landscape level planning and management of human and natural resources in an integrated and adaptive way. The adaptive collaborative management (ACM) approach is consistent with this goal. Institutional performance is likely to be a good predictor of land use performance. Therefore it is worthwhile to invest considerable effort in tracking change in institutional performance, and also in engaging local leaders and stakeholders in developing and implementing your landscape measurement plan to improve their capacity for coordinated planning and management.
Sample indicators of institutional performance were developed from literature reviews and deliberation among specialists in 2005. Participants noted that institutional development is more about the quality of institutions than the quantity, such that numerical indicators can be misleading. Yet, meaningful indicators that measure institutional capacity qualitatively, with respect to governance and democratization, for example, can be difficult to design. A good understanding of local conditions is indispensable if the indicators are to be meaningful and useful.
We recommend using the Institutional Performance Scorecard to initiate deliberation about the institutional environment in your landscape, and to establish a baseline. Plan to develop your indicators and measurement methods on the basis of this exercise as well as the candidate indicators presented for each of the five institutional performance criteria below.
Criterion I3: Public policy supports integrated landscapes.
Criterion I4: Markets provide incentives for integrated landscapes.
Criterion I5: Knowledge, norms, and values support integrated landscapes.
Additional Resources
Measures of Progress Applegate Partnership. Su Rolle. USDA: Ways of measuring collaboration in landscape level planning and management.
Community Governance – Results That Matter Team:
Continue to Unit 5: Establishing a Baseline
