Evaluation of the EcoAction Community Funding Program

May 2009

7.0 MANAGEMENT RESPONSE

The ES Board agrees with these three recommendations.

The EcoAction Community Funding Program is one of Environment Canada’s twelve Community Action Programs for the Environment (CAPE). In Fall 2007, the CAPEE, which focused on simplifying and streamlining the administration of federal G&C. Various activities that are already under way, or will be initiated as part of our Optimization Initiative and Environment Canada’s new Action Plan for G&C Reform, will support the EcoAction Community Funding Program in responding to the recommendations of this evaluation. Specifically, these initiatives involve:

developing a Web portal to improve client service by offering a one-window entry point for community funding programs;
conducting a business process analysis of community funding programs that will lead to the development of common administrative tools and approaches to achieve efficiencies and consistent program delivery;
developing an online application and information management system resulting in greater program efficiencies, greater ability to report collectively on the results of the community funding programs, and improved service to Canadians, and;
implementing a risk assessment strategy.

It is important to note that the scope and timelines of the commitments in relation to the Optimization Initiative and the Departmental Action Plan for G&C Reform are outside of the program’s control.

The program acknowledges that the EcoAction website is difficult to access from the Environment Canada homepage. The one-window approach of the CAPE web portal, under the Optimization Initiative, will make it easier to find the EcoAction website and will also provide common tools and resources to assist funding applicants. To address funding applicants’ difficulties in understanding the project eligibility criteria, the program will provide a more complete list of eligible and ineligible project activities that will allow for greater program transparency and clarity. Significant improvements were made to the program forms and tools in 2008, based on clients’ feedback and input. The Evaluation findings, which are based on the 2008 survey of EcoAction funding recipients, may not accurately reflect these changes since they were implemented afterwards. However, there is room for improvement and further steps will be taken to make the EcoAction website and program information easy to use and understand.

EcoAction is a national funding program delivered through Environment Canada’s five regional offices. The national coordination unit is located in the National Capital Region (NCR). We agree that we need more clearly defined roles and responsibilities for the various members of the program team and clear processes to ensure national consistency in the delivery of the program. The program currently holds monthly management team and project officer conference calls, and has ad hoc working groups, to provide the opportunity to discuss and take action on delivery processes and best practices. All program delivery modifications are reviewed and considered by the management team and when appropriate, integrated into the program Operational Guidelines.

The roles and responsibilities around decision making have shifted significantly in the Department over the past few years from the traditional organizational structure to the more recent results-management structure. This caused a great deal of confusion for program managers and staff during the period covered by this evaluation. These shifts in departmental organizational structure have created a sense of uncertainty around the role of the National Coordination Unit (NCU) and about who is responsible for decision making. As the Department is now shifting back to the traditional organizational structure, authority for project funding approvals has gone back to the responsible Regional Directors General. Program management and design decisions remain a collaborative process involving regional participation and NCU.

EcoAction delivers on a wide range of environmental issues that relate to the four key priorities of the Department: climate change, clean air, clean water and nature. EcoAction projects also result in social, economic and capacity building benefits to communities. Thus, since 1995, an extensive list of indicators has been developed. The program acknowledges that this list needs to be reduced, focusing on those indicators most relevant to program outcomes and departmental reporting priorities and performance. In addition, EcoAction’s Management Information System (MIS) has been in place since 1998 and has served the program well to capture project information, automate administration processes, and provide detailed reports. However, we recognize that there are inconsistencies in how the data are inputted and uncertainty surrounding possible future expansion of the database to accommodate new needs and pressures. A national MIS working group has been established to assess our current data management process.

The program commits to the following actions in response to the three recommendations:

**RECOMMENDATION #1: It is recommended that program forms and tools be improved to make them easier to understand and to use.**
DATE	ITEM
March 2010	Review and update the web content and architecture of the EcoAction website to improve navigation and incorporate Government of Canada common look and feel requirements; Publish a detailed list of eligible and ineligible projects for potential funding recipients; Participate in the business process analysis that is part of the Optimization Initiative to determine best practices and streamline and standardize forms and tools used by the program.
March 2011	Implement appropriate reporting tool and requirements for funded projects as determined by the departmental G&C risk assessment strategy developed as part of the Departmental Action Plan for G&C Reform.
March 2012	Adopt the departmental online application and information management system, which will enhance client service and facilitate application, monitoring and reporting processes for both clients and program staff.

**RECOMMENDATION #2: It is recommended that roles, responsibilities and processes be examined to identify opportunities for clarification and increased efficiencies.**
DATE	ITEM
March 2010	Based on a review of how the information is shared, how decisions are made and required approvals, define roles and responsibilities at all levels of the program around decision making and accountability; Develop service standards and update Operational Guidelines to better streamline the delivery process overall.
March 2012	Adopt the online application and information management system stated above, which will also contribute to the reduction of administrative burden on client and staff, increase efficiencies in program delivery.

RECOMMENDATION #3: It is recommended that current processes for defining environmental indicators for projects and for measuring, recording and using performance information be assessed to improve the ability of the program to demonstrate its results.
DATE	ITEM
March 2010	Reduce the number of project indicators by selecting those that are most relevant to program objectives and departmental outcomes, and align them with indicators included in the Performance Measurement Framework (PMF) that accompanies the Program Activity Architecture (PAA) 2010-11; Develop a user guide to improve consistency of data entry in the program’s MIS; Provide training to all program staff on the use of the MIS.
March 2011	Establish a verification process to follow-up after project completion so as to provide feedback to the program on the longer-term impacts, benefits, and overall sustainability of community projects; Integrate lessons learned and best practices from the review of completed projects into EcoAction’s application review and decision-making processes.
March 2012	Provide measurement tools to clients to facilitate reporting on results. The program will conduct a review of the existing departmental measurement tools. If required, EcoAction will seek departmental expertise to develop appropriate tools; Continue to conduct a client survey every four years (offset between program evaluations).

Contact person: EcoAction National Manager

| ToC | Previous | Next |