OUTCOME: Capacity
Problem
Information on the effectiveness of an innovation or enhancement of an existing project, process, or action is often a limiting factor in expanding the pace, scope, and scale of watershed and community resilience efforts.
Solution
Demonstration Projects - Use demonstration projects to evaluate and test innovations that can be expanded to increase the pace, scope, and scale of ecosystem and community resilience projects and activities.
Background and Context
Given the nature and geographic extent of the multiple issues and impacts facing the North Coast region, it is challenging to determine which projects and actions are likely to achieve the most effective outcomes for ecosystem and community resilience. One way to address this challenge is by testing new concepts, approaches, and innovations – or building on existing successful project approaches by enhancing their pace, scope, and scale – and then evaluating the results and determining whether expansion to other areas is warranted. Allocating funding to unproven projects or projects that do not report on measurable outcomes runs the risk of using limited public dollars ineffectively at a time when all investments are critical. Demonstration projects, which rely on the expertise of the region’s Tribes, NGOs, RCDs, watershed groups, and the private sector, offer a relatively low-cost opportunity to test concepts and approaches, evaluate their effectiveness, and determine whether the innovation should be expanded.
Recommendations
NCRP will continue to use demonstration projects and similar “test bed” approaches to evaluate and consider expansion of activities and projects that will enhance regional capacity to increase pace, scope, and scale of community and watershed resilience. Documenting outcomes from demonstration projects – both successes and failures – and creating a culture of shared learning and adaptive planning offers an opportunity for entities in the region to learn from and apply the experience of others and encourages innovation. In addition to providing data and models for scaling up successful projects, these demonstration projects also implement Solutions suggested in this Plan, including hazardous fuel management, beneficial fire, ecosystem restoration, organizational capacity building, and workforce development.
Actions
- Maintain and refine a template for project sponsor reporting on demonstration projects so that information can be queried in a quantifiable manner, and is readily accessible to other regional partners and funders.
- Summarize cumulative results from demonstration projects via NCRP website and other information sharing platforms.
- Document the impact of demonstration projects via NCRP performance metrics and other performance metrics as appropriate.
- Solicit feedback and reflection on unexpected project results, both positive and negative, and lessons learned.
- Advocate for funding to develop and test innovative approaches and pilots to solve existing and predicted challenges. Integrate a project scaling incubator as a component of the pilot program. The incubator could focus on implementing and testing projects that drive the pace, scope, and scale of restoration via permit streamlining, innovative funding approaches, and capacity building.
- Develop a fund for pilot implementers for post-project analysis, lessons learned, and writing white papers/pilot strategies for scaling. Regularly present results to NCRP partners.
- Provide mechanisms for region wide consultation and business process support for scaling pilot projects.
- Leverage existing peer-learning networks (SCALE, California Landscape Stewardship Network, Indigenous Stewardship Network, Fire Adapted Communities Learning Network, Fire Learning Network, etc.) to further understand and share pilot successes and failures. Using the NCRP meeting/communication systems, systematically debrief regional demonstration project sponsors, funders, and other interested parties to improve the programmatic approach to demonstration projects, amplify learning, increase replication success, and enhance pilot effectiveness.