What are the monitor’s tasks?

We distinguish four possible tasks for a monitor: 

1. To help in performing actor analyses

• When more information is needed about relevant actors
• When more information is needed about the views of actors concerning problems and solutions, underlying values and interests and relationships between important actors
• When initiators have to be found in the innovation network
• When more attention needs to be devoted to anchoring the results of the project and more information is needed about how to achieve that.

 2. To help in performing system and trend analyses

• To broaden the horizons of stakeholders who are very much focussed on themselves and each other
• To provide more information about related initiatives and relevant trends in the environment
• To provide more information about the causes of persistent problems
• For the anchoring of results.

3. To make suggestions for specific group interventions

• To help overcome fixations on barriers within the group
• To help maintain the ambitions and retain the long-term focus
• To introduce new and innovative perspectives in the group
• To encourage the desire for change among the participants (sense of urgency and commitment)
• To help overcome conflicts between participants.

4. To help with registration

This refers, for example, to the contributions to data files on changes in practices and  regimes or dynamic learning agendas so that what has been learned can be transferred to third parties.

The four tasks apply to the monitoring and evaluation of both transition projects and programmes, although the scope of the analytical contributions is wider in the case of monitoring and evaluation for a programme than for projects. Furthermore, the various analyses for the monitoring and evaluation of a programme are often less detailed.