Review collection

We need to consider that partnerships have a "chain of impact" that includes

• the partnership's impact on its members (partnership level),
• the members' impacts on their local environments (national level) and
• the members' combined impact on their broader environment (trans-national).

Evaluations must understand the relationship between the three levels and be clear on where their focus lies.

Impact assessment exercises oriented towards intermediate/long-term impacts are not usually done earlier than 3-5 years after the end of the intervention to allow these impacts to become visible. Yet, the more time passes from the completion of the activity/intervention the less it is possible to attribute any effects to the specific intervention. Thus, we can talk about contribution of an intervention to a long-term impact.

It is fine if certain types of impacts need to appear under both outcomes and impacts. For instance, publications or economic benefits can occur during the project and 2-3 years after its end.

It doesn't matter if we are uncertain about whether a certain result is an outcome or an impact. The important thing is to identify and assess it.