1 Community Monitoring and Evaluation methods survey Report and analysis. March 2013 1. Survey aims The Evaluation Methods survey aimed to give a broad insight into the existing levels of Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) undertaken by Low Carbon Community Groups and Transition Initiatives, and explore the M&E needs and priorities of these groups. The survey arose out of a collaboration between the EVALOC 1 research project, the Transition Network and the Transition Research Network (TRN) 2 , and will contribute to the production of EVALOC research outputs (evaluation resources) and greater knowledge about the current state of M&E that exists within low carbon community groups and transition initiatives. 2. Methodology The survey 3 was conducted online between July - November 2012. Survey Monkey software was used for data collection. All survey questions were in English. Most of the questions were multiple choice, although open questions were also used. This analysis includes all responses collected up until mid-November 2012, when the survey was closed. The list of survey questions can be found in Appendix 1. The survey invitation was distributed electronically via the Transition Network newsletter (August 2012) and website, the Transition Research Network, Low Carbon Communities Network 4 Ŷeǁsletteƌ, aŶd ‘oď HopkiŶs TƌaŶsitioŶ Cultuƌe blog 5 . The distribution channels which triggered the most responses were the Transition Network newsletter and the Transition Culture blog. Terms used We are aware that the teƌŵs ŵoŶitoƌ aŶd eǀaluate (M&E) can describe a range of activities and processes concerned with the collection and analysis of a range of different data, and overall assessment of how a project performs in comparison with its stated goals. The variety of processes, type and amount of data can vary in intensity and degree of formality. We wanted to include M&E in the broadest sense, and gave this wording at the beginning of 1 http://www.evaloc.org.uk/ The project seeks to assess, explain and communicate the changes in energy use due to community activities within six selected case study projects under the Department of Energy and Climate Change's (DECC) Low Carbon Communities Challenge (LCCC) initiative, a government-supported initiative to transform the way communities use and produce energy, and build new ways of supporting more sustainable living. 2 The Transition Research Network aims to support research that is mutually beneficial for Transition Initiatives (part of the Transition Towns movement) and academic researchers. http://www.transitionresearchnetwork.org/ 3 Designed by Jo Hamilton and Ruth Mayne, Environmental Change Institute, with input from the Transition Research Network and Transition Network. 4 The aim of the Low Carbon Communities Network (LCCN) is to encourage the adoption of low carbon and zero carbon technologies and lifestyles at a community level, and to enable groups engaged in this to be as effective and efficient as possible. http://lowcarboncommunities.org/ 5 http://transitionculture.org/2012/07/19/please-fill-out-this-quick-survey-to-help-us-to-help-you-evaluate-your-transition- impact/