An Evaluation Framework for Best Practices and Expected Outcomes in Collaborative Planning and Water Resource Management

Planning that includes collaborative processes can provide more effective, efficient, and equitable outcomes when compared to other planning methods. While the practice of collaborative planning has grown to become a part of institutions around the globe, research is still largely absent when it comes to comprehensively evaluating collaborative plans. Many frameworks and models that evaluate collaborative planning focus on the process of developing a plan or on a narrow range of outputs. This paper provides a transparent method for the creation of a comprehensive evaluation framework for collaborative plans that covers the entire planning process, across different collaborative planning practices, and is designed to be useable by planning practitioners. Our evidence-based framework is developed by connecting the practices and outcomes identified in peer-reviewed case studies over the last 25 years. Fifteen best practices and eight outcome criteria are derived from studies focusing on Collaborative Planning, Structured Decision Making, Integrated Water Resources Management, adaptive management, and the social-ecological impacts of dams. Our descriptive evaluation tool is useable, scalable, and transferrable to different natural resource management contexts.