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The Mesoamerican Agroenvironmental Program (MAP-Norway) is a multi-dimensional rural development program implemented in Central America since 2009, working with smallholder families, producer organizations, governmental organizations, and regional governance platforms. To monitor, assess, and evaluate the effects of the program on its beneficiaries, MAP-Norway uses a series of indicators that allow project managers and donors to adapt and follow-up on the interventions. Because gender is a cross-cutting theme in the program, gender indicators are used at all levels: families, producer organizations, and governmental organizations and governance platforms. In this document, we use the experience of MAP-Norway to critically assess these indicators, considering their potential usability in the monitoring and evaluation of climate-smart agriculture (CSA) initiatives. Furthermore, we propose a series of other indicators that capture various dimensions of gender relations. These indicators can be used to assess the effect of CSA practices, services, and technologies on equity in decision-making, women's empowerment (including economic empowerment), intra-household food security, and equity in ownership over productive resources, among others, thus providing evidence that can help better design and target CSA interventions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper is an analysis of how cultural heritage values are handled in documentation related to early phase evaluations of major public investment projects in Norway. This study was instigated by an apparent lack in the consideration of cultural heritage values in such documentation. We conducted a case study document analysis to see how cultural heritage issues are addressed in the early phases of projects. Methodologically, the paper analyses the use of vocabulary related to cultural heritage values in the documentation. There is uniform documentation available from these projects. The results suggest that cultural heritage values are mentioned but seldom substantially discussed in the documents. Cultural heritage values tend to be discussed using non-specific language. There is an emphasis on legislation regarding cultural heritage and how the legislation can be a problem. Today’s discussion of cultural heritage values appears to be lacking and in need of a strengthened framework. The methodology applied in this study aims to provide a structured search method for the unstructured discussion of cultural heritage issues in these extensive documents. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents empirical research aimed at studying what characterizes successful information technology (IT) projects. There are often doubts about what characterizes project success and who actually defines it. In this paper, we have reviewed the literature and present significant contributions to the discussion of what characterizes successful IT projects. Furthermore, a survey was conducted in Norway to collect data on successful IT projects. Research results show that the five most important success criteria are: (1) the IT system works as expected and solves the problems, (2) satisfied users, (3) the IT system has high reliability, (4) the solution contributes to improved efficiency and competitive power, and (5) the IT system realizes strategic, tactical and operational objectives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Infrastructure projects in developed countries are rarely evaluated ex-post. Despite their number and scope, our knowledge about their various impacts is surprisingly limited. The paper argues that such projects must be assessed in a broad perspective that includes both operational, tactical and strategic aspects, and unintended as well as intended effects. A generic six-criteria evaluation framework is suggested, inspired by a framework frequently used to evaluate development assistance projects. It is tested on 20 Norwegian projects from various sectors (transport, defence, ICT, buildings). The results indicate that the majority of projects were successful, especially in operational terms, possibly because they underwent external quality assurance up-front. It is argued that applying this type of standardized framework provides a good basis for comparison and learning across sectors. It is suggested that evaluations should be conducted with the aim of promoting accountability, building knowledge about infrastructure projects, and continuously improve the tools, methods and governance arrangements used in the front-end of project development., (Copyright © 2018 The Author. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.)