MAVA Adaptive Management Guidance

In 2016, the MAVA foundation changed its way of working entirely, in an attempt to scale up conservation impact. It did so by establishing Strategic Partnerships, i.e., partnerships between actors with different but complementary capabilities, working towards achieving shared conservation outcomes on a scale that matters. Each Strategic Partnership focused on the delivery of an Outcome Action Plan (OAP).

To guide their work, a series of how-to-guides has been developed: Guide #1 focuses on the design of the OAP; Guide #2 focuses on how to practice adaptive management using monitoring data; and Guide #3 provides guidance on how to conduct a mid-term evaluation (also referred to as a ‘pause & reflect’). The guides are meant to be helpful, not prescriptive.

The guides have been developed specifically for MAVA, containing references to MAVA’s specific processes and procedures. However, most of the content is relevant to any interested donor and conservation partnerships.

MAVA will be closing its doors in 2022, but their guides will remain accessible via this FOS webpage.

All guides are accompanied by presentations for easy sharing. All guides and presentations are available in English, French and Portuguese.

Guide #1: Designing MAVA’s Outcome Action Plans

This document provides technical guidance to managers and partners on the design of MAVA’s Outcome Action Plans (OAPs).

It consists of three main parts and has a glossary in the back:

• Part 1: Introduction to the OAP
• Part 2: Design of the OAP including guidance on the development of Theories of Change and Scorecards.
• Part 3: The OAP Steering Committee, its core functions and role in adaptive management of the OAP.

Download Guide #1 in English (2 MB), en français (2 MB), em português (2 MB)

Guide #2: Managing MAVA’s Outcome Action Plans adaptively

This document provides technical guidance to managers and partners of MAVA's Outcome Action Plans (OAP) for practicing Adaptive Management on OAP level.

The document consists of two main parts and a glossary in the back:

• Part 1: Introduction to Adaptive OAP Management. This part is meant to provide clarity on what we mean with Adaptive Management of the OAP and what is expected from partners.
• Part 2: Step-by-step Guidance. This part provides guidance on how to practice Adaptive Management.

Download Guide #2 in English (5.91 MB), en français (5.58 MB), em português (5.77 MB)

Guide #3: Mid-Term-Evaluation of MAVA’s OAPs

This document provides technical guidance to managers and partners of MAVA’s Outcome Action Plans (OAP) for conducting the Mid-Term Evaluation (MTE).

The document consists of two main parts and has a glossary in the back.

• Part 1: Introduction to the Mid-Term Evaluation. This part is meant to provide clarity on what we mean with the MTE and what is expected from partners.
• Part 2: Step-by-step Guidance. This part provides guidance on how to conduct the MTE.

Download Guide #3 in English (7.28 MB), en français (7.30 MB), em português (7.19 MB)