A mandatory requirement for Life project is the monitoring of project impacts, by means of defined set of indicators on 3 main fields (environmental, socio-economic, ecosystemic), as described in action D of IRIS. The monitoring system is described by the Project Quality Plan.
The three levels of monitoring are the following:
Monitoring of Project’s Impacts – The aim of Monitoring action is to measure and document the effectiveness of the project actions as compared to the initial situation, objectives and expected results in terms of resilience improvement. Through a specific set of environmental indicators, this action aims at evaluating the impact of IRIS in terms of resilience improvement of productive areas and supply chain involved in the project. The activities of this action aim especially at assessing the improvement of the resilience to climate change achieved by the actors participating in the IRIS. Starting from the main impact emerging from the vulnerability assessment of productive areas and supply chain involved in the project (A1), this action will estimate the potential improvement with the adaptation measures identified or implemented (C1, C2 and C3).
Monitoring of Socio-Economic Impact – This action aims at assessing the socio-economic impact of the project actions on the local economy and population. In particular, this action will evaluate the improvement achieved at local level by the IRIS and especially the awareness raising about climate vulnerability and the resilience improvement of the communities where companies are located and operate. The activities implemented by this action aim at analysing both the improvement of communities resilience and the outcomes achieved by the project for the local stakeholder (for instance new job opportunities, new markets opportunities, new collaborations). A dedicated set of socio-economic indicators will be the operative tool for this action this action.
Monitoring of Ecosystem Functions Restoration – This action aims at evaluating the impact of IRIS on ecosystem functions characterizing the territories involved in the project. Starting from the main ecosystem functions endangered emerging from the vulnerability assessment of productive areas and supply chain involved in the project (A1), the action D3 will estimate the potential improvement with the adaptation measures identified or implemented (C1, C2 and C3). Ecosystems provide natural goods and services of considerable economic value to businesses, such as flood protection and water treatment. Therefore, businesses’ success depends on the prosperity of local communities and ecosystems. As a consequence business adaptation to climate change may be very beneficial for local communities as well as for ecosystem services. A set of ecosystem indicators will operatively be used for this monitoring action.
The IRIS survey is in progress to understand the level of risk awareness by climate change by companies