Project Description

The 'Building Agency of Youth in Climate Action'project was designed to empower and mobilize youth to take leadership roles and become entrepreneurs in climate action. Over a six-month period, the project enhanced the awareness, knowledge, and 21st-century skills of young individuals, establishing a network of youth-led organizations dedicated to climate justice. It also encouraged young entrepreneurs towards green entrepreneurship. The project, funded by British Council, directly involved 4,251 young people and community members, achieved digital engagement with 517,673 youths in climate initiatives, and supported 125 young individuals with innovative business ideas, helping to incubate 20 business projects. The intervention targeted young people in marginalized and vulnerable communities, including those in coastal, urban slum, and river erosion areas of Dhaka, Satkhira, Khulna, Barishal, and Bagerhat districts in Bangladesh. These districts are highly susceptible to the impacts of climate change and extreme natural and manmade disasters, which are pushing a significant number of youth into deeper poverty and displacement. Through strategic partnerships with organizations like ActionAid, FIVDB, and YPSA, the project adopted a multi-faceted approach, incorporating training sessions, social action projects (SAPs), advocacy, and a national youth conference. Participants were trained in leadership, climate literacy, and green business practices, while local communities benefited from youth-led initiatives like tree planting, waste management, and awareness campaigns. By aligning with Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and national policies, the project contributed to fostering resilience and sustainable development in climate-vulnerable regions of Bangladesh.

Objectives

The core objective of this assignment was to develop a robust and comprehensive evaluation framework that aligns with the 'Building Agency for Youth in Climate Action' project's goals. The overarching aim was to assess the efficacy and impact of the project in empowering the youth of Bangladesh to become proactive agents in climate action and leadership. Specific objectives included:

• Assessing Engagement and Capacity Building: Evaluating how effectively the project engages youth and enhances their knowledge, skills, and agency regarding climate action.
• Measuring Impact: Quantifying the project's impact on youth awareness, knowledge, participation in climate mitigation and adaptation activities, and their leadership in climate discourse and action.
• Evaluating Sustainability and Coherence: Ensuring that the project's efforts are sustainable and coherent with national policies and international climate action frameworks.

Scope of Work

The scope of this assignment encompassed the following key areas:

• Framework Development: Crafting an Evaluation Plan based on the project's result metrics, including establishing appropriate indicators and outcomes.
• Tool Review and Development: Analyzing existing monitoring tools and developing new instruments as needed, ensuring they are tailored to effectively capture data related to the project's objectives.
• Data Collection: Implementing a mixed methods approach to collect qualitative and quantitative data from young participants, stakeholders, and beneficiaries.
• Impact Analysis: Applying theory-based and significant change methodologies to analyze data and interpret the project's success in achieving its intended outcomes.
• Youth-Centered Communication: Developing four human-centered impact stories and a two-page infographic showcasing evaluation findings, ensuring accessibility and engagement.
• Visual and Digital Design: Supporting the layout and production of presentation slide decks and communication briefs.
• Content Development Support: Assisting in translation of evaluation findings into audience-sensitive messages for stakeholders and youth platforms.
• Reporting: Crafting a comprehensive evaluation report with anonymized findings, including an executive summary, impact stories, and a presentation slide deck.

The Following Services Provided by Communication and Development Limited(CDL):

CDL provided strategic communication support to enhance the visibility, accessibility, and impact of the evaluation findings. Their contributions included:

• Developing four narrative-driven impact stories aligned with the project's outcome areas—three general and one with a gender lens.
• Designing a two-page infographic summary of evaluation findings for wide dissemination across youth networks and stakeholder platforms.
• Structuring and producing the presentation slide deck used for stakeholder workshops and dissemination events.
• Providing editing and content refinement support for the evaluation report and communication deliverables to ensure alignment with British Council guidelines.
• Advising on youth-sensitive content framing to help communicate findings to broader audiences, including marginalized and climate-affected communities.
• Supporting the facilitation of validation workshops with visual and narrative materials tailored for non-technical and youth audiences.