CECAN Fellowship: Developing Evaluation Triangles: A Visual Representation of a Systems-Based Approach to Evaluating Marine Plan Objectives and Policy Effectiveness (Joint Fellowship with Rachel Holtby)
Marine plans are currently monitored but not systematically evaluated, leading to limited understanding of whether policies are achieving their intended objectives or how progress in one area may be influencing others. This fellowship would address the challenge of organising marine plan monitoring data in a way that enables systems-based evaluation. It will explore how to adapt and develop the concept of evaluation triangles—visual tools to show policy progress against each marine plan objective. These triangles could be combined into circles of objective outcomes at the marine plan level, offering holistic visualisation of progress of a marine plan that can support engagement with stakeholders and Defra. At the next scale up, each triangle could represent the overall outcome for one of the marine plan areas, allowing for the creation of a national circle of triangles that reflects the health and coherence of the entire marine planning system. This approach would support better understanding of outcomes at policy, objective, plan, and marine planning system levels; simplify complex interdependencies; and enhance reporting and communication. Ultimately, it offers a pathway to more adaptive marine management by identifying which objectives are performing within safe or desirable system limits, and which may require policy adjustments.
About Victor
Victor Owoyomi is a senior marine social researcher and evaluation specialist with a work focus on social policy, marine development, climate change and resilience, environmental health and sustainable development. He is a research fellow from Brown International Advanced Research Institute (BIARI), Brown University, USA. Also, a policy communication fellow, African Institute for Development Policy (AFIDEP). He has a BSc in Sociology and a Master of Public Health (MPH) underpinning his expertise. Victor’s professional background spans the academic, consultancy, development and public sectors. In his current role, Victor plays critical role in the development and management of social research and evaluation projects at the MMO. His work covers marine planning and licensing, strategic renewables, and sustainable fisheries management within the MMO. His expertise has directly fed into two ministerial priorities for Defra: Marine Natural Capital Ecosystem Approaches and Fisheries Management Plans (FMP). For both priority programmes Victor’s skills were useful to develop mixed quantitative and qualitative methodologies to better inform the extent to which the UK could apply natural capital approaches to develop the Celtic Sea and Western Channel Pelagic (CSWC) FMP. Victor has been collaborating with interdisciplinary researchers, ecologists and experts within the MMO and arms-length bodies to provide technical support on developing comprehensive evaluation frameworks (including Theories of Change). Victor’s unique insight contributes to the Blue Belt mission programme, ‘Considerations of Nature Based Solutions in Marine Licensing’ and ‘Review of Marine Planning Evaluations to support effective decision making and good environmental status.
