The aim is to investigate the following hypothesis:

‘MarinTrust activities lead to improved or protected environmental parameters.’

We are calling for proposals to help us identify key questions, develop a research methodology, investigate attribution of impacts and identify any unintended effects, with the hope of building on the findings over time. It is anticipated that the project will test the Theory of Change (ToC) and associated assumptions as well as investigate other potential routes acting in tandem with the main ToC drivers (i.e. market access).

Scope

As the MarinTrust Standard unit of certification is the marine ingredients (i.e. fishmeal and fish oil) production factory, the focus of this initial work will be on the factories. In future evaluations MarinTrust intends to include the fisheries supplying whole fish to these factories. The aim is that this initial project will provide a strong foundation for commissioning future impact reports and also demonstrate to stakeholders that we are committed to improving the MarinTrust Programme in a transparent way.

The following objectives are set for this project:

a) Identify if (and the extent to which) the MarinTrust Factory Standard is producing the desired positive intended environmental outcomes and impacts.

b) Identify to what extent is it possible to attribute observed effects to the activity or intervention of the standard system.

c) Identify what factors could have influenced the results (factors within the control of the standard system and other external factors).

d) Identify what unintended effects (positive or negative) have resulted from the activities or interventions assessed in a to c above (a list of potential unintended effects is currently included in the MarinTrust MEL system).

 

Please find the full call for proposals document here.

Downloads