INTRODUCTION
The Institute for Sustainable Communities (ISC) seeks to hire a local consulting firm or individual consultant through an open, fair and competitive process to conduct an end-line assessment of the Environment Health and Safety Plus (EHS+ Center), funded by United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and Mahindra and Mahindra Ltd. This document outlines the expectations of ISC for the engagement, during which the prospective consulting firm will design the survey protocol, methodology, and overall execution plan for an end-line survey based on the objectives of the EHS+ program. This assignment is anticipated to be conducted over a period of three months.
The goal of the EHS+ Center program is to advance low carbon sustainable manufacturing practices in India’s industrial sector, while improving health and safety conditions inside factories and community conditions related to air, water and carbon emissions. The key objectives of this program are to:
- Improve environmental, health, safety and energy/carbon management in Indian factories;
- Establish an Indian owned and operated, financially and operationally viable EHS+ Center.
SUMMARY OF SCOPE OF WORK
The local consulting firm’s key deliverable is a report that assesses the sustainability, efficiency, effectiveness, and impacts of the EHS+ Center program; captures outcome and impact results as outlined in the program’s approved results assessment framework (see Annex 1); and documents successes and challenges raised in the program’s implementation period. To do so, the consultant is expected to:
A. Evaluate
- Project’s database, reports and baseline data;
- The EHS+ Center’s resources such as training materials and knowledge products;
- Design and delivery of training programs by the EHS+ Center and the program as a whole;
- The EHS+ Center as compared to other centers of excellence in India focused on improving capacity of industry professionals and developing sustainability parameters relevant to establishing a center of excellence in India.
B. Survey, Key Informant Interviews (KII) and Focused Group Discussions (FGDs)
- Develop a survey methodology, sampling strategy & framework, and survey instruments (questionnaire for quantitative and qualitative methods);
- Conduct a mock survey and share results with the ISC;
- Conduct a survey, FGD and KIIs of the Center’s (trainee) alumni, Center staff, associated factories and partners.
C. Data Collection and Database Management
- Design and execute a database management system in order to enter and analyze the data collected from the field;
- Analyze the data in entirety and provide its proper documentation, scripts or coding to ISC;
- Hire a diverse team of data collectors, research analysts and a main research investigator.
D. Implementation
- Develop a detailed work plan based on the Terms of Reference;
- Deliver up to 3 PowerPoint based presentations of key findings on ISC’s request for comments and information dissemination purposes;
- Attend meetings as requested by the ISC with regards to the evaluation process and discussion of the findings;
- Prepare and submit the final report to ISC in word format.
Refer to Annex 1 (Results Assessment Framework) and Annex 2 (Survey Methodology) for more details.
DELIVERABLES
At the end of this three-month assignment, the firm is expected to deliver the following:
A. Survey
- A survey of 300 EHS+ Center (trainee) alumni (mostly based in Maharashtra), e.g. treatment group
- KIIs with individuals from the Center’s network, number to be determined
- FGDs with EHS+ Center alumni, number to be determined
- Comparison of EHS+ Center with other Centers of Excellence in India focused on industry professionals
- Final copies of all survey tools and contact lists used during the evaluation process
B. Reports and Database:
- A high-quality assessment report with findings that will be aligned with all indicators both in tabular and descriptive format
- Organized database of information collected through the survey, KII, and FGDs
- 1 PowerPoint presentation highlighting the key process of the assessment and the key findings of the report
- Two hard copies of the report and one soft copy in a pen drive.
IDEAL TIMELINE
- RFP issued: December 17, 2018
- Proposals submitted no later than: January 11, 2019, 5:00 PM IST
- Winning proposal selected: January 18, 2019
- Contract signed: January 25, 2019
- Begin work/Kick-off meeting: January 28, 2019
- Work plan finalized: January 30, 2019
- Study design finalized: February 8, 2019
- Mock survey and tools finalized: February 22, 2019
- Data collection completed: March 22, 2019
- Data coding, cleaning and analysis completed: April 5, 2019
- Key results presentation: April 10, 2019
- Final report submitted: April 25, 2019
QUALIFICATIONS
The consultant or consulting firm must meet the following minimum qualifications:
- At least 10 years professional experience in monitoring and evaluation (M&E) in a project-based setting
- Knowledge of USAID M&E systems, requirements, approaches and trends
- Extensive knowledge of M&E best practices across multiple donors
- Sector experience measuring results and impacts of sustainability (economic, social and environmental) and climate change programs
- Experience with evaluation design and implementation in a program-based setting
- Excellent verbal and written communication skills. Fluency in English, Hindi and Marathi.
Winning proposal will:
- Successfully demonstrate that consultant meets or exceeds the minimum qualifications listed above.
- Demonstrate cost effectiveness and competitiveness for professional services.
- Address their project management approach.
- Address the ability to meet the project deliverables in a reasonable timeframe (either through our timeline or a proposed alternative timeline)
SUBMISSION REQUIREMENTS
Please submit a proposal that includes:
- A short narrative piece, no more than 3 pages, that outlines your vision and qualifications for the work
- Work plan
- Cost proposal
- 2 to 4 recent/relevant examples of similar work
- Detailed bio
- 3 references
Proposals must be sent via an email to amishra@sustain.org by January 11, 2018, 5 pm IST, with End line Evaluation of the EHS+ Center in the subject line.
About the Institute for Sustainable Communities
An international nonprofit organization, the Institute for Sustainable Communities (ISC) has 26 years of practical experience working with local leaders to accelerate climate change and sustainability solutions. ISC’s programs are designed to facilitate peer learning and engagement among local leaders charged with the work of making their communities more sustainable. ISC has led more than 110 projects in 30 countries, and currently works in Asia and the United States. Learn more at www.sustain.org
| Goal | Indicator |
|---|---|
| Low carbon, sustainable manufacturing practices in India’s industrial sector advanced by establishing and independent EHS+ Center | GHG emissions, estimated in metric tons of CO2e, reduced, sequestered and/or avoided as a result of USG assistance. |
| Outcome 1 | Indicators |
|---|---|
| Environmental and carbon management practices in industrial processes introduced in participating factories | Expected lifetime energy savings from energy efficiency or energy conservation in industrial; processes, as a result of USG assistance
Number of institutions with improved capacity to address climate change issues, as a result of USG assistance. |
| Outcome 2 | Indicators |
|---|---|
| Technical capabilities of key practitioners increased to facilitate low carbon improvement and EHS in factories. | Percentage of trainees who exhibit increased scores from pre- to post-test (before and after receiving EHS+ Center training)
Percentage of trainees who proposed measures/changes to improve clean energy/EHS practices in the factories |
| Outcome 3 | Indicator |
|---|---|
| Financially independent and operationally sustainable EHS+ Center | Percentage of EHS+ Center operating budget covered by revenues |
| Output | Indicator |
|---|---|
| Training and technical assistance provided to energy practitioners/professionals on energy efficiency and energy management, and to shop floor managers and industrial workers on EHS | Number of person hours of training completed in climate change as a result of USG assistance |
In addition to this list of indicators, the prospective firm or consultant will look into the Theory of Change (ToC) and other Monitoring and Evaluation plans for the Center to ensure donor harmonization in terms of outcome and impacts.
Annexure # 2: Survey Methodology
Sampling
The proposed sample size of this survey will be 300 trained participants, composed of males and females (managers and workers), master and part time trainers, Center staff, major stakeholders and formal and informal partnerships of the project. Most included in the sample will be located in the state of Maharashtra. The sample population will be divided in a way that enables comparison between control and treatment groups. This sampling method should have a robust statistical significance that must allow all results derived in this survey are within a 95% confidence level.
Data collection methodology
All data collection will be conducted using a mixed method. Both quantitative (questionnaires) and qualitative (FGD, KII) survey methods will be followed to carry out this task. The prospective firm or consultant may use either paper based or online or both data collection platforms to conduct this survey, keeping non-sampling bias as nominal as possible. The consulting will collect and analyze a number of substantial case studies from participants as per the indicators. In this respect, ISC will assist in designing and collecting qualitative information from trained participants.
Data analysis
The prospective firm or consultant may use either SPSS or Excel for quantitative data analysis and NVivo or MAXQDA for qualitative data analysis. ISC will seek the full database along with the results at the end of this contract.