Workers' Education and Environment
Final Evaluation, 20-31 January 1999
Evaluation Worksheet

5.1

Many lessons can be drawn from this Project, including:

• Trade union policy development and action plans have been successfully developed due to the very relevant materials produced, which have acted as guidelines for discussions. However, the implementation of these items will take time. Guidance and encouragement in this area are necessary.

• There is a need for active partnership. This means that trade unions, employers, and relevant representatives of governments need to reach the same level of knowledge in in order to have constructive dialogues, reference what happened in Malaysia.

• Increasing unemployment will lead to less income for trade union organizations. It is therefore important in the education to stress methods of training that are not too costly. There are other activities than workshops and seminars, which are often expensive, that can be as effective such as study circle activities, small meetings, campaigns, posters, and the like.

5.2

It is recommended that the Project be continued for at least two more years for several significant reasons:

• The final evaluation questionnaires which have been completed by the focal points indicate many instances where the national centres and ITSs have now developed policies and action plans, but they need resources to put them into practice. They also need support for activities encouraging bi- and tripartite dialogues.

• It will take some time to develop and update the Internet homepage to include information about activities, training, and policy-making, which are continuing past the end of the project.

• The case studies will have to be prepared in booklet form and organized in a manner to offer a useful teaching instrument. This will take time and resources.

• Progress has been made in including Project materials and the subject of environmentally sustainable development in ACTRAV’s training programmes including at the Turin Centre. However, it is questionable if this has reached a sustainable point.

• It was recommended in the Project Document that ACTRAV identify a focal point on environmentally sustainable development at headquarters by the termination of the project. Thus far there is no sign of a focal point being named at headquarters. As some of the focal points in the field said in their responses to the evaluation questionnaires: "Environmentally sustainable development is a complex subject." In order to ensure a real integration within ACTRAV and in Turin’s training programmes, someone must be responsible for seeing that it is done.

• The Project promoted building as many networks as possible between focal points and co-operating research centres; focal points and NGOs, and other organizations working for environmentally sustainable development. However, these networks will take time to develop in a sustainable way.

• Co-operation with international trade union organizations should be continued and strengthened.

• Few national centres among the co-operating partners have the financial resources to ensure training in environmentally sustainable development. Therefore, the training materials have underlined ways and means to do training at low costs.

• Translation of materials into as many major languages of the participating national centres as possible should be given a priority.

• Active partnership should be continued and broadened; including linking project activities to other ILO activities.

• One of the key indicators to determine if the Project has met its objectives is whether trade unionists are taking part in policy and decision-making bodies at the national, regional, local and workplace levels. The ability of trade unions to take part in decision making bodies were greatly enhanced in Asia at the beginning of the Project by the APPOT programme. Tri-partite cooperation was promoted in workshops in India, Malaysia and Vietnam where the three social partners discussed priority issues and action plans. However, this has ceased since the termination of the APPOT project and there is much that remains to be done. Unfortunately, without the assistance of such a project to strengthen social partnership, it will be extremely difficult to reach this Project’s objectives in many of the participating countries.

5.3

Conclusions

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