Developing key performance indicators for strategic environmental assessment effectiveness: a systematic framework

Key performance indicators (KPIs) are critical quantifiable metrics used to evaluate performance or effectiveness. In the context of Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA), they provide the framework by which the effectiveness of SEA practice can be examined and compared. A wide range of KPIs of SEA effectiveness have been developed, but to date they have not been systematically linked to the full range of dimensions of SEA effectiveness. The development of a concise framework of 10 SEA effectiveness KPIs for Ireland addresses this methodological gap. It has been developed through a bottom-up compilation of existing SEA effectiveness KPIs from the international literature, and then sieving these by: A) ensuring they tackle current practice weaknesses for SEA in Ireland; B) aligning them with strategic/tactical/operational success factors for effective SEA; C) prioritising them on the basis of feedback from SEA experts; and D) further refining them through project steering committee opinion. The proposed KPIs are unlikely to be pertinent for all jurisdictions, but the process used to develop them can be applied elsewhere.