Bringing evaluation a mindset to CDC’s Building Resilience and Climate Equity framework

Abstract Information: How can public health meaningfully integrate evaluation thinking into climate action planning? Several barriers limit this integration, including that climate action planning is often done by a range of professionals who have little experience with professional evaluation; insufficient resources dedicated to evaluation; and a growing sense of urgency related to climate change. Thus, there is a need to integrate and support evaluation as routine good practice in climate action planning. State, territorial, local, and tribal public health departments have important roles to play in preparing for and responding to the health impacts of climate change. In 2012, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) developed an applied framework, Building Resilience Against Climate Effects (BRACE), to guide public health departments in this work. CDC recently revised the framework utilizing a systematic process involving an expert panel that included representatives of health departments, community organizations, and other institutions and brought diverse perspectives on equitable climate and health action planning, cross-sector collaboration, and community engagement. The revised framework, renamed Building Resilience and Climate Equity, includes six new BRACE elements: Get Ready Stay Ready, Partner, Listen & Assess, Investigate Options, Prioritize & Plan, and Take Action. It also centers justice, equity, and belonging, draws from the Vital Conditions Framework, promotes cross-sector collaboration and community partnerships, and features a new set of tools to support implementation among diverse users in a variety of contexts. A limitation of the original BRACE framework was that it featured evaluation as a final step of the framework. Bringing evaluation as a continuously occurring activity throughout the revised framework is an important change to the revision. Thus, the revised BRACE framework features evaluation as one of three cross-cutting activities, along with collaboration and communication. New implementation guidance explicitly builds evaluation into of the six elements. This guidance supports an evaluative mindset, based on the foundational concept of adaptive management, which is a strategy centered on constant learning and adapting through reflection and evaluation. Adaptive management is well suited to dynamic, complex systems where there is uncertainty and incomplete information. In line with this, BRACE also seeks to minimize the risk of maladaptation, which implies inadvertently decreasing climate resilience or increasing inequities through poorly selected or implemented climate adaptation. By fostering an evaluative mindset, BRACE’s implementation guidance can help practitioners develop a more comprehensive picture of potential impacts and monitor risks over time. For evaluation to be realistic, it must be flexible and well-scoped for the types of practitioners who will be charged with integrating it into public health climate action. BRACE works towards this goal in each of the six elements by promoting smaller-scale strategies that will yield rapid, actionable insights, and incorporating reflective practice. The session will showcase the revised BRACE framework elements, principles, and implementation guidance. The discussion will also reflect how themes of equity, flexibility, and evaluative thinking were incorporated. We will share reflections on how evaluation can be more deeply interwoven into public practice frameworks to promote its use.