Background

The PARCS project (Project Strengthening the Institutional and Financial Sustainability of the National Protected Area System) is nationally implemented (NIM) by the Ministry of Environment and Energy (MOE) and United Nations Development Program (UNDP) in Croatia over a period of four years (2014 – 2017). The UNDP monitors the implementation of the project, reviews progress in the realization of the project outputs, and ensures the proper use of UNDP/GEF funds. Working in close cooperation with MENP, the UNDP (CO) provides support services to the project - including procurement, contracting of service providers, human resources management and financial services - in accordance with the relevant UNDP Rules and Procedures and Results-Based Management (RBM) guidelines. The MENP has the overall responsibility for achieving the project goal and objectives, and is directly responsible for creating the enabling conditions for implementation of all project activities. The MOE designated a senior official (Assistant Minister) to act as the Project Director (PD) that will provide the strategic oversight and guidance to project implementation. A four-member Project Implementation Unit (PIU) is hired by UNDP and is responsible to ensure that the project is implemented and administered to the satisfaction of UNDP and MOE. The PIU is led and supervised by Project Manager (PM), that plays a key role in driving and managing the project and managing all project inputs and activities. PM is directly responsible to UNDP and PD, and operates under their supervision and instructions. The PIU is technically supported by contracted national and international experts and service providers. Aside to PD and PIU the project has a Project Board (PB), that serves as the executive decision making body. The Project Board will ensure that the project remains on course to deliver the desired outcomes of the required quality. The PB is meeting at least twice per annum (more often if required). A Technical Working Group (TWG) – consisting of the most senior professional and technical staff from MOE, Croatian Agency for Environment and Nature (CAEN) and representatives from public institutions that are managing protected areas, is consulted over design and implementation of project activities.

The PARCS project is organized and implemented into two components.

The first component (institutional component) of the project is focused on improving the current institutional framework of national protected areas in order to address its key systemic and institutional weaknesses (weak coordination, limited performance accountability, duplication of efforts, cost-inefficiencies and inequitable distribution of funds). Under this component GEF funding will be used to: (Output 1.1) develop a national planning framework for protected areas, comprising an overarching long-term strategic plan, a medium-term financial plan and a set of operational policies and guidelines that will serve as a mechanism to better coordinate the invested efforts, and align the performance accountability, of the national protected area institutions (i.e. MOE, CAEN and the 19 national protected area Public Institutions [PIs]); (Output 1.2) strengthen the financial management capacities of the institutions managing national protected areas in order to reduce cost-inefficiencies, improve revenues and develop mechanisms for revenue-sharing; (Output 1.3) support the establishment of a ‘shared service center’ (SSC) that will function as a centralized support service to individual parks - as a value-added system-based services for reducing duplication of efforts, and improving the cost-effectiveness in the national protected areas; and (Output 1.4) assess the efficacy of – over the longer term – establishing a single, rationalized ‘park agency’.

The second component (financial component) of the project is focused on improving the financial sustainability of the national protected areas to ensure that they have adequate financial resources to cover the full costs of their management.
In this component, GEF funds will be used to: (Output 2.1) introducing electronic ticketing system and piloting mooring fees as a means of collecting revenues for boat-based access to marine national protected areas; (Output 2.2) support the expansion and inter-linking of a number of isolated attractions/destinations in national protected areas into a more integrated tourism and recreational products in order to improve the visitor and/or user experience; and (Output 2.3) improve the productive efficiencies in national protected areas by: (i) identifying the mechanisms required to strengthen service standards, and improve economic efficiencies in the high-income generating national parks; and (ii) encouraging the adoption of more energy efficient technologies in national protected area in order to reduce the high recurrent costs of power supply.

Duties and Responsibilities

The general purpose of this ToR is engagement of the Expert for project results sustainability (further in the document Expert). The Expert will work under the direct supervision of the Project Manager, assisting PIU in implementation of the following tasks:

Task 1. Preparation of the project Exit Strategy, a plan describing how the program intends to withdraw its resources while ensuring that achievement of the program development goals is not jeopardized and that progress towards these goals will continue

The goal of an Exit Strategy is to ensure the sustainability of impacts after the PARCS project ends, which is December 31, 2017. It could also be defined in a broader sense as a program’s ‘sustainability strategy’, which could be accomplished through staggered graduation from specific project areas, simultaneous withdrawal from the entire program area, or transitioning to associated programming in selected areas. The Exit Strategy may include several scenarios or contingency plans that address unknown factors.

As PARCS project is ‘phasing over’, UNDP transfers program activities to national protected area institutions. During program design and implementation, emphasis was placed on institutional capacity building so that the services provided can continue through local organizations.

Exit strategy, needs to be planned with partners to ensure better program outcomes and encourage commitment to program sustainability, following procedure as described below:

Subtask 1.1 Define scope of work 

• Define group of stakeholders whom to include in the discussions;
• Define the level of Exit Strategy to be developed;
• Define what outcomes from the PARCS project need to be sustain after it has ended? 

Subtask 1.2 Define planning matrix - an exit strategy tool
This process needs to be conducted with the same group of people that were included in the previous step. It can be done in a group meeting or in the form of a facilitated workshop. After having discussed the above question, a similar participatory process with the same relevant stakeholders needs to be organized and the Planning Matrix for Exit Strategies - defining which parts of project and outcomes need to be sustained, needs to be applied using table format that contains following columns.

• Component: Containing all identified Components in separate rows;
• Key questions: for all listed components;
• Guiding principles: for all listed components;
• Challenges: for all listed components.

Subtask 1.3 Define the exit strategy and planning the exit activities
The table with the identified exit activities has to contain the following columns:

• Exit activity: Containing all identified Exit Activities in separate rows;
• Who will do this? for all listed Exit Activities;
• When in the project cycle will this be done? for all listed Exit Activities;
• How will it be monitored? WHAT benchmarks will be used to monitor the activity? for all listed Exit Activities;
• Who will do the monitoring and when? for all listed Exit Activities;
• Budget: what is the cost of this activity? for all listed Exit Activities;

Subtask 1.4 Develop exit strategy timeline
Exit strategy needs to be defined for the period of 5 years, with more detailed plan for the first year.

Final document needs to be concise (up to 20 pages, plus appendices, if require), written in Croatian and English

Task 2. Extracting from project deliverables and formatting well-thought-out “packages” of information for targeted purposes and audiences, in order to maximize the relevance and sustainability of some of the projects major analytical outputs/studies, such as:

• Documents related to institutional set up (Business plan and documentation for establishment of the shared service center/cross subsidization fund; financial and institutional analysis of merging 19 public institutions into one national agency);
• Guidelines (Competences for field (ranger) and technical (expert service) staff of Croatian PAMAs, Guidelines for development of management plans);
• Documents related to management of finance;
• Marketing strategy, including pricing strategy;
• Communication strategy;
• IT (web portal Parks of Croatia, mobile application, e-ticketing, web shop);
• EE/EMIS.

Each document needs to be concise – 2 to 3 pages, written in Croatian and English.

Deliverables and timeframe:

The engaged Consultant is expected to deliver the following deliverables:
TASK 1 Exit strategy

• Defined scope of work (by end of May 2017);
• Defined planning matrix (by end of June 2017);
• Planned exit activities (by end of September 2017);
• Developed timeframe (by end of September 2017);

TASK 2 – Information packages

• Defined „packages“ of information (by end of November 2017);

Payments will be made only upon confirmation of UNDP on delivering on the contract obligations in a satisfactory manner, upon the submission of deliverables as follows:

• 30% upon delivery of defined scope of work and planning matrix for exit strategy (estimated end of June, 2017);
• 30% upon delivery of exit activities and developed time frame (estimated end of September, 2017);
• 40% upon delivery of a project „packages“ and finalized exit strategy (estimated end of November, 2017).

Supervision and monitoring:

The Expert will be supervised by PARCS Project Manager. PARCS Senior Associate will be closely associated to the discussion with the Expert and review of draft and final products. At least one meeting a month with the PARCS project staff is expected.

At the end of each month, the Expert needs to submit monthly report, explaining level of implementation, possible threats and mitigation measures. 

Competencies

Functional competencies:

• Strong analytical, reporting and writing abilities. Proven experience in writing and revision of policy documents related to environmental and nature protection, both in Croatian and English;
• Excellent public speaking and presentation skills;
• Openness to change and ability to receive/integrate feedback;
• Excellent analytical, management and communication skills. 

Corporate competences:

• Demonstrates integrity by modeling the UN’s values and ethical standards;
• Promotes the vision, mission, and strategic goals of UNDP;
• Displays cultural, gender, religion, race, nationality and age sensitivity and adaptability;
• Treats all people fairly without favoritism;
• Fulfills all obligations to gender sensitivity and zero tolerance for sexual harassment;
• Strong interpersonal skills, communication and diplomatic skills, ability to work in a team;
• Ability to work under pressure and stressful situations. 

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

• At least Bachelor of Arts/Master of Arts (BA/MA) university degree in Nature and/or Environmental Conservation and/or Management and/or Policy fields; 
• Postgraduate degree in Nature and/or Environmental Conservation and/or Management and/or Policy is an asset.

Experience:

• At least 7 years of working experience in the senior role (e.g. team leader / project coordinator / senior consultant / project adviser or similar) on projects in area of environmental and nature protection, with at least 5 years within the Croatian institutional context; 
• Working experience in the participative planning, facilitation of the planning processes and integration of drafts plans, programs, strategies and policies in the area of environmental and nature protection and working experience in development of plans and integration of plans, programs, strategies and policies in other areas is preferred;
• Project management experience on sizable, multiannual, development-assistance (GEF funded or similar) projects, aiming for capacity building of the Croatian nature protection institutional framework is preferred;
• Experience in preparation and implementation of project Sustainability plans and Exit strategies, in complex multi-stakeholder institutional environment is preferred;
• Experience in writing policy briefs for different audiences is preferred;
• Familiarity with the PARCS project, its objectives, major challenges for their successful fulfilment, its implementation context and history, as well as already established contacts with the key project stakeholders is an asset;
• Familiarity with the goals and procedures of international organizations, in particular those of the GEF and UNDP is an asset.

Language skills:
Proficient user in Croatian and English (equivalent to C1 or C2 as per Common European Framework of Reference for Languages).

Evaluation of Applicants:

Individual consultants will be evaluated based on a cumulative analysis taking into consideration the combination of the applicants’ qualifications and financial proposal.

The award of the contract should be made to the individual consultant whose offer has been evaluated and determined as:

• responsive/compliant/acceptable, and
• Having received the highest score out of a pre-determined set of weighted technical (desk review, methodology evaluation and interviews) and financial criteria specific to the solicitation. 

Only candidates who will get at least 70% of points in each step of the process (desk review, methodology evaluation and interviews) can be considered for financial evaluation.

Technical Criteria - 70% of total evaluation – max. 70/100 points, as follows:

• Criteria A - max points: 10 - Working experience in the participative planning, facilitation of the planning processes and integration of drafts plans, programs, strategies and policies in the area of environmental and nature protection;
• Criteria B – max points: 5 - Working experience in development of plans and integration of plans, programs, strategies and policies in other areas; 
• Criteria C – max points: 5 - Project management experience on sizable, multiannual, development-assistance (GEF funded or similar) projects, aiming for capacity building of the Croatian nature protection institutional framework;
• Criteria D – max points: 5 - Experience in preparation and implementation of project Sustainability plans and Exit strategies, in complex multi-stakeholder institutional environment;
• Criteria E – max points: 5 - Experience in writing policy briefs for different audiences;
• Criteria F– max points: 5 - Postgraduate degree in Nature and/or Environmental Conservation and/or Management and/or Policy;
• Criteria G– max points: 5 - Familiarity with the PARCS project, its objectives, major challenges for their successful fulfilment, its implementation context and history, as well as already established contacts with the key project stakeholders;
• Criteria H – max points: 5 - Familiarity with the goals and procedures of international organizations, in particular those of the GEF and UNDP;
• Criteria I - max points: 10 - Evaluation of the brief methodology prepared by the candidate;
• Criteria J – max points: 15 - Interview evaluation (motivation; communication; interpersonal skills; presentational skills).

Financial criteria - 30% of total evaluation – max. 30/100 points

Application procedures:

Qualified candidates are requested to apply online via this website. The application should contain:

• Cover letter explaining why you are the most suitable candidate for the advertised position and a brief methodology on how you will approach and conduct the work. Please paste the letter into the "Resume and Motivation" section of the electronic application. 
• Filled P11 form including past experience in similar projects and contact details of referees (blank form can be downloaded from http://europeandcis.undp.org/files/hrforms/P11_modified_for_SCs_and_ICs.doc ); please upload the P11 instead of your CV. 
• Financial Proposal* in USD - specifying a total lump sum amount for the tasks specified in this announcement. 
• Incomplete applications will not be considered. Please make sure you have provided all requested materials

*Please note that the financial proposal is all-inclusive and shall take into account various expenses incurred by the consultant/contractor during the contract period (e.g. fee, health insurance, vaccination, personal security needs and any other relevant expenses related to the performance of services...).

Payments will be made only upon confirmation of UNDP on delivering on the contract obligations in a satisfactory manner. 

Individual Consultants are responsible for ensuring they have vaccinations/inoculations when travelling to certain countries, as designated by the UN Medical Director.
Consultants are also required to comply with the UN security directives set forth under dss.un.org
General Terms and conditions as well as other related documents can be found under: http://on.undp.org/t7fJs. 

Qualified women and members of minorities are encouraged to apply.
Due to large number of applications we receive, we are able to inform only the successful candidates about the outcome or status of the selection process.