ENCP's participatory M&E is innovative for the following reasons:

• The involvement of the population living in poverty in ENCP's M&E allows people affected by public policy to contribute to the identification of concrete issues that are potentially differentiating and therefore deserve to be evaluated. This participation goes beyond merely consulting people on the results and impacts of certain measures, involving them right from the design of monitoring and evaluation, which is traditionally a phase exclusively the domain of specialists.
• Conducting participatory processes is an uncommon practice in Portuguese public administration. Implementing and systematising a participatory approach in a public policy with the relevance and media coverage of the ENCP could help to standardise and demystify this type of process, as well as helping to develop the skills and conditions that will allow it to be replicated.

The following are identified as partners:

• ENCP Coordination: validation and support in designing the innovation; mobilisation of social sector organisations;
• Strategy and Planning Office: technical support for the operationalisation of the ENCP;
• Institute of Social Sciences of the University of Lisbon: conceptualisation, guidance and systematisation of the Living Lab;
• Social sector organisations: knowledge and experience in anti-poverty initiatives; co-organisation of population involvement sessions.

The beneficiaries of the innovation include:

• Citizens: opportunity for the population with a lower level of civic participation to influence policies that have an impact on their lives;
• Public sector: development of skills in participatory M&E;
• ENCP Coordination: fulfilment of ENCP Strategic Objective 6.1 (ensuring participation mechanisms);
• Social sector organisations: involvement in the process of implementing a public policy that is central to their sphere of work.

The 4 sessions held in 2023 made it possible to:

• Co-construct methodological guidelines to guide the implementation of participatory M&E;
• Deepen the knowledge of social sector organisations about the ENCP;
• Promote a broader understanding of the potential and limitations of the participatory approach and the importance of M&E, and strengthen organisations' commitment to involvement.

For the years 2024-2025 it is planned to:

• Holding at least 8 participatory sessions with the ENCP target population, with a view to their M&E;
• Systematising the experience into a guide for implementing participatory M&E processes, which should serve as a basis for consolidating participatory approaches within the public administration.

Challenges include:

• Managing expectations: ensuring that everyone involved has a clear and accurate understanding of the purpose, importance and scope of their participation;
• Active and continuous participation: overcoming any possible lack of interest, disillusionment or discomfort with participation, in order to guarantee ongoing commitment and involvement;
• Superficial and symbolic participation (tokenism): avoid moments of participation being reduced to validating decisions previously made or to an appearance of participation that is not then reflected in decision-making;

The monitoring of the ICS and the involvement of social sector organisations in the living lab has helped to identify strategies to avoid and mitigate these risks.

Consideration should be given to

• Prior training: ensuring that participants receive an introduction to the topics covered, enabling them to actively participate in the discussions;
• Inclusive communication: avoiding the use of language that could intimidate, alienate or silence participants;
• Recognition: consider material or immaterial rewards for the time dedicated to the sessions;
• Highlighting usefulness: ensuring feedback and making the contributions received visible to the overall ENCP M&E process;
• Human, logistical and financial resources: including the existence of facilitators who are experts in participatory processes;
• Networking: ensuring the involvement of social organisations in organising the sessions and mobilising participants.

PlanAPP's involvement, as co-promoter of this innovation, ensures the systematisation of the procedures and good practices identified during the implementation of the ENCP's participatory M&E. In addition, as a competence centre tasked with promoting M&E within the public administration, PlanAPP is in a privileged position to communicate and disseminate these good practices. The involvement of social sector organisations throughout the process should contribute to greater knowledge about the general importance of M&E and, in particular, participatory M&E. At the same time, it will empower these organisations to replicate approaches of this nature in initiatives associated with the fulfilment of their missions.

So far, the following lessons have been learnt:

• There is interest from social sector organisations in actively participating in the process. Their involvement helps to dispel doubts about the scope of the ENCP and ensure greater commitment to supporting it.
• It is essential to repeatedly communicate (at the time of the invitation and during the process) the scope and products resulting from participation.
• All parties involved in managing the process (PlanAPP, ENCP Coordination and ICS) should have the same understanding of the scope and output of each phase of the process, explaining the points on which there is no consensus or certainty. After each meeting, it is recommended to circulate and validate a written summary of the agreements reached.

This project was born as part of PlanAPP's technical support activities, in conjunction with the Ministry of Labour, Solidarity and Social Security's Strategy and Planning Office and in close collaboration with ENCP's coordination, as provided for in Council of Ministers Resolution no. 184/2021, which mainly focus on the design and operationalisation of the Strategy's monitoring system. Considering the potential for innovation, training and learning that this technical support brings to PlanAPP and the Public Administration, other activities to be developed were included in the ENCP Action Plan, including the Living Lab and the sessions to implement the participatory approach to M&E.