ASPIRE: a methodological framework for Success Assessment of Ecological Engineering or Restoration Project – Application to a high altitude wetland restoration project.

Abstract

The high number of dimensions of ecological engineering and restoration projects contributes to their interest but also to the difficulty of assessing them. The objective of the ASPIRE framework is to provide a tool delivering a global project assessment while also delivering detailed scores for each of its dimensions. ASPIRE is composed of 3 levels: variables, objectives and project. The variables are measured on the study site. Their values are normalized to range between 0 and 1. The objectives correspond to a list of variables, and their score are the weighted mean of the variables composing them. The final project score is the weighted mean of the scores obtained for each objective. Scores attributed to variables are relative to references, therefore they can be compared with each other, as can the objectives and score. The weighting of variables and objectives allows highlighting different visions of the project (for instance, from various stakeholders) based on the same values measured in the field. ASPIRE is illustrated by its application on a high altitude wetland restoration project.