This study has as main objective to `make recommendations for improvement of the objective evaluation of the effectiveness of the Sand Engine'. The Frame of Reference methodology, a tool developed by Van Koningsveld (2003), is used to map the evaluation of effectiveness. This approach is used descriptively as well as prescriptively. A descriptive approach revealed that the current evaluation fails to meet the criteria for objective assessment. A prescriptive framework is developed in order to prescribe improvements in the evaluation. The main gaps that this methodology discloses in the current monitoring and research programs is that a regional approach is necessary in order to effectively maintain the coastline position in case of presence of a Sand Engine. Secondly, a decrease in disturbance of local benthic communities, expected to result in an environmentally friendlier approach compared to regular nourishments, should be evaluated with hypothesized differences in ecological footprint and recolonization time between a Sand Engine and a regular nourishment.