What is Change Impact Assessment Framework

Impact by Design

Impact measurements help to clearly express how the work of cultural heritage professionals who actively participate in a cultural activity contributes and becomes connected to a global agenda of global challenges. The Change Impact Assessment Framework aims at sharing a simple framework useful to consider when designing any digital cultural activity. It provides insights on how to measure digital participatory practices at various levels:  

• SOCIETAL TRANSFORMATION. Impact measurement can help create a systemic and sustainable change: it enables organisations to account for psycho-social performance, value contribution to society and generate greater credibility.
• ECONOMIC SUSTAINABILITY. An enhanced active cultural participation is proven to support the financial sustainability of cultural heritage institutions (CHIs) through community growth, international exposure and higher levels of networking.
• VALUE OF PARTICIPATION. Impact measurement strengthens value creation: the consideration of the “8 Impact Areas” helps put the target communities of CHIs at the core of cultural activities, rather than the heritage itself or other business models. For this reason, the communities’ identity, and understanding on how they could benefit from the participatory activities is key information that CHIs need for success.
• GENERATIVE IMPACT. Impact measurements generate new participation, which happens because people expect these activities to have a positive impact on their lives. They keep participating actively if that impact is sustained.

But the implementation of this perspective can be challenging for CHIs and heritage practitioners. Without taking into account the necessity of improving the quality of the type of participation processes that are promoted by their digital programs and the related impacts, they are unlikely to ensure lasting, transformational social impact and to contribute to the actual progress of civil society, seizing a real generational opportunity to pursue a new, different development scenario.

8 Impact Areas of Active Digital Cultural Participation

The framework is structured around 8 impact areas that can clearly demonstrate the positive contribution of cultural participation and help you design your activities towards specific impact:

• Innovation and knowledge
• Welfare and well-being
• Sustainability and environment
• Social cohesion
• New forms of entrepreneurship
• Learning society
• Collective identity
• Soft power

You will learn about each impact area in the next chapters of this framework as well as get a chance to provide your own examples of impactful cultural participation activities.