Image credits: Europeana DCH impact evidence bank workshop. Sebastiaan ter Burg, 2018. CC BY.
Why think about your impact?
It’s important to think about impact. You might be thinking about your impact because you’re trying to be more strategic and impactful in your work; or your donors might want more reporting or accounting.
Some high-level reasons for Europeana include demonstrating the value we create for the heritage sector, progressing our understanding of the digital transformation of the heritage sector and getting better at the things we do every day. These drivers - understanding your value, learning more, and making improvements - might sound familiar to you.
“In the cultural heritage sector, we work for a great cause, for the good of society as a whole, and we have ambitious goals. But it's not always easy to see whether we're achieving them. The fact of the matter is that - as a cultural institution - we have very few instruments at our disposal to assess the results of our actions. Of course, we count the direct outputs of our work fanatically - visitor numbers, Facebook likes, ticket sales. But we don't dig into the deep outcomes that result from our work - changes to attitudes, new friendships, new ideas and values.”
Europeana Impact Playbook, Phase one
Why impact and digital transformation?
As we enter a period of acceleration of the digital transformation of our heritage institutions and the lives of those who use and enjoy their data, we must think about the impact we want to have through this procedure and ensure that we use resources effectively for the greatest good. For many, thinking strategically about digital transformation is new. And that’s where impact design and measurement can play an important role.
We believe that thinking about impact is significant because digital transformation should not be seen as an ‘end in itself’ (the purpose of our work) but rather as the medium to create even more value for our audiences. Tools to reach and learn from users can measure the impact of this new medium and help us improve.
Why is it important to think about impact?
Move beyond metrics to think about deeper change
Stay relevant in a changing world - think from the perspective of your audience and respond to their feedback
Inform evidence-led decision-making and iterative improvement cycles
Inform strategies and ways ahead
Contribute to the bigger narrative about what is the value of (digital) cultural heritage and your work
Help make change happen and make a better world
Contextualise your work (e.g. nationally, internationally) in comparison with others
Influence better policy making by creating more appropriate recommendations and advocacy narratives
Attract more funding and to help make your work more financially sustainable (and impactful for your audiences)
Identify gaps and capitalise on opportunities to create impact through your work
Improve your organisation’s processes and ways of learning and improving
Watch our introductory webinar on Europeana Pro
In 2020/2021, we held a series of online events to discuss everything impact-related with invited guests from the Europeana Network Association and beyond. In our first webinar, we explored what’s in a name - what impact means for us. Watch the webinar and explore the summary on Europeana Pro. 🔽
https://pro.europeana.eu/event/what-s-in-the-name-what-impact-means-for-usRead more about why and how institutions are thinking about and measuring their impact
Interview with Helen Hardy at the Natural History Museum, London, about the economic impact of digitisation
Feature about impact awareness training and what it means for DEN, the Netherlands
Interview with Ana Aziza at the Fondation du Patrimoine about how impact assessment helps us to understand the value of built cultural heritage
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