Changes that occur for stakeholders or in society as a result of activities (for which the organisation is accountable).

What is impact?

Actual or intended short, medium and long-term changes experienced by the stakeholder through their engagement with activities. These can be experienced at any point, e.g. in the long or short-term. Outcomes can be negative, positive, expected or unexpected.

Identifying short- and long-term outcomes

The tangible, quantifiable and measurable products and services delivered by activities.

The actual or planned actions undertaken by a person or an organisation in order to achieve their goals.

The investments (inputs) you are making in time and money to realize your activities.

A person, group, community, or organisation expected to experience a change (that is, to benefit in some way from an organisation’s work). In the impact design phase, activities and impact assessments are designed around stakeholders.

Getting to know your 'stakeholders'

An indicator is information that allows us to measure whether you are achieving your desired outcomes. You measure outcomes by identifying and measuring indicators.

Developing and measuring indicators of change

Marks the dividing line between the 'impact' you contribute to and the outcomes that are directly attributable to you. In your Change Pathway you will set out where you are and where you are not solely accountable for change, by drawing out the accountability line.

Accountability line

The results of activities delivering economic benefits to society, stakeholders or to the organisation.

The result of activities that lead to stakeholders and wider society being affected and changed in a beneficial fashion.

A state in which the activities represent or enable innovation which itself supports social, economic or operational benefits.

The results of activities that have led to an improvement or refinement of internal processes to the organisation delivering the activities.

Generally referred to as the negative impact caused to the environment (e.g. through carbon emissions from travel) directly or indirectly due to an activity. It also includes positive impact, if changes are made that have a positive effect on the environment.

The total greenhouse gas emissions caused by digital services or activities, expressed as carbon dioxide equivalent.

The process of gathering and measuring information in a systematic way (Wikipedia).

The process and the result of using digital technology to transform how an organisation operates and delivers value. It helps an organisation to thrive, fulfil its mission and meet the needs of its stakeholders. See Europeana’s working definition.

This framework sets out how the Europeana Initiative, led by the Europeana Foundation, applies an impact assessment approach to our work. A key resource in the EIF is the Impact Playbook.

The process of judging or calculating the quality, importance, effectiveness or value of something (definition drawn from the Cambridge Dictionary). Evaluation is usually part of an impact assessment approach but can be conducted separately.

Research to understand if activities lead or contribute to the changes (short and long-term outcomes, impact) designed for stakeholders.

Resources and tools developed in the Europeana Impact Framework (EIF), including the Impact Playbook and its complementary resources.

These define what a learner will have acquired and will be able to do upon successfully completing a specific training session or training course. Intended Learning Outcomes are expressed from the learners’ perspective and are measurable, achievable and assessable.

The analysis of social structures in terms of nodes (those people or objects under investigation) and the links (the connections between them). The findings are most often represented in a sociogram. (Wikipedia)

A brief description of the problem that the activities of the organisation seek to address.

This sets out the question that you want to answer through your impact assessment.