Phase three case study: Europeana 2020

Europeana 2020 took place in the context of a second wave of wide-spread European Member State lockdowns. It was planned as a digital event from the outset because the planning of the event started just as the pandemic forced the first lockdowns. Despite the context, almost 1,500 people registered, with an estimated 67% - 998 people - attending at least some part of the 50+ sessions in the 11 hours and 20 minutes of official conference programming.

Methodology

A post-event questionnaire was distributed to all attendees shortly after the event, and a reminder was sent after one week. 224 responses were received which, out of an estimated attendance of over 998 participants, represents a satisfactory sample of around 23%. We found a small bias towards Europeana Network Association members responding, rather than non-Network members. The questionnaire asked about outcomes relating to areas such as learning and network development.

Registration data were also analysed to understand better the gender balance of registered attendees, the country they were joining from, their age, and if they had any access requirements for the event.

Following in the footsteps of the Europeana 2019 impact assessment, we continued to investigate the environmental impact of our largest annual event. The methodology changed because the format of the conference changed from in-person to completely digital. Having assessed the audience’s likelihood to attend Europeana 2020 had it been in-person, together with the expected method of travel, we calculated an approximate carbon footprint for air travel. At the same time, we used three estimates of CO2 emissions caused by online meetings to come up with a scale for Europeana 2020’s digital footprint.

Phase three - looking back to Phase one and Europeana 2020’s stakeholders

Europeana 2020’s impact assessment could have included many stakeholders. In our Phase one process, we prioritised those who registered to come to the conference, noting that within this category there was a lot of variety. This helped to shape the focus for our data collection.

Priority stakeholder(s) - the focus of the impact assessment

The registered audience (heritage professionals, educators, researchers, etc) - our priority for the impact assessment

Other stakeholders, not a priority of focus for the impact assessment

Invited presenters and speakers
Europeana Initiative partners and peers (including the Europeana Network Association Members Council and Aggregators’ Forum)
The audience that visits and views the conference materials afterwards

The stakeholders for our impact narrative are however a bigger group than those above. Here is the more detailed list of those who were invested in the conference, who might be involved in validation or have a direct interest in the results:

Everyone above, and,
The events cross-team who delivered Europeana 2020
The programme and selection committee who advised on the programme
Europeana Senior Management Team
Europeana Communities
The European Commission (funder)

The second list is much more detailed for us but it might be the other way round for you.

Europeana 2020 change pathway

Here is a simplified change pathway that we developed for Europeana 2020 and the core audience of conference attendees from the heritage sector.

Europeana 2020 narrative arc

Here we share with you our preliminary story board for Europeana 2020. You can see the main elements we bring together in each of the five parts of the narrative arc. You can also see a beginning, middle and end structure within this.