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Monitoring and Evaluation Rijeka 2020 – European Capital of Culture

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During the period of three and a half years, MAP is engaged as one of the consortium partners for monitoring and evaluation of the project Rijeka 2020 – European Capital of Culture for the purpose of analyzing project’s intervention impact through 7 main areas of assessment and more than 100 indicators

MAP is involved as one of consortium partners in the project of monitoring and evaluation of the Rijeka 2020 – European Capital of Culture (ECC) project. Monitoring and evaluation of the ECC project is an obligation for each city that receives this title, and Rijeka will be the first city which will take on this responsibility under the new regulations prescribed by the European Parliament and the Council Decision on the ECC initiative 2020-2033. Monitoring and evaluation will be carried out during three and a half years with data collection at three different points in time (2019, 2020 and 2021). Research will include more than 30 experts divided into 4 sectorial teams which will cover 7 main areas of assessment (cultural vibrancy and sustainability, cultural approach and participation, image of the city, management and delivery process, European dimension, economy and tourism, and other areas – social cohesion, urban regeneration and environmental sustainability) with more than 100 designed indicators.

Members of consortium:

  • WYG Consulting Ltd.
  • Institute for Development and International Relations
  • University of Zagreb – Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences
  • MAP Consulting Ltd.
  • Ipsos Ltd.

Website: https://evaluacijarijeka2020.com/en/

Image 1: Presentation of the project and its monitoring and evaluation activities


Background:

Initiated in the middle of 1980s, the European Capital of Culture represents one of the most prestigious European cultural events. The original idea is based on promoting various art events and styles, active citizen participation in the cultural events, support for a creative work, mobilization and participation of various social groups together with development of openness towards others. In developmental sense, the ECC has a potential for synergistic impact on overall social development of a local community including strengthening of social cohesion, urban regeneration, economic growth and improvement of cultural infrastructure and capacity. In March 2016, the City of Rijeka was awarded the prestigious title of European Capital of Culture 2020 for its program entitled Port of Diversity.

The first independent evaluation of the ECC regarded the holders of the title in 2007 and 2008, but only 2006 Decision of the European Parliament and the Council prescribed the monitoring process for the title holders after 2010. In that sense, the first ex-post evaluation, published in 2009, measured the impact of the ECC project in accordance with the common evaluation criteria. These evaluations estimated project’s relevance, effectiveness and sustainability in relation to the defined goals of the ECC initiative. John Myerscough conducted the ECC project analysis in the period between 1985 and 1994, and the team led by Robert Palmer documented and analyzed projects in the period between 1995 and 2004. Individual cities carried out their evaluations independently while the main turning point presents Liverpool 2008 that carried out the first longitudinal research which took into a consideration the long-term impacts of the title year. The Liverpool evaluation left a strong impact on the later evaluations and served as a model in subsequent evaluations, as well as in building of a common evaluation framework.

Especially important change in the last period was prescribed by the Decision of the European Parliament and the Council which indicated that the former practices of the ECC project impact evaluation, which were carried out by the European Commission through commissioning external evaluations, did not manage to deliver data on the impact that the ECC initiative. In fact, these evaluations were mostly carried out after or during the title year and, in significant part, relied on the data that the cities gathered themselves. They were based primarily on document analysis, interviews with organization teams and a small circle of key stakeholders, analysis of secondary data in extent in which such data exists, and on online surveys of event coordinators which were, in some cases, characterized by an especially low response rates.

In that context, Rijeka, as the first title carrier under the new regulations in power from 2020 until 2033, has a chance to show a new way of monitoring and evaluation based on longitudinal research and primary data. With this change, the intention of the European Commission is to additionally analyze the project’s impact on cities’ overall development and the extent in which the project truly contributes to the defined goals of the ECC initiative and program.

Taking into a consideration all these aspects, the monitoring and evaluation process carried out in Rijeka presents an important pioneering evaluation attempt of a multi-dimensional intervention which will encompass various spheres of social life, and which is based on a unique chance for a longitudinal data collection. In that sense, beside the importance for the project itself, this process presents an important contribution to the development of evaluation field in the Republic of Croatia overall.

Image 2: Presentation of the project and its monitoring and evaluation activities