Sustainable Cultural Initiatives: The Shift Project’s Webinar Series Evaluation
We are happy to celebrate the end of the Chapter 2 of and share insights from the webinars held between September and November 2023. They explored crucial topics surrounding energy, climate change, and the cultural sector, providing a platform for the partners to explore, learn, and collaborate.
Sessions 1-3: A Foundation of Knowledge
The initial three sessions, as reflected in the online survey, witnessed a high turnout, with 85-93% of project partners actively engaging in the discussions. The survey highlighted a pre-existing knowledge base among participants, but more significantly, it revealed a positive shift in understanding and an eagerness to incorporate newfound knowledge.
Despite limited prior awareness on case studies and ecological initiatives within cultural projects, the success of the session on this topic showed a good improvement on the subject. Participants recognized that the primary challenge lay not only in theoretical understanding but in translating that knowledge into actionable, environmentally conscious cultural initiatives.
The survey’s results, combined with written feedback, underscored the effectiveness of the sessions in transferring knowledge and fostering a sense of empowerment among participants to act on the knowledge they received. One participant wrote that the webinars helped them “to see the climate change not as an issue but as a challenge, an opportunity”, whereas another participant wrote that “I also realized that we can use culture as a space to change, and do things, and change models”.The diverse ways in which participants planned to disseminate their learnings, from academic pursuits to organizational settings, demonstrate the potential for widespread impact within the cultural sector.
Sessions 4-6: Expanding Horizons
Building on the success of the initial sessions, the last sessions maintained a high turnout, despite participants having less prior knowledge of the topics presented than for the first sessions.
The participant evaluations revealed a strong correlation between perceived success and the level of prior awareness. Notably, the session on digital technologies, with the least pre-existing knowledge among participants, received the highest approval. This underscores the process commitment to demystifying complex subjects and making them accessible to diverse audiences. The participants also highlighted the importance of understanding the need to develop tools that are tailored to the local context
Methodology and Management:
The majority of participants found the webinars easy to understand, highlighting the effectiveness of our methodology. Positive feedback on time management, planning, and structure further validated the purpose of our online sessions.
Feedback on potential improvements, such as more interactive discussions and comprehensive session summaries, will be considered in future endeavors, emphasizing LeCake goal to continuous enhancement and participant engagement.
Feedback and Future Considerations:
Valuable feedback emphasized the necessity for diverse case studies, especially from different countries, underlining the importance of knowledge exchange across regions. Participants also expressed a desire for more concrete applications of concepts to example cases, a consideration we will take into account for future sessions.