Communities, Nesta programmes and impact.

MeCCSA 2016

• Purpose: To understand the potential for and stimulate a diverse & sustainable UK base of hyperlocal media services that create public value.

• Hyperlocal media definition: We define hyperlocal media as “online news or content services pertaining to a town, village, single postcode or other small, geographically defined community”.

Nesta’s Destination Local

Hyperlocal media research & resources

• December 2014 - Exploring Online Democratic Platforms for Young People to Effect Positive Change nesta.org.uk/blog/report-exploring-online-democratic-platforms-young-people-effect-positive-change

• April 2014 – A Survivors’ Guide to Hyperlocal Media nesta.org.uk/publications/survivors-guide-hyperlocal-media

• June 2013 – Destination Local: Our lessons to date nesta.org.uk/publications/destination-local-our-lessons-date

• May 2013 – Local advertising markets & hyperlocal media nesta.org.uk/publications/local-advertising-markets-and-hyperlocal-media

• May 2013 - Understanding the Use of Hyperlocal Content Through Consumer Search nesta.org.uk/publications/understanding-use-hyperlocal-content-through-consumer-search

• April 2013 - UK Demand for Hyperlocal Media nesta.org.uk/publications/uk-demand-hyperlocal-media

• March 2012 – Here & Now: UK hyperlocal media today nesta.org.uk/publications/here-and-now-uk-hyperlocal-media-today

Hyperlocal media research &resources cont…

• March 2016 – Hyperlocal Revenues in the UK and Europe: Mapping the Road to Sustainability and Resilience

• March 2016 - Action Research in Audience Analytics http://www.nesta.org.uk/blog/action-research-audience-analytics-our-progress-and-resources-hyperlocal-publishers

• September 2015 – Where are we now? UK hyperlocal media community journalism in 2015 http://www.communityjournalism.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/C4CJ-Report-for-Screen.pdf

Open innovation, i.e. challenge prizes• Process-driven over impact

Grant funds and innovation programmes• Theory of change plus Innovation spiral

Impact Investments Fund

Exploring new research methods

Partnerships with other institutes / funding bodies

Short-term and long-term evidence and impact• Importance of demonstrating and sharing evidence

journey of projects as much as ‘end result’

Portfolio approach to outputs• An academic report is not the only output or the end -

practice guides, events, roundtables, online video tutorials, toolkits, case studies, mentoring, collaboration opportunities

Current trends for Nesta

• Multi-pronged approach – practitioners->wider industry->policy makers• Role of Nesta in bringing this to the field, and role of partner

organisations in facilitating this• Focus on impact of/within individual projects as much as the programme

as a whole• Focus on outcomes and expectations

• Balance between Nesta-led and project-led• Balance between processes (monitoring & reporting) and facilitating

iterations • Balance between rigorous evaluation and good examples

• Focus on building capacity and capability• Helping organisations through processes and managing progress• Balance between top-down intervention and peer-learning

• Focus on sharing evidence and dissemination• Formal and informal

• Nesta’s Standards of Evidence for Impact Investing http://www.nesta.org.uk/blog/standards-evidence-impact-investing

Current trends for Nesta cont…

Example theory of change

The Innovation Spiral

Scaling reach & impact

Policy & systems change

Developing and

spreading models

Strengthening innovation capabilities

Generating useful

knowledge

Creating novel

solutions

Decision making

Building capability

Growing the best ideas

Opportunities

.As per our Action Research in Audience Analytics project• Peer learning and shared values - building an audience of

engaged practitioners willing to learn & innovate• Space for risk-taking and experimentation• Building face-face connections and raising awareness of

good practice at and beyond local level - and creating opportunities to collaborate, i.e. with the BBC

• Evidence and resources that are practical and relevant to local issues / projects (communities of practice as well as geographic communities)

Other Nesta examples: • http://crowdingin.com - crowdfunding directory • http://www.nesta.org.uk/publications/data-good Data for Good highlighting

new types of research methods to better understand social capital, connections in local communities and opportunities to use data analytics to better identify emerging social needs

• http://artsdigitalrnd.org.uk Digital R&D Fund for the Arts, which uses research-led experimentation as the engagement mechanism with arts organisations

Challenges

.Difficult to define impact and success when:• Social innovation and progression is about more than ‘bums

on seats’ or financial value or gain of a project• Within nascent sectors such as hyperlocal media:

• different funding bodies / partners have different ideas re. what impact is positive or negative, or re. target audience

• Is it our right to set expectations?• Often grassroots projects don’t themselves know what their purpose is or

what progress and success should look like

Within Nesta:• Traditionally not process-driven, therefore, difficult to compare outcomes /

impact of programmes like-for-like• Long-term (beyond life of programme) follow-up or evaluations not

undertaken, making it difficult to evidence long-term impact of our work - both on projects we’ve supported and on wider sector / wider community

http://www.nesta.org.uk/project/destination-local

Kathryn Geels, programme manager, Destination Local

Twitter: @girlondon and @nesta_uk

Email: kathryn.geels@nesta.org.uk

Keep in touch…