Retrospective
The Potsdam Week of Impact at the FHP focusses on the Role of Universities in Society
On the 13th and 14th of February, InNoWest organised a Week of Impact at the University of Applied Sciences Potsdam with a specialist seminar and a workshop on the topic of impact orientation in science. The aim was to bring together participants from science and science-related organisations to discuss the question of how science has an impact on society and can make a difference. With participants from all over Germany, many commonalities in the recording and planning of impact in projects were worked out along three approaches.
On Thursday, the 13th of February, representatives of three approaches to impact orientation provided an overview of concepts for impact assessment and planning in projects, which were then discussed in relation to overarching questions. In her welcoming address to the participants from all over Germany, the President of the University of Applied Sciences Potsdam emphasised the role of universities as "hubs of knowledge exchange" that not only want to achieve and pass on knowledge, but also make it effective, and this is only possible with other social actors from business, politics, culture and civil society.
The three approaches to impact orientation are attempts to make the issues of identifying desired impacts, integrating different types of knowledge in projects, measuring impacts and communicating about impacts manageable. Prof. Martina Schäfer from TU Berlin presented her approach of formative evaluation , which is also used in the InNoWest project. One of the aims of impact planning is to arrive at a common understanding of the desired project effects. Based on this, assumptions are made about the connection between activities and effects, which are usually referred to as the theory of change. In this concept, the impact paths are aimed at impacts with different scopes: First-order impacts relate to the project context, those of the second order are close to the project context and third-order impacts go far beyond this, right up to changing social discourses and orders.
Dr. Christoph Köller uses impact orientation in consulting for scientific organisations and has created "The Case", a tool that universities and the Natural History Museum Berlin, for example, use to align their actions with social impact. Practical management tools such as a canvas are used to help users reflect on the organisation's direction and plan measures.
Dr. Kathryn Watson from the University of Leeds came to the FHP through Prof. Heisig and presented the impact management tool used as standard in the UK. In the UK, universities are obliged to report on the effectiveness of research projects and 25% of the targeted impact is included in the assessment of project applications. The approach establishes a systematic and criteria-based link between research, the involvement of partners and social impact.
Some of the key questions addressed by the specialist seminar were:
- How and when can impact orientation best be integrated into projects?
- How can the impact of projects be (validly) recorded?
- What role do communication and the presentation of results play in motivating project stakeholders on the one hand and in the imitation and reception of project results on the other?
On the following Friday, the 14th of February , Kathryn Watson introduced the scheme of impact stories. Within the framework of the British Research Excellence Framework, case studies of this kind serve to present impacts in a visible and comprehensible way. They are an instrument that goes beyond indicators and aims to credibly convey stories of impact by means of narratives. After the introduction with many exemplary case studies, the participants tried out the scheme using their own examples. The lively exchange on both days showed that a professionalisation of what science does is necessary and that the stories about it are helpful. At the same time, methodological discussions about how this should be done are still ongoing. As part of InNoWest at the three partner universities, further experience with impact orientation will be gathered until the end of the project in 2027.
