What is Impact – and Why is it Important
Impact can be understood as the changes that emerged from a research intervention. To fully capture the impact of creative, participatory and engaging interventions – especially those aimed at increasing the capacity of individuals and whole communities to engage in pro-biodiversity behaviour and decision-making - it is useful to look beyond quantifiable performance targets, such as how many people attended an event, and encompasses a wider range of effects. These changes may include:
- Increased confidence among participants to engage indecision-making that may affect their communities and environments
- New forms of collaboration between community members and relevant institutions such as government bodies, civic associations, NGOs, and businesses
- Enhanced understanding of biodiversity and its relevance to everyday life
- A greater sense of connection to local places or species
- The development of more inclusive or sustainable ways of working
Rather than asking only what was quantifiably achieved, to assess impact you could ask:
- What kind of difference did this make for the people involved?
- What changed in the way people relate to each other, to nature, or to their community?
- How do we notice and value these kinds of change?
In this module Amélie Dakoure explains the concept of impact, in this video she introduces how impact is understood and applied within the PLANET4B project:
Principles for Inclusive and Meaningful Impact Practice
Understanding whether something made a difference is important, but how we go about this work matters just as much as what we find out. These principles support impact work that is respectful, fair, and beneficial.
- Start at the beginning:
Impact is not an afterthought; it should begin early in the life of a project. This does not mean all outcomes must be predicted, but it encourages attentiveness to where change might occur, for whom, and how it is understood. Impact may unfold gradually or take unexpected forms, so it can help to return to key questions over time, document decisions, and observe shifts in relationships, behaviours, or language. Practically, comparisons such as before and after an activity, should always be situated in context (i.e. attempting to make direct comparisons across different cases may not always be possible or appropriate) and accompanied by reflection on what is valued and why.
- Shared ownership
Impact is likely to be better received when the relevant people – whether participants in the method or the intended audience of an impact report - understand on what kinds of change are important. This means working together to decide what success looks like and how to keep track of it. It could involve group conversation at the start of a project, co-creating impact questions, and/ or agreeing on assessment tools that everyone understands. - Clear and engaging methods
Common impact assessment tools include surveys and feedback forms. These are certainly useful, however they might not speak to everyone or tell a very engaging story. It helps to use a mix of methods, including pictures, spoken stories, or other expressive formats that allow people to share their experiences in their own way. - Openness and reflection
Good impact practice encourages us to ask questions about our own role in the project. What assumptions are we making? What power do we hold? What are we learning? - Paying attention to the bigger picture
Change does not happen in isolation, it is dependent upon relationships, resources, and the broader systems in which actions take place. When considering impact, it is useful to explore how one shift might influence others, and what underlying transformations may be unfolding beneath the surface. - Flexibility and adaptability
Plans help guide a process, but things do not always go as expected. Impact can appear in surprising places or take longer to show up. Leave room to notice and learn from what was not planned. - Clear and engaging communication
Communication should be both accessible and relevant to different audiences. It should show how time, knowledge, and resources have been used, and for what purpose. Communication can help make visible the value of creative, collaborative, and participatory approaches, and contribute to shaping future policy, programming, or funding decisions. Clear communication can also build trust, credibility, and lasting relationships with a range of partners.
Applying these principles means that impact is not simply a metric for proving success, but also about learning, improving, and building stronger relationships.
In this video Amélie Dakoure outlines ways to build inclusive impact into engagement methods:
Who is Impact for?
Being clear about who it is for helps shape what evidence is gathered, what questions are asked, and how findings are shared.
For participants, collaborators, and communities:
People who have contributed to a method or project should be able to understand whether anything has changed as a result of their involvement, and why their contributions matter. Involving them in defining what impact means can strengthen the strategy and allow for more grounded and relevant insights. They may also wish to tell their own impact story in their own terms. Communicating impact to this group may take different forms. These could include informal feedback sessions, visual storytelling, creative outputs, or shared reflection spaces. Impact stories should be accessible, meaningful, and respectful of the knowledge and time people have offered.
For biodiversity, species, and the planet:
In the PLANET4B project a central focus of impact was biodiversity itself. This meant asking how methods and activities influenced the conditions that support diverse species and healthy ecosystems, as well as how people’s relationships with the living world were reshaped. Impact was understood not only through ecological measures, such as changes in habitats or species indicators, but also through the ways in which cultural values, behaviours, and governance practices supported or hindered care for nature. Communicating this impact involved linking ecological data with stories of stewardship, collective action, and shifts in how biodiversity was valued. By doing so, impact was not reduced to numbers alone but reflected a broader commitment to sustaining life on the planet.
For practitioners and facilitators:
Impact can be a tool for learning and growth, understanding what worked, what had unexpected consequences, and where change occurred, helps strengthen future practice. Communicating this learning might take the form of peer exchange, reflective workshops, practice notes, or informal storytelling. Impact can support a culture of thoughtful experimentation, where insights are shared and used to deepen the quality, relevance, and integrity of the work.
For wider publics and communities:
When a project engages with shared challenges such as biodiversity loss, climate change, or social justice, communicating its impact can open space for dialogue and build wider support. This may take the form of exhibitions, public events, community reports, or creative storytelling that makes outcomes visible, relatable, and easier to engage with, helping people connect to subjects that can otherwise feel distant or complex.
For external funders, policy bodies, and institutions:
Accountability to external audiences is often necessary, but it does not need to reduce impact to narrow metrics. Communicating impact can strengthen partnerships, support learning, and reinforce the relevance of creative or participatory work. It can also help shape how such work is understood and valued within institutional or policy settings. This might involve tailored briefings, visual summaries, evaluation reports, or case-based storytelling.
