Hugo Menino AguiarIn SPEAK it is vital to measure the social impact and understand if the project is achieving its goal – to integrate immigrants, empower individuals and communities, break down prejudices, misconceptions and promote greater understanding and cooperation between cultures.
In this post we show a summary of the measurements we did to evaluate the success of SPEAK Leiria during the second semester of 2012.
Social Impact
In the beginning and end of the semester participants of SPEAK SOCIAL filled an anonymous survey under the same circumstances. The goal of this survey was to compare the results in the beginning and end of the semester against:
- Feeling of social integration in the society where they live.
- Value of the participant for cultural diversity.
- Awareness of the participant about cultural diversity.
To measure these 3 areas, we asked participants to rate 8 statements. Rates were between 1 (totally disagree) and 9 (totally agree). See below the 8 statements and the average result for that statement in the end of the semester. You can also see the percentage of growth when compared with the results of the first survey (in the beginning of the semester).
- My group of friends in Leiria is highly diverse in terms of languages and cultures. 5,1 [+6,3%]
- My daily behaviour shows total understanding of the languages and cultures of the people I interact with from different origins than mine. 7,2 [+9,1%]
- The population of Leiria is highly diverse in terms of languages and cultures. 6,4 [+4,9%]
- I feel that I am fully integrated in Leiria, having a group of friends as large and close to me as I could ever aspire to have. 6,8 [+6,3%]
- It is very important for me to socialise with people that speak different languages than mine and from different cultures than mine. 8.1 [+5,2%]
- I don’t have any language barriers that limits the integration of my daily routine in Leiria. 8,4 [+5,0%]
- I feel that my language and culture is fully understood and valued by Leiria’s population. 6,8 [+4,6%]
- I am deeply knowledgeable of the communities from different origins and nationalities that live in Leiria. 5,8 [+7,4%]
This indicators changed, in average, 6.1% between the beginning and end of the semester. That’s only 5 months!
Source: Comparison of results of an anonymous survey, answered by the same 34 participants of SPEAK SOCIAL, in the beginning and end of 2nd semester of 2012.
Feedback from SPEAK participants
In the end of the semester, participants considered that SPEAK is a social project with much merit (grade 8.7 out of 9) and that SPEAK contributes a lot to the integration of communities of different origins or cultures (grade 8.6 out of 9).
Source: Anonymous satisfaction survey, answered by 70 students of SPEAK SOCIAL in Leiria (2nd semester of 2012).
Satisfaction
Source: Anonymous satisfaction survey, answered by 70 students of SPEAK SOCIAL in Leiria (2nd semester of 2012).
Empowerment
8 participants of SPEAK created or joined teams that are developing social projects. Although creating game-changers was not the primary focus of SPEAK, this is a great result and we are looking forward to know more about how SPEAK can empower people. We now have reasons to believe that SPEAK has not only processes which enable all citizens (including new citizens!) to feel included but also fulfill their potential.
