Guiding Questions Linked to Core Indicators

Below is a structured checklist of questions for each indicator cluster, with alignment to the four key impact areas.

Guiding Questions:

• Social: Are we reaching a wide range of community members, relevant stakeholders? Who is missing?

• Organisational: Is staff time for participatory work well allocated?

• Economic: Does participant time investment bring measurable value for the institution (e.g. cost savings, increased funding)?

• Environmental: Are activities organised in a way that minimises travel or encourages reuse, recycle or repair of resources?

Key Indicators:

• Number of participants - this indicator counts the total number of people who actively take part in a project’s participatory activities — such as workshops, training sessions, co-creation meetings, or other organised events. You can track them by keeping attendance lists.

• Repeat participation rate - this measures the proportion of participants who take part in more than one project activity over a given period (e.g. during a project year or project phase). This shows how well the project retains and re-engages its community — a sign of meaningful, sustained involvement rather than one-off engagement.

• Time invested by the CHOs team -  it measures the total amount of time (in hours) that staff members of CHOs dedicate to planning, managing, and implementing participatory activities within the project. It captures the internal organisational effort and commitment required to enable co-creation, stakeholder engagement, and collaborative processes. You can track it by providing worksheets.

• Participant contribution outcome count - count the number of concrete outputs or improvements directly linked to participant time investment. Examples: new ideas implemented, services improved, co-created products launched, funding proposals generated with participant input.

Environmental sustainability tracker - monitors whether and how participatory activities incorporate environmentally responsible practices, and tracks measurable actions taken to reduce negative environmental impacts within cultural heritage organisations. You can monitor activities through specific lenses: sustainable logistics (events held in venues with green certifications, preference for local suppliers and materials), resource use (steps taken to minimise paper, plastic, and waste, use of reusable, recyclable, or low-impact materials), travel impact (how and if people commute to your activities, digital-first methods to reduce travel where possible).

Guiding Questions:

• Social: Are all relevant social groups equally able to contribute to your initiative (age, gender, background)?

• Organisational: Are there internal barriers to wider access (e.g. digital exclusion, physical spaces)?
  Economic: Do participation opportunities in the CHO initiative support local jobs or skills development?
  Environmental: Are inclusive practices aligned with sustainability (e.g. digital vs physical formats)?

Key Indicators:

• Diversity of participants - this one measures how diverse the group of participants is in the CHO’s participatory activities — across key characteristics such as age, gender, cultural background, profession, or other relevant social or demographic dimensions. It shows whether the initiative is engaging an inclusive mix of people, reflecting the wider community or target groups it aims to reach by the initiative. Here you can track, among other things, gender identity, age groups (e.g. youth, adult, senior), ethnic or cultural background (where legal/appropriate to collect) or education level.

• Internal barriers to access - this indicator tracks the existence and types of internal barriers within the CHO that limit or hinder broader participation — with a focus on barriers like digital exclusion, physical accessibility, language, or organisational practices.

• Local skills development -  it shows how participatory work contributes to local economic and social sustainability and can be measured by a number of local people who gained new skills or competences through training, workshops, or co-creation — and evidence of how these skills are relevant to employability.

• Sustainable inclusivity practice - this measures whether and how the CHO’s inclusive practices are aligned with environmental sustainability goals, for example, by balancing digital and physical formats to minimise resource use, travel, and carbon footprint, while keeping access broad.

Guiding Questions:

• Organisational: Which internal policies or processes have changed as a result of participation?

• Social: Has community trust in the CHO improved?

• Economic: Has implementing suggestions created efficiencies or attracted new resources?

• Environmental: Have suggestions influenced greener practices (e.g. resources, travel)?

Key Indicators:

• Community trust level - this indicator measures whether community trust in the CHO has increased, stayed the same, or decreased over time — based on direct feedback from participants, partners, or local stakeholders. It captures how people feel about the CHO’s openness, transparency, accountability, and reliability — and whether participatory practices help strengthen these relationships. You can track this by including 1–3 simple trust questions in surveys or feedback forms.

Examples:

How much do you trust that your participation in this organisation’s activities makes a real difference?
(Scale: Not at all – Very much)

Do you feel the organisation listens to and acts on ideas or feedback shared by community members like you?
(Scale: Strongly disagree – Strongly agree)

How confident are you that the organisation’s participatory activities are open and fair for everyone who wants to be involved?
(Scale: Not confident at all – Very confident)

• Policy or process changes - this indicator tracks how many internal policies, procedures, or operational practices within the CHO were changed or created as a direct result of participatory activities.

• Economic benefit - it allows to track the cost reductions (e.g. new processes that reduce waste or staff time), new income streams (e.g. grants won, sponsors attracted, new partnerships formed) or in-kind contributions (e.g. volunteer hours that replace paid work).

Environmental sustainability tracker - monitors whether and how participatory activities incorporate environmentally responsible practices, and tracks measurable actions taken to reduce negative environmental impacts within cultural heritage organisations. You can monitor activities through specific lenses: sustainable logistics (events held in venues with green certifications, preference for local suppliers and materials), resource use (steps taken to minimise paper, plastic, and waste, use of reusable, recyclable, or low-impact materials), travel impact (how and if people commute to your activities, digital-first methods to reduce travel where possible).

Guiding Questions:

• Social: Do participants feel heard and valued? Why do they engage?

• Organisational: Are staff equipped to maintain participant motivation? Do they have the right knowledge and skills?

• Economic: Does high satisfaction translate into return visits, memberships, or donations?

• Environmental: Are people motivated to contribute to sustainable goals through the CHOs and their initiatives?

Key Indicators:

• Participant satisfaction index - describes how satisfied participants are with a specific activity, event, or programme — such as a workshop, training, pilot, or participatory process. It provides a quantitative snapshot of the overall participant experience, including perceptions of relevance, quality, usefulness, facilitation, and personal benefit. It can also address questions on economic impact - are participants returning, do they have a membership, etc.. Data can be gathered through a survey.

Motivation to engage and re-engage - you can use a survey to better understand individual motivation: Example Survey Here

Guiding Questions:

• Social: Are new partnerships strengthening community cohesion?

• Organisational: Are internal teams collaborating more effectively?

• Economic: Has collaboration unlocked new funding or business models?

• Environmental: Do collaborations promote sustainable outcomes (e.g. eco-friendly exhibitions, reuse of materials)?

Key Indicators:

• Number of co-created outputs (e.g. new co-created exhibitions or shows, co-organised workshops, or other stakeholder-engaging activities, etc.)

• Economic benefit - it allows to track the cost reductions (e.g. new processes that reduce waste or staff time), new income streams (e.g. grants won, sponsors attracted, new partnerships formed) or in-kind contributions (e.g. volunteer hours that replace paid work).

• Internal Collaboration Index - it measures whether staff and teams within the CHO are working together more effectively as a result of new participatory practices, tools, or processes. It looks at how well different departments or roles communicate, share information, co-create, and solve problems together. Can be tracked through a short internal staff survey with 3–5 Likert-scale questions, e.g.:

“I feel my team collaborates well with other teams.”
“I know where to find the information I need from other departments.”
“Cross-team meetings are productive and useful.”

Environmental sustainability tracker - monitors whether and how participatory activities incorporate environmentally responsible practices, and tracks measurable actions taken to reduce negative environmental impacts within cultural heritage organisations.