Use data and tell a story!

DG INTPA and the DEAR Support Team (DST) promoted the Exchange Hub "Connecting Stories. Using MEL to Build a DEAR Narrative" in June 2021.

MEL are monitoring, evaluation and learning systems that each DEAR-funded project uses to assess and improve its impacts.

Civil Society Organisations and Local Authorities from across Europe shared good practices, challenges and learnings on how to shape data into narratives. How to build stories that can prove projects’ results and inspire others to act for sustainability and social justice?

The two-day event involved funded DEAR projects. It first discussed how to develop a data hub and make sense of collected quantitative and qualitative data, and then explored ways of transforming numbers into narratives that can show achievements and drive further action. 

The Exchange Hub is synthesized in a report that brings together:

• key documents and outputs;
• a catalogue of good practices in DEAR projects on MEL data management; MEL and youth engagement strategies; and public outreach vs. active engagement in DEAR projects;
• the final programme of the event;
• Participant evaluation results

Video recordings of key sessions are also embedded in the report.