DEAR Hub: How to strengthen Project Legacies?

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DEAR Hubs are regular peer-learning events for the DEAR Programme implementers. The DEAR Legacy Hub, held in May 2023 in Brussels, was a deliberative and learning experience for current DEAR Projects (2018 Call for Proposals) to jointly explore what project legacies are, or can become in the future. 

Key questions asked (and answered) during the Hub included: 

• What forms does a project legacy take? 
• How do we make legacies  available for others to build on? 
• What will DEAR projects leave behind after completion?

The Hub Report collects project experiences, key takeaways, recommendations and explores the following aspects of project legacy:

• The Engagement Pyramid: a tool that helps gauge the number of people engaged by DEAR projects, the intensity of their engagement and their future potential. The Pyramid maps six possible levels of engagement, from level 0 ‘consumer’ (of messages) to level 6 ‘innovator’.
• Storytelling: tips and good practices to transform project experiences and outputs into engaging stories. More often than not, DEAR project stories focus on the implementation of activities, project management hardships or details that are irrelevant to their audience. The key to storytelling is to build a story that is different, stands out, moves people by mixing both rational and emotional elements.

The Hub workshops and resulting Report address four types of legacy:

1. Campaign legacy: how to help a campaign last beyond the end of the project. Big budgets are not the sole means for a successful campaign. Creative and visual resources can contribute to campaigns without huge financial means. Partnerships with local stakeholders are also key to building a project legacy.
2. Individual and group change legacy: Personal stories of change are key to motivate more people to act. Personal change comes with great challenges and new behavioural patterns need continuous support.
3. Policy change legacy: Many DEAR projects contribute to significant, lasting and systemic, policy changes. Building a legacy through policy and practice changes also entails follow-up. For the sustainable enforcement of policies, alliance-building is key. 
4. Knowledge production legacy: mapping and documenting knowledge is crucial at all project stages. What knowledge does a project build on? What will happen with the knowledge we produced and our lessons learnt? Who will use them, how and where?

Please see the full report below for more on how to show and tell your project impact and results.