How to Plan Follow-Up Activities

A Case Study of the Second Impronta Granada Meeting and Entrepreneurship and Employability Workshop

Description

UGR County Councils refers to the initiative led by the University of Granada (UGR) under the Erasmus+ ENGAGEgreen project, which aims to foster collaboration between academic researchers, local governments, and community stakeholders. This initiative focuses on addressing regional challenges through cocreated, research-driven solutions. The Second Impronta Granada Meeting is the third pilot event organized by UGR as part of this project, bringing together researchers, policymakers, and local communities to discuss and develop strategies for sustainable development in rural and urban areas.

Planning effective follow-up activities is essential to ensuring that the momentum generated by participatory events like the Entrepreneurship and Employability Workshop that took place at the Second Impronta Granada Meeting is sustained and transformed into long-term, actionable outcomes. The UGR County Councils initiative, along with the Second Impronta Granada Meeting, demonstrates how follow-up activities can provide continuous engagement between researchers, local governments, and youth participants to address employment and entrepreneurship challenges in rural regions. Follow-up actions help evaluate the success of proposed solutions and allow for adjustments as the community works together to overcome challenges and build sustainable initiatives.

Summary: Key features in a nutshell

• Objective: To design and implement follow-up activities that maintain engagement with local stakeholders and ensure sustainability in addressing employment and entrepreneurship issues
• Approach:
  • Post-event surveys to evaluate the effectiveness of proposals
  • Ongoing collaboration between UGR researchers, policymakers, and local businesses
  • Visibility of outcomes through digital platforms like the Impronta Granada website
• Outcome: Creation of long-term initiatives that reflect collaborative solutions and tackle local development challenges

How does the format work?

1. Planning post-event engagement: After the  Entrepreneurship and Employability Workshop, the follow-up phase ensures that all stakeholders stay engaged. This can be achieved through feedback loops like surveys and online discussions on platforms such as the Impronta Granada website. Feedback helps refine the solutions discussed during the event and provides participants an opportunity to reflect on the progress made.
2. Collecting feedback and evaluating impact: Post-event surveys and interviews can be used to measure the effectiveness of the proposed solutions. These tools help identify gaps in implementation and areas that require additional attention. For instance, participants could be asked if the entrepreneurship programs presented in the workshop were accessible and if they helped overcome barriers to starting businesses in rural areas.
3. Visibility and continuous engagement: Using digital platforms like the Impronta Granada website, researchers and policymakers can continue the dialogue after the event by updating project progress and sharing outcomes. This transparency keeps the community informed and ensures that everyone is working towards common goals.
4. Sustaining collaboration: Long-term engagement requires regular communication. After the II Encuentro Impronta Granada, stakeholders can continue collaborating through follow-up workshops, networking events, or virtual consultations, where ideas and solutions can be refined using feedback from the initial event.

Challenges

• Sustaining participation: Keeping stakeholders engaged long-term can be difficult due to time constraints, especially for researchers and policymakers who have other responsibilities
• Resource availability: Limited funding and resources can make consistent implementation of follow-up activities challenging
• Managing expectations: Ensuring that stakeholders’ expectations align with what can be realistically achieved in the follow-up phase is crucial to avoiding disillusionment

Tasks and resources

Scientists

• Tasks
  • Support data collection
  • Participate in follow-up workshops
  • Share updates on research progress
• Required resources
  • Time for research dissemination and follow-up consultations

Knowledge exchange managers and research managers

• Tasks
  • Coordinate online feedback.
  • Manage communication platforms
  • Facilitate follow-up events
• Required resources
  • Digital tools (e.g., websites, survey tools)

Policymakers

• Tasks
  • Monitor progress.
  • Allocate resources
  • Ensure that research findings are integrated into policy decisions
• Required resources
  • Financial and administrative support for post-event actions

Examples

1. Impronta Granada website: The Impronta Granada website allowed continuous engagement after the  Entrepreneurship and Employability Workshop where researchers shared updates, progress reports, and new insights, allowing policymakers and businesses could stay informed and involved.
2. Follow-up surveys: After the Second Encuentro Impronta Granada, surveys were used to assess the effectiveness of entrepreneurship programs and youth employment initiatives discussed during the event, with feedback used to refine the proposals and ensure that they met local needs.

Sources and further reading

• Impronta Granada Website – https://improntagranada.es/
• Official coverage of the Second Impronta Granada meeting – University and Regional event: https://improntagranada.es/impronta/ii-impronta-granada-meeting-strengthens-the-university-territory-alliance-in-loja/

Case study details:

How is the format implemented?

Follow-up activities are initiated post-dialogue events to ensure the connection between researchers and policymakers is maintained. For example, after the Second Impronta Granada Meeting, researchers were invited to submit further proposals for collaboration based on the feedback received from policymakers and stakeholders. This ensured that both parties could review and refine their engagements.

Available resources (main tasks):

• Collecting feedback from participants to assess the relevance of research presentations
• Facilitating ongoing dialogue via online platforms like Impronta Granada to track progress
• Organizing further collaborative meetings based on the discussions at the events

What works? What doesn’t? (Lessons Learnt):

What works:

Using structured online platforms such as Impronta Granada to continue discussions beyond events ensures that the momentum of the workshops and discussions is not lost.

What doesn’t work:

It’s challenging to maintain sustained participation by policymakers after the events due to their varying commitments and workloads.

How are the activities evaluated?

The follow-up activities were evaluated using feedback surveys sent to both researchers and policymakers, to gauge how well the research had impacted local policymaking. Follow-up surveys assessed the continuation of collaboration, the implementation of knowledge, and the development of new projects or initiatives inspired by the initial discussions.

Do you want to know more about the policy engagement toolkit?

Do you want to share your experience in policy engagement? Do you think about contributing to the policy engagement toolkit? Feel free to contact Tome Sandevski via science-policy@pvw.uni-frankfurt.de