Limerick National City of Culture 2014 Social Impact Report by Limerick2020

Limerick National City of Culture 2014 Social Impact Study June 2015

Contents 03 / Introduction 06 / About the Study 10 / Key Findings Research 16 / Methodology 20 / Research Findings 46 / Conclusion Appendices 50 / The Research Team 52 / Proveit! Methodology 56 / Survey Results 66 / LNCoC Event Data

Introduction By Mike Fitzpatrick CEO Limerick National City of Culture

Limerick has always been sharp, lively, passionate, proud, historic, funny, opinionated, welcoming, even occasionally pure awkward and a wonderful place of culture. Hosting the first National City of Culture in Limerick in 2014 generated a great sense of engagement, enjoyment and pride amongst the citizens of Limerick. This ambitious undertaking was memorable in so many ways and although it came to an end, we now want to go forth and tell the world more stories about a new vibrant Limerick. The dynamic cultural scene that flourished last year captured the hearts and minds, the histories and stories that make Limerick great. And while 2014 ended, what we have created will continue to be put to use because Limerick City of Culture was not just a cultural project, it was also about re-imagining Limerick. It was a chance to talk about the conflict between the cliché and the hidden values of our city. It was our time to refresh the positive hidden values – to turn a fresh eye, not a blind eye, on Limerick. In these times of accountability, projects, such as our City of Culture, usually have ambitious targets. Whilst quantifying economic impact is important, measuring social impact is crucial for Limerick people as well as for our funders, partners, sponsors and supporters. This is why Limerick National City of Culture commissioned this Social Impact Study to tell people the outputs and outcomes story of Limerick’s year in a meaningful way. It is our means of formally collecting and recording evidence of changes in the attitudes, abilities and actions of Limerick citizens after a City of Culture Year. It’s a fresh eye on the social impact of the year. I hope that this Study is of value to the people of Limerick as well as our Limerick National City of Culture stakeholders outside the city and county, that it captures the intrinsic value created in the year with a positive shift in the perceptions as well as the hearts and minds of the people of Limerick.

“What they thought had changed was the atmosphere in Limerick, especially the older groups, and that’s a good sign. They loved that there are more people coming together and that they encouraged people to more events. But what struck me most talking to one guy who said, “I hardly go out. But in Limerick City of Culture Year, I was going to something every night, I really enjoyed myself and the fact that there was no drinking involved, people were going to events and talking”. That had changed for him.” Ashlea Rondozai, Citizen Researcher

About the Study On 3 July 2012, Minister Jimmy Deenihan TD announced that Limerick City would be the first national â&#x20AC;&#x153;City of Cultureâ&#x20AC;?. The new initiative, which will have a National City of Culture every four years, is designed to promote the designated city both domestically and internationally. Limerick National City of Culture 2014 Limitedâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s vision for cultural development in Limerick City was to create a vibrant city, widely recognised as a cultural centre, where arts, culture and sport are placed firmly at the centre of economic, social and physical regeneration in a way which inspires, empowers and elevates those who live, work and visit the city.

Scope Purpose Limerick National City of Culture (LNCoC) appointed Theatre Forum to undertake a social impact study on the investment in the cultural and community aspect of the 2014 programme. They believe that whilst the economic impacts are of significant note, the importance and value of arts and culture goes beyond the economic, providing invaluable experiences, learning and volunteering opportunities for people of all ages.

Audience The brief for this social impact study asked the researchers to tell the outputs and outcomes story of Limerick National City of Culture 2014 in a robust and meaningful way that is of value to the people of Limerick as well as stakeholders from outside Limerick City and County.

Background Limerick NCoC developed a mission and set a series of 14 objectives under four themes:

• Creativity & Innovation • • •

CREATIVE CITY Access & Participation CREATIVE CITIZENSHIP Partnership & Collaboration COLLABORATION, CATALYST AND LEGACY Passport & Connectivity PASSPORT TO THE FUTURE

These were used as the framework for this study. The research method employed for this review is based on Prove It!, a methodology developed in 2000 by the New Economics Foundation for Groundwork. It involves local people choosing the indicators that would show if the objectives have been achieved, devising the sampling framework and collecting the data.

“The positive findings were that people really enjoyed it, most people felt it lifted the city and gave it a boost and they definitely felt better about themselves. There was more pride and people were more likely to think differently. Though there was a general unhappiness with how much coverage it was given nationally. An older woman said that there was nothing for her. That made me think that that generation might have needed a bit more inclusion.” Áine NicChárthaigh, Citizen Researcher

Key Findings Context

The timing of the City of Culture title being awarded to Limerick meant that there is no baseline data about attitudes, attendance or participation. The usual quantitative longitudinal comparison pre- and post- City of Culture Year is therefore impossible. The only measure is therefore perceptions of change rather than evidence of actual change. Limerickâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s position as the first National City of Culture means that there is nothing comparable against which to compare the impacts and outputs. The research method employed for this review is based on Prove It!, a methodology developed in 2000 by the New Economics Foundation for Groundwork. It involves the local people choosing the indicators, devising the sampling framework and collecting the data. Attendance and sales data is available for events at the Lime Tree Theatre and University Concert Hall for 2012, 2013 and 2014 thanks to Theatre Forumâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s national performing arts benchmarking project. This has been analysed to give some indication of changes in engagement. This research also takes data about secondary outputs from the application forms, Final Grant Report forms and Financial Statement for Final Grant Claim forms, submitted by project organisers. All were designed, issued and returned before this study was commissioned so the researchers were not able to influence what data was gathered. Note that some forms were returned incomplete.

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Did the investment of resources create significant social capital for its citizens? 156 funded projects with 85

83% agreed that they enjoyed

more supported in kind

Limerick National City of Culture

1,630 performances and 2,589

Just 9% agreed that nothing new had happened in 2014

An estimated 1.8 attendances

8,437 school children took part

exhibition days

million

236,600 tickets issued 140 funded projects in Limerick City

15 funded projects in Co. Limerick

80% of people surveyed had

attended an event or seen an exhibition

73% of residents of Co. Limerick surveyed had attended an event or seen an exhibition 74% of people surveyed said

they had attended The Giant’s Journey - “The Granny”

86% agreed people have good memories of Limerick National City of Culture 84% agreed that people they

knew were talking about what was going on But 24% of respondents said they would have focused on improving the marketing

in 805 workshops

216,831 people from

community groups participated in 52 projects

49 projects addressed different aspects of diversity

The 15% that agreed that Limerick National City of Culture has made no difference to people were twice as likely not to have attended any events or exhibitions

51 projects commissioned 395 new works There was less of a feeling that different communities were brought together through Limerick National City of Culture with 48% agreeing that “I talked to people I would never have met before because of Limerick City of Culture” and 25% disagreeing

Only 24% believed that Limerick National City of Culture encouraged friends and family to visit

69% agreed that people have

even more pride in Limerick since it was National City of Culture and just 8% disagreed Unprompted, 30 people surveyed expressed regret at the negative media coverage at the beginning of the year There appears to be an appetite for more events in the city as the Citizen Researchers encountered a lot of people who felt they don’t know what is going on in Limerick after 2014

82% agree that Limerick

National City of Culture brought people together There were 364 new local partnerships

2,504 Limerick artists were employed 2,508 volunteers worked on 135 projects.

69% agreed that they saw more

tourists in Limerick in 2014 and

83% of under 18s agreed

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â&#x20AC;&#x153;I found that people were not as positive about the whole experience as I had first envisaged. Going from the lack of media coverage, just the whole debacle of who owned it, how funds were allocated to how certain creative people around Limerick were ignored. So while there was a lot of positivity, not as much as I thought, and there were occasions of negativity too. And I was kind of surprised at that.â&#x20AC;? Brent Dugdale, Citizen Researcher

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“People believed that others had good memories of it. But what did surprise me was that even if people were involved in events, they felt that they were not involved in Limerick National City of Culture. Even if it didn’t touch on people directly, they felt that it had a positive impact on the city. Looking at it from the outside county, a definite sense of things have changed - the city’s perception of itself and the media perception of the city. But whether people in the County were connected with it is a question that’s still open.” Mairead O’Connor,

Citizen Researcher

Research Methodology Social Outcome Indicators Cultural projects usually have ambitious targets. Although organisers, funders, stakeholders and their communities are usually keen to measure whether those targets have been met, often only the easilymeasured get evaluated. Limerick NCoC, however, sought to evaluate whether it had successfully provided creative, learning and volunteering opportunities for the citizens of Limerick. It has commissioned two separate research projects, an economic impact study and a social impact study. The brief for this social impact study asked the researchers to tell the outputs and outcomes story of Limerick’s year in a robust and meaningful way that is of value to the people of Limerick as well as stakeholders from outside Limerick City and County. This study seeks to formally collect and record evidence of changes in the attitudes, abilities and actions of Limerick citizens after Limerick NCoC: did the investment of resources create significant social capital for those citizens? The research method employed for this review is based on Prove It!, a methodology developed in 2000 by the New Economics Foundation for Groundwork. It was successfully tested on over 16 projects that needed to measure the impact of neighbourhood renewal projects on the people who had taken part and the communities of which they are a part. This methodology involves the local people choosing the indicators, devising the sampling framework and collecting the data. Local people can improve measurement by choosing appropriate and meaningful indicators that reflect the impacts that local people think are important. They also improve the quality of data collection as they better appreciate local circumstances, minimise questionnaire fatigue and don’t provoke suspicion of ‘professional’ surveys and researchers. This research methodology was chosen as a likely way of quantifying outcomes, including those that are not predicted, and providing rich sources of insight about those outcomes. The Limerick NCoC pillar groups identified contact points for business, sport, education and training, ethnic minority communities, community music and cultural activity in Limerick County. The pillar groups and contact points nominated a total of eleven people from the communities they serve to join a panel of Citizen Researchers. A panel co-ordinator was appointed with experience of working in the cultural sector, academic research and facilitating market research. All were paid a fee to participate, to ensure that personal financial circumstances did not shape the profile of the panel.

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At a full day workshop, the panel explored what the Limerick NCoC objectives might mean in practice to them and to their communities. In response to the discussion they developed a set of 29 indicators to be tested through a face-to-face survey. They discussed ways of collecting data on those indicators that would be accessible and meaningful. In response, the lead consultant developed draft questions which the panel tested on each other and rewrote. The Citizen Researchers were briefed to design a sampling methodology that would, between them, take a cross section of people living in Limerick City and County. They each identified at least five specific locations in which to administer the survey, undertaking to administer 50 surveys over a total of 20 hours spread across different times of day and days of the week. The panel co-ordinator reviewed the sample and the survey questions with them once they had completed a third of their target number of interviews. No amendments were necessary. The panel met for a second workshop to reflect on their experiences and discuss responses that had struck them as of particular note together with any potential bias. In all, just one potential interviewee had refused to participate in the research. It is unlikely that they experienced a ‘halo effect’, in which interviewees give the responses they think the researcher wants to hear, as they encountered both negative and positive responses to Limerick NCoC. Some questions needed explanation, particularly whether “Limerick” meant the City, County or both. There was considerable confusion about whether specific events were part of Limerick NCoC or not, with several respondents assuming that “culture” is for other people so events in their community could not be part of Limerick NCoC. People who had not heard of Limerick NCoC found some questions meaningless. As Citizen Researchers, the interviewers’ insight is of particular importance. They were each interviewed on video at the beginning of the process about their own experience of and response to Limerick NCoC and again at the end about the responses of the fellow citizens they had interviewed. The lead consultant analysed the survey responses in the light of these insights.

Secondary Output Indicators Definitions Limerick NCoC required each directly-funded project to submit information about their project in their application and when claiming the final instalment of their funding. This research takes data from a summary of basic information from the application forms prepared by Limerick NCoC staff and the Final Grant Report forms and Financial Statement for Final Grant Claim forms submitted by project organisers.

Inputs refer to the money and time invested to achieve Limerick NCoC goals.

Both forms were designed, issued and returned before this study was commissioned so the researchers could not influence the data gathered. Eight project organisers did not return one or both of the forms, although two had not finished their project by the time this analysis was undertaken. Not all forms were complete, eg. 27 organisers gave no attendance figures and a further six said they were unable to estimate attendance.

Outcomes refer to the impacts of the project activities on Limerick citizens.

Outputs refer to the project activities and to how these were carried out.

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“I don’t think that there’s one of my surveys that doesn’t mention Granny, not one of them. The first thing mentioned when you say City of Culture is Granny. That’s unbelievable, everyone saw her. There were people from all over at it. One person said to me, “wasn’t that great even though I’m not that big into puppets!” Everyone loved it - I didn’t think that everyone would have loved Granny so much.” Deirdre Flynn, Citizen Researcher

Research Findings So, to what extent has Limerick NCoC achieved its objectives?

Mission To provide cultural access for all within the City and its hinterland and to creatively connect with the outside world.

Secondary output indicators 156 projects were funded directly, with a further 85 receiving support-in-kind consisting of publicity for all, location for three and help with insurance for one. 134 of the funded projects provided data on the number of performances and exhibition days. These projects delivered 1,630 performances and 2,589 exhibition days.

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Exhibition days / performances by artform Artform

No. of performances / exhibition days

Architecture

672

Circus

Cross artform

423

Dance

Film

Food/Fashion/Craft

History/Heritage

999

Literature

220

Music

Opera

Other

622

Sport

Street arts

Theatre

161

Visual Arts

913 4,219

123 projects provided data on attendances. They reported attendances of 2,638,811, of which 2,434,022, were estimated attendances. This includes the estimated number of people passing by urban regeneration projects. As these passers by may not have engaged with the artworks, this total number of attendances has been revised downwards to 1.8m. Project organisers were not asked to indicate how they had arrived at their estimated attendance figures so it is not possible to assess how realistic they are. The following analysis is based on the figures given by project organisers. Actual attendance figures totalling 212,613, based on the number of tickets issued or a headcount of participants, were provided by 64 projects.

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Estimated and actual attendances by artform Artform

Attendances

Architecture

3,207

Circus

5,000

Cross artform

210,625

Dance

21,695

Film

3,203

Food/Fashion/Craft

820

History/Heritage

684,096

Literature

1,328

Music

32,784

Opera

2,625

Other

179,609

Sport

400

Street arts

263,550

Theatre

21,114

Visual Arts

1,208,755

No artform given

344 2,638,811

But does this activity represent â&#x20AC;&#x153;cultural access for all within the City and its hinterlandâ&#x20AC;?? 140 funded projects took place in Limerick City, with just 15 located in Co. Limerick. Five projects took place in both City and County and one in the City and elsewhere.

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Location of funded projects Location

No. of projects

Limerick City

Limerick City Centre

Co Limerick

Elsewhere

4 156

The large number of estimated attendances for visual arts and heritage projects in Limerick Cityâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s public spaces means that just 2% of total attendances were for events and activities in Co Limerick. Even so, survey respondents living in Co. Limerick were only a little less likely to say they had attended a Limerick NCoC event at 73% compared to 80% for all respondents.

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Attendances at funded projects by location Location

Actual

Estimated

Total

Limerick City Centre

17,287

1,105,908

1,123,195

Limerick City

38,565

1,228,842

1,267,407

Limerick City and County

1,865

60,770

62,635

Limerick City and elsewhere

160

Co Limerick

36,912

4,900

41,812

Elsewhere

110,000

33,602

143,602

Total

204,789

2,434,022

2,638,811

160

The Citizen Researchers who interviewed residents of Co. Limerick reported that many said they had been keen to get involved in Limerick NCoC but wanted events in their local area rather than in Limerick City. 74% of survey respondents said they had attended The Giant’s Journey (which they generally referred to as “The Granny”), 18% said they had been to a visual arts or heritage exhibition, 17% had attended Fuerza Bruta!, 7% Proms in the Park, 6% Culture Night, 5% Riverdance, 4% talked about seeing street performances, another 4% the New Year’s Eve celebrations, 3% Culture and Chips and 3% No Fit State Circus.

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Attendance Trends The Lime Tree Theatre and University Concert Hall participate in Theatre Forumâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Theatre Forumâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s longitudinal research study, Arts Attendances in Ireland. This has provided a quantitative baseline for audiences and ticket sales in 2013 and 2014 for 26 theatres and arts centres nationally and for the two venues in Limerick. The participating venues are just two of the 32 named venues in which ticketed events took place so the picture provided by analysis of this data is incomplete. Many of these other venues were rarely, if ever, used for ticketed performances before Limerick NCoC 2014 and most did not sell tickets through a box office computer system so it is not possible to collect data to compare year on year changes for a larger sample of venues. To get a reasonably accurate picture of audience engagement, organisations must collect the names and addresses of at least 75% of transactions. Within the industry, a data capture rate of over 85% is considered acceptable and over 90% excellent. The national sample of venues has a data capture rate of 92% and the two Limerick venues capture customer data for 90% of transactions. The two Limerick venues issued 34,771 more tickets in 2014 than in 2013, an increase of 36%. The national sample achieved a much smaller increase in the number of tickets issued of 12%. The increase in Limerick is, in part, owing to a 12% increase in the number of events at the two venues, while the national sample presented 2% fewer events. So does that mean that existing ticket buyers are seeing more events or are more people buying tickets? On average, ticket buyers bought for 1.5 events in 2014, a small increase of 4% on 2013. The increase in tickets issued was primarily because more people bought tickets as there was a 34% increase in the number of unique ticket buyers.

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â&#x20AC;&#x153;While I found that a few people went to more than 5 events, the focus was on Granny, how everyone got together during the event. There was a really good spirit when people were talking about their experiences, there was a buzz around Limerick during the City of Culture year. There was positivity for everyone and lovely memories of the City for people. People I spoke to think that the spirit in Limerick is on the verge of changing and expect to see positive things happening from now on.â&#x20AC;? Vania Alexandrova-Jovic, Citizen Researcher

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Research Findings CREATIVE CITY

Creativity & Innovation

To provide opportunities for creativity, innovation and new ideas, using the landscape of the city, its locations and environment.

Social Impact Indicator Citizens perceive that new things happened in 2014:

Just 9% of respondents agreed or strongly agreed with the statement “Nothing new happened in 2014” with similar levels for the under 18s at 8%. More people strongly disagreed with this statement than any of the others at 39%.

Secondary output indicator Number of new artistic collaborations: 51 funded projects commissioned 395 new works.

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To encourage ambitious, bold and daring original projects and programmes.

Social Impact Indicators Citizens perceive that the city is more culturally confident and that there was a buzz in 2014:

8% of respondents disagreed or strongly disagreed that “There’s a new confidence in Limerick now”. This statement did not resonate with more than a third of respondents of which 19% neither agreed nor disagreed and 10% did not know. 84% agreed or strongly agreed that “There was a buzz in the City in 2014”.

People have tried new creative experiences:

67% agreed or strongly agreed and 11% disagreed or strongly disagreed that “People I know tried new things in 2014”.

To Re-Imagine ‘Limerick City’ through quality cultural and creative original projects and programmes.

Social Impact Indicators Citizens have new perspectives on what Limerick City is and what it could be:

50% of respondents agreed or strongly agreed with the statement “I got to know Limerick better because of Limerick City of Culture” with under 18s a little more likely to do so at 56%.

People can see changes in the City and feel proud of living there:

63% of respondents agreed or strongly agreed that “When you look around you can see changes in the City” with 14% disagreeing or strongly disagreeing. 69% agree or strongly agree that “People have even more pride in Limerick since it was City of Culture” and even fewer disagree or strongly disagree at 8%. The Citizen Researchers reported that this pride in the City meant that many of those who didn’t attend any LNCoC events were still positive about the year.

“A teenager said to me that it seemed like the city was alive.” Citizen Researcher

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“I think on the legacy side, people don’t think there’s anything else happening. I was a bit surprised that there wasn’t more interest in that. One teenage girl said to me that Limerick seemed more alive. That was really memorable for me that someone so young would notice something like that and feel a part of it.” Michelle O’Donnell, Citizen Researcher

CREATIVE CITIZENSHIP

Access & Participation

To work with citizens of Limerick to create immersive, valuable, quality creative projects that have access and participation at their very core.

Social Impact Indicators People feel positively about the year:

Just 2% of respondents disagreed or strongly disagreed that “People have good memories of Limerick City of Culture 2014”, with more agreeing or strongly agreeing than for any other statement at 86%. 4% disagreed or strongly disagreed that “I enjoyed Limerick City of Culture” with 36% strongly agreeing.

Citizens were talking about what was going on:

84% agreed or strongly agreed and 8% disagreed or strongly disagreed that “People I know were talking about what was going on” although under 18s were more likely to disagree or strongly disagree at 18%.

Citizens perceive that Limerick NCoC was for them and felt involved:

66% disagreed or strongly disagreed that “I didn’t feel Limerick City of Culture was for me” but they were less likely to say they felt involved with less than half agreeing or strongly agreeing at 46% and 21% neither agreeing or disagreeing. The Citizen Reporters noted that simply going to an event did not equate to feelings of involvement. This could be because it was difficult for them to find out what was on. 24% of those suggesting ways in which they would have changed Limerick NCoC said that there needed to be more publicity. Many told Citizen Researchers that they felt frustrated hearing about events through word of mouth after they were over.

Citizens perceive that Limerick NCoC made a difference:

65% disagreed or strongly disagreed that “Limerick City of Culture has made no difference to people” with under 18s a little more likely to do so at 68%. The 3% who strongly agreed and 12% who agreed were twice as likely not to have attended any Limerick NCoC events than respondents as a whole.

People participated in culture more in 2014:

58% agreed or strongly agreed that “I went out more in 2014” with under 18s more likely to do so at 73%. 22% disagreed and just 2% strongly disagreed.

Citizens perceive that children benefited from Limerick NCoC:

20% strongly disagreed and 47% disagreed that “There was nothing for children in Limerick City of Culture”. Just 8% agreed or strongly agreed.

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Secondary output indicators Number of projects focusing on access and participation:

72 projects involved an element developed specifically for children and young people. 34 involved work with schools, engaging 8,437 children from 262 classes in 805 workshops. It was not possible to identify how many different schools participated. 52 projects incorporated an element developed specifically for community groups. 49 of them provided data about who was involved, engaging 216, 831 individuals in 912 community workshops. Project organisers were not asked how they defined involvement so it is not possible to assess whether they are realistic eg Limerick Craft Hub reported that they had engaged 200,000 individuals in 61 workshops. As part of their delivery of these projects, 23 organisations trained staff and volunteers in participatory practice. 49 projects reported that diversity was a specific goal. Of these, 41 provided information on how their project addressed diversity. 39 focused on nationality and ethnicity, 16 on disadvantaged social groups, two on issues around sexuality, one on disability and two on religious diversity. Overall, 75 projects reported that they had reached different national, ethnic or cultural audiences.

Number of free tickets issued:

40 projects in which audiences paid for their tickets provided complete data on income and paid attendance. On average, audiences for these events paid €13.93 for their tickets, ranging from €5 for West Limerick Hidden Heritage Tours to €40 for the 2014 European Bike Championship. These projects issued 24,445 free tickets for their events.

To allow citizens to celebrate their own creativity:

Social Impact Indicator People around them are more comfortable talking about creativity:

56% of respondents agreed or strongly agreed and only 8% disagreed or strongly disagreed with the statement “People in this area are more comfortable talking about doing creative things than before”. Just over a third of respondents found it difficult to judge whether others felt “more comfortable” with 21% neither agreeing nor disagreeing and 14% saying they did not know.

Secondary output indicator Citizens’ creativity was a central focus of projects:

49 projects delivered 912 workshops that gave opportunities for exploring creativity to community groups.

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To develop programmes and activity which encourage visitors to choose Limerick as a destination for social and cultural activity.

Social Impact Indicators People think differently about Limerick after Limerick NCoC:

52% of respondents disagreed or strongly disagreed with the statement “People don’t think any differently about Limerick now” with under 18s less likely to do so at 35%. Again, people found it difficult to judge what others thought with 20% neither agreeing nor disagreeing and 11% saying they did not know.

Citizens perceive an increase in visitor numbers and believe that more people want to visit Limerick after Limerick NCoC:

69% of respondents agreed or strongly agreed that “I saw more tourists in Limerick last year” with just 8% disagreeing or strongly disagreeing. Under 18s were more likely to agree or strongly agree at 83%. They were less positive about the statement “Sometimes it felt like the City was full of visitors” with 20% disagreeing or strongly disagreeing. They did not feel that Limerick NCoC was a factor in encouraging friends and family to visit them with just 24% agreeing or strongly agreeing that more had done so. Just 8% strongly agreed that “More people want to visit Limerick now” and 45% agreed with the statement. This statement had the highest proportion saying they didn’t know at 21% with Citizen Researchers reporting that people couldn’t judge the attitudes of people they did not know living outside Limerick.

Citizens perceive a change in the quantity and core message of media coverage:

59% agreed or strongly agreed that “There were lots more national newspaper and TV reports about Limerick in 2014” but 20% disagreed or strongly disagreed. When asked what they would have changed about the year, 38 respondents said they would have focused on getting more media coverage, particularly on national TV.

65% agreed or strongly agreed that “What the media said about Limerick was different in 2014”. Only 11% disagreed or strongly disagreed but 24% said they didn’t know or neither agreed nor disagreed. None of the under 18s disagreed or strongly disagreed with the statement. When asked what they would have changed about the year, 30 respondents (6% of those giving a response) expressed regret, unprompted, at the negative media coverage at the beginning of the year. “[I would have changed] the delay and the arguments, because there were really no plans. Being from Limerick, I was ashamed of them!”

Secondary output indicators The most effective way of judging whether there has been a change in the way Limerick is perceived by the media would be to analyse media coverage. Lack of staff resources at Limerick Council meant this was not possible.

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To reinvigorate Limerick City Centre with cultural activity, making it a place to visit.

Social Impact Indicators People feel there is more happening in the City Centre:

54% of respondents agreed or strongly agreed that “There’s a lot more happening in the City since Limerick City of Culture”, although 14% said they didn’t know. There appears to be an appetite for more events in the city as the Citizen Researchers encountered a lot of people who felt they didn’t know what was going on in Limerick after 2014.

“Mostly people kept asking what’s coming up next.” Citizen Researcher

People perceive that Limerick NCoC brought an energy back to the City Centre: 68% of respondents agreed or strongly agreed with the statement “Limerick City of Culture has brought new energy back to the City Centre” with 12% disagreeing or strongly disagreeing. None of the under 18s disagreed or strongly disagreed.

Secondary output indicators Number of events in the City Centre:

91 projects took place at least in part in the City Centre, attracting an estimated 1.1 million attenders.

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“People just kept talking about Granny, so obviously that event was great, it was huge. People liked that the streets were busy, they were coming into town, they felt there was a buzz and it was lively. A lot said that they hoped it continues, that they didn’t want it to just stop now, they want the streets to be busy in the months and years ahead. I was surprised to hear about how people thought the city had changed. Before, people were really down, there were lots of To Let signs, it just wasn’t being used with people going out of town to shopping centres. And that was huge for people, the city centre itself has become more of a place for people to go – that was the biggest change for many people.” Cheryl-Ann Ryan, Citizen Researcher

COLLABORATION, CATALYST AND LEGACY Partnership & Collaboration

To ensure that programmes and projects are collaborative in nature and support partnerships between local, national and international groups/agencies.

Social Impact Indicator People perceive more collaboration:

72% of respondents agreed or strongly agreed that “Groups and organisations worked together more in 2014” with just 4% disagreeing or strongly disagreeing. Under 18s, however, were less likely to agree or strongly agree at 55% . There was less of a sense that different communities were brought together with 48% agreeing or strongly agreeing that “I talked to people I would never have met before because of Limerick City of Culture” and 25% disagreeing. 20% said they neither agreed nor disagreed but this was not because of lack of awareness of what groups are doing as just 3% said they didn’t know.

Secondary output indicators Number of local, national and international artists involved:

132 funded projects provided information about the staff involved in their project. Between them, they employed 2,504 artists from Limerick, 1,059 artists from elsewhere in Ireland and 620 artists from elsewhere. (Artists include all creative personnel eg lighting designers).

Number of new collaborations:

100 funded projects involving new artistic collaborations, 670 in total. 364 were between Limerick artists and organisations, 159 collaborations involved at least one Irish artist from outside Limerick and 133 involved at least one international partner.

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To develop programmes that encourage local partnerships across the city and its environs

Social Impact Indicators Citizens perceive more engagement by Limerick businesses:

64% of respondents agree or strongly agree that “Businesses in the Limerick area got more involved with the community in 2014” although 16% said they didn’t know.

Citizens believe Limerick NCoC brought people together:

82% of respondents agreed or strongly agreed that “Limerick City of Culture brought people together more” with just 4% disagreeing or strongly disagreeing. Under 18s had similar views at 80% and 5%.

Secondary output indicator Number of new local collaborations:

There were 364 new local partnerships among the projects that were funded by Limerick NCoC.

To develop the city as a hub for inspirational thinking and ideas and to create programmes, projects and dialogues that can have a use and purpose for citizens beyond the year 2014.

Social Impact Indicator People perceive that Limerick NCoC has made a difference:

18% of respondents strongly disagreed and 46% disagreed that “Limerick City of Culture has made no difference to people”.

Secondary output indicators Number of legacy projects:

The 13 projects funded as part of the Legacy programme strand involved nine different artforms and three cross artform projects and were Pigtown Fling, the Horse Outside Project, ILEN Boat Project, The People’s Museum, Limerick Craft Hub, the Food Festival, Limerick Theatre and Performance Hub, the Visual Arts Legacy Project, Film Limerick, the Writer in Residence Project, Sharon Shannon & Fidget Feet at Riverfest, Musicians, Magicians, Les Chanteurs et Jokers and the Music Generation Bus.

Number of local artists developing their practice: 2,504 Limerick artists were involved in 132 projects.

Number of volunteers gaining experience:

2,508 volunteers were involved in 135 projects. These included 318 active volunteers registered with Limerick NCoC who contributed 3,607 hours volunteering at events and received 18 hours of training each, a total of 5,346 training hours.

39 /

40 /

â&#x20AC;&#x153;I love the graffiti and the visible remnants of City of Culture that you can see. I think it has a lot more potential that isnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t being used. This whole experience has reshaped the way I see last year in terms of culture. It has made me aware that as a City, there are subcultures that are excluded from the arts and culture in general just because of the way they are organised in the City. As an artistic community that just wants Limerick to come together more, there needs to be a mindfulness when advertising about events and that it needs to be really accessible and not intimidating.â&#x20AC;? Denise Mwaka Chaila, Citizen Researcher

Â PASSPORT TO THE FUTURE Passport & Connectivity

To provide opportunities for the export of Limerick Cultural Product. To ensure Limerick takes its place on a National and International Stage. To develop Limerick cultural providers as Irish Cultural Ambassadors.

Secondary output indicators Number of projects taking place outside Limerick:

Four projects took place outside Limerick, attracting estimated audiences of 143,600. Locations included Dublin, Contarf, West Cork, Lough Gur, Canada and Italy.

Number of projects with an international profile:

Five conferences involved speakers from other countries. 24 projects involved invited artists from other countries.

To forge and sustain links between Limerick and International cultural providers.

Secondary output indicators Number of new international collaborations:

133 new collaborations involved at least one international partner.

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“Some worried about the legacy, using the funding that’s available to continue it, so that there’s a more successful story going on through the years rather than just at the end of one year when it all worked with greater use of the river, King John’s Castle, more street events. So a lot of people are still hanging with their opinion. Lots came up about the media, but I think that stems from a sense of attachment and belonging to Limerick City, being quite proud of it and wanting to see it in not just one light but a continuous light which is that it is a lovely place to live.” Sarah O’Malley, Citizen Researcher

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Conclusion A range of evidence suggests that more people engaged with arts and culture during Limerick National City of Culture 2014: • 1.8m attendances • 80% of survey respondents said they had attended a Limerick National City of Culture event

• 58% of respondents and 73% of respondents under 18 agreed or strongly agreed that they went out more in 2014

• 84% of respondents agreed or strongly agreed that people were talking about what was going on

• a 36% increase in the number of tickets

Limerick National City of Culture engaged with a wide range of people: • 72 projects focused on children and young people including 8,437 children who

participated in 805 schools workshops

• 49 projects had diversity as a goal with 75 projects reaching different national or ethnic audiences

• 216,831 individuals from community groups participated in 912 workshops

• 74% of respondents said they had attended The Giant’s Journey (“Granny”)

• 73% of respondents living in Co. Limerick said they had attended a Limerick National

issued by the two established venues with

City of Culture event, although most were

number of unique individuals buying tickets

total attendances were for events and activities

ticketing systems and a 34% increase in the compared to 12% in venues nationwide

• Just 2% of respondents disagreed or strongly

likely to have travelled to do so as just 2% of in Co. Limerick

• Most felt it was accessible with 66%

disagreed that they enjoyed Limerick City of

of respondents disagreeing or strongly

Culture.

disagreeing that Limerick National City of Culture was not for them.

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People believe that Limerick National City of Culture changed perceptions of the City: • Just 8% of respondents disagreed or strongly

People believe that Limerick National City of Culture made a difference: • 64% of respondents disagreed or strongly

disagreed that there was a new confidence in

disagreed that Limerick National City of

Limerick

Culture made no difference to people

• 69% agree or strongly agree that people have

• 72% of respondents agreed or strongly agreed

even more pride in Limerick after 2014

that groups and organisations worked together

agreed that people don’t think differently about

a total of 364 new artistic collaborations

Limerick now.

between Limerick artists and organisations

• Only 16% of respondents agreed or strongly

more in 2014 with 100 projects involving

• 82% of respondents agreed or strongly agreed that Limerick National City of Culture brought people together more

• 67% of respondents agreed or strongly agreed that people they knew tried new things in 2014.

47 /

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“The word ‘Love’ is coming to mind and I know that sounds really soppy. But I think people really fell in love with Limerick again over the year and especially people who wouldn’t go to much. The year invigorated people’s love for Limerick and what Limerick is capable of.” Sadhbh McCoy, Citizen Researcher

The Research Team Lead Consultant

Heather Maitland Lead consultant with primary responsibility for the quantitative and qualitative research components of the Study. Heather has been a freelance Arts Consultant since October 1999, she is an Associate Fellow at the Centre for Cultural Policy Studies at the University of Warwick and a member of the Arts Market. She has evaluated a number of arts initiatives including a review of Network, the umbrella organisation for audience development agencies in the UK, in response to changes in Arts Council policies, the impact of the disability arts organisations Shape and Artslink for Arts Council England, London, the impact of the year-long Forward Festival of contemporary work involving 30 cultural organisations for Birmingham City Council, evaluation of the Creative Youth Partnerships scheme with Full Circle for Arts Council of Northern Ireland and the impact of audience development policy and practice across Scotland for the Scottish Arts Council. Beyond her extensive work on audience development with Theatre Forum, Heatherâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s work in Ireland includes researching and devising audience development and community engagement plans for a number of venues, leading sessions for The Irish Times Training audience development programme and supporting opera production companies funded by the Arts Councilâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s touring programme.

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Project Manager

Anna Walsh Manager of project with responsibility for organising consultants and liaison with project team members, Limerick NCoC and other stakeholders. Anna is the Director of Forum Limited, a performing arts members’ organisation, a role that combines engaging with a number of stakeholder groups, including and especially members, while representing their interests to policy makers as well as national and local funders and devising and managing various research studies, training programmes and events.

Research Coordinator

Niamh Bowen Coordinator in Limerick to recruit and manage the team of Citizen Researchers, design and lead a workshop to empower and equip them to carry out a large-scale quantitative survey. Niamh is a facilitator, trainer and an associate researcher for a UK-based company called Just Economics www.justeconomics.co.uk that specialises in social impact measurement. Just Economics specialises in an innovative evaluation methodology called Social Return on Investment, working on projects for a number of major international organisations including BT. Niamh works on the research design, implementation and write-up phases of projects.

Citizen Researchers For this Study the research subjects, Limerick people, designed and conducted the survey. In response to a call out for Citizen Researcher nominations, eleven people were nominated by various arts, cultural, social, sport, business, civic and community groups and organisations in Limerick City and County to work as Citizen Researchers carrying out surveys for the Study. Vania Alexandrova-Jovic Brent Dugdale Deirdre Flynn Sadhbh McCoy

Denise Mwaka Chaila Áine NícChárthaigh Mairead O’Connor Michelle O’Donnell

Sarah O’Malley Ashlea Rondozai Cheryl-Ann Ryan.

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Proveit! Methodology This Social Impact Study was designed to answer the question of whether the investment of resources in Limerick as the National City of Culture created significant social capital for its citizens.

Why measure? Limerickâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s position as the first National City of Culture meant that this is the first Social Impact Study conducted in Ireland for a National City of Culture. As such, it afforded the opportunity to utilise innovative research methodologies well-suited to evaluating the impacts of the first City of Culture project and its legacy.

What is to be measured? The research was designed to examine, analyse and report on the social capital and benefits that have accrued to Limerick after its City of Culture year in 2014. The components of this Social Impact Study are as follows:

Primary Benefits Review

Social Impact Analysis

Secondary Benefits Review

Report Generation

Local Impact Review to demonstrate the impact on people.

Identify the broader benefits that accrue to a host city for major events.

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Evaluate the impact on Limerick.

Present findings in a way that would resonate with Limerick citizens and other stakeholders.

Measurements For the purpose of measurement, inputs, outputs and outcomes were defined as follows: Inputs refer to the money and time resources invested to achieve Limerick NCoC goals. Outputs refer to the project activities. Outcomes refer to the impact of the project activities on Limerick citizens.

Citizen Researchers Conducting this research involved working closely with all stakeholders, including and especially, Limerick people. A robust study framework was developed so that findings, even if they are unexpected or provocative, were documented for all stakeholders.

Review Methodologies Two main research methodologies were used to carry out this Social Impact Study.

Primary Benefits Review To gauge the primary benefits, Theatre Forum proposes using an innovative qualitative approach, described in the Prove it! Handbook to gauge the impact of the City of Culture Year on Limerick people. http://www.proveit.org.uk/downloads.html The research method employed is based on the Prove it! methodology, developed in 2000 by the staff at the New Economics Foundation for Groundwork, a federation of 43 local Trusts based across the UK. This framework is an innovative approach to reviewing projects designed to increase the social capital in communities. It involves citizens in qualitatively measuring effects on their communities and fellow citizens. The Prove it! framework is based on a simple observation. Often impact study measures tend to be about activities or outputs: in the case of arts projects it’s about numbers of performances, performers, box office income, tickets, visitors, workshops and attendances. Not measured are the outcomes involving people who have attended or taken part and the effects on them and the community. This insight is key because improving people’s quality of life is often the ultimate aim of many projects, especially cultural ones. It also matters because of the need for evidence about the benefits of cultural projects accruing to people and communities so as to enable funders to support other projects in the future. This methodology was developed as a meaningful way of measuring the effect of community projects on the people who have taken part and on the community to which they belong. One of the main innovations of the Prove it! methodology is that it involves local people both choosing the indicators as well as collecting the data. Local people can improve measurement by choosing appropriate indicators. The more that Limerick people and people who know them well are involved in choosing indicators, the more those indicators reflect the impacts that local people think are important. Local people, Citizen Researchers, can also improve the quality of data collection as they better appreciate local circumstances, minimise questionnaire fatigue and don’t provoke suspicion of surveys or ‘professional’ researchers. This research methodology also provided rich sources of insight about outcomes.

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Indicators Measures or indicators of the quality of life in Limerick were identified by the Citizen Researchers. Having identified relevant indicators, the Limerick research team developed a survey and administered it until the agreed quota was reached. Analysis of the survey findings identified perceptions of Limerick people as to how their City being the National City of Culture changed their attitudes, abilities and actions. Indicators are detailed in the Survey Results in the Appendix.

Secondary Benefits Review The Secondary Benefits Review was focused on quantifying outputs. Various outputs were quantified: The Limerick NCoC programme of events Number of events, performances, venues, companies and artists involved in delivering the programme Number of workshops, working sessions and discussions and participants Breakdown of programme by art form Attendances at ticketed events (from box office data) Estimated attendances at unticketed events Estimated attendances at street events and spectacles Number of meetings between Limerick NCoC and community and pillar groups. A further significant consideration in the design of this study was that a traditional quantitative longitudinal study comparing arts attendances and ticket sales pre- and post-City of Culture year was not feasible. This was due to the timing and nature of the announcement of the City of Culture designation. However, this potential limitation was overcome through the use of secondary data from Theatre Forumâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s longitudinal study Arts Attendances in Ireland. This study provided a quantitative baseline against which all Limerick NCoC activities and outputs in 2014 were compared to those of previous years.

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Social Impact Analysis For the purposes of the Study, inputs were simply described as time, money, production and artistic resources available to Limerick NCoC. These were quantified. Outputs were measured comparing existing Benchmarking Study attendance data with attendances in Limerick in 2014 on a local as well as a national basis. Social Impact Indicators were determined by Limerick people and measured by Citizen Researchers. All of these components were analysed and evaluated as part of the Study with the quantitative and qualitative findings documented in the Research Findings section of this report.

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Survey Results

56 /

57 /

Profile of respondents Age

No. of respondents

% of respondents

Under 18

18-34

198

35%

35-60

225

40%

60+

102

18%

Total

566

100%

Employed

241

43%

Retired

13%

Self-employed

11%

Student

120

21%

Something else

12%

Total

565

100%

Limerick City

275

49%

Co. Limerick, Co. Tipperary or Co. Clare

269

48%

Somewhere else

Total

564

100%

Female

351

63%

Male

204

37%

Other

Total

558

100%

Employment status

Residence

Gender

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Did you see or join in any Limerick City of Culture events last year? All responses

Under 18s

No. of respondents

% of respondents

No. of respondents

% of respondents

Yes

426

80%

70%

17%

18%

Donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t know

13%

Total

533

No response

59 /

Responses Questions People have good memories of Limerick City of Culture 2014 I didn’t feel Limerick City of Culture was for me People I know were talking about what was going on There was nothing for children in Limerick City of Culture I got to know Limerick better because of Limerick City of Culture Nothing new happened in 2014 People I know tried new things in 2014 Businesses in the Limerick area got more involved with the community in 2014 Limerick City of Culture brought people together more Groups and organisations worked together more in 2014 I saw more tourists in Limerick last year Sometimes it felt like the City was full of visitors More friends and family visited me in 2014 More people want to visit Limerick now There were lots more national newspaper and TV reports about Limerick in 2014 What the media said about Limerick was different in 2014 Limerick City of Culture has made no difference to people Limerick City of Culture has brought new energy back to the city centre There’s a new confidence in Limerick now I enjoyed Limerick City of Culture I talked to people I would never have met before because of Limerick City of Culture I went out more in 2014 There was a buzz in the City in 2014 People in this area are more comfortable talking about doing creative things than before There’s a lot more happening in the City since Limerick City of Culture When you look around you can see changes in the City People don’t think any differently about Limerick now People have even more pride in Limerick since it was City of Culture I felt I was involved in Limerick City of Culture

60 /

Strongly disagree

Disagree

Neither agree nor disagree Agree

Donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t know

Total responses

49%

565

22%

43%

14%

560

53%

564

20%

47%

11%

13%

562

20%

25%

39%

562

39%

42%

563

14%

50%

561

14%

49%

16%

564

10%

53%

565

11%

51%

13%

565

13%

41%

10%

563

18%

21%

35%

565

36%

30%

18%

563

19%

45%

21%

559

16%

13%

48%

564

14%

52%

11%

562

18%

46%

14%

12%

546

11%

15%

52%

563

19%

50%

10%

566

11%

48%

565

25%

20%

38%

566

22%

15%

45%

564

57%

556

21%

43%

14%

563

13%

17%

44%

14%

567

13%

15%

49%

564

43%

20%

14%

11%

566

14%

50%

563

23%

21%

31%

567

61 /

Young people’s responses Questions People have good memories of Limerick City of Culture 2014 I didn’t feel Limerick City of Culture was for me People I know were talking about what was going on There was nothing for children in Limerick City of Culture I got to know Limerick better because of Limerick City of Culture Nothing new happened in 2014 People I know tried new things in 2014 Businesses in the Limerick area got more involved with the community in 2014 Limerick City of Culture brought people together more Groups and organisations worked together more in 2014 I saw more tourists in Limerick last year Sometimes it felt like the City was full of visitors More friends and family visited me in 2014 More people want to visit Limerick now There were lots more national newspaper and TV reports about Limerick in 2014 What the media said about Limerick was different in 2014 Limerick City of Culture has made no difference to people Limerick City of Culture has brought new energy back to the city centre There’s a new confidence in Limerick now I enjoyed Limerick City of Culture I talked to people I would never have met before because of Limerick City of Culture I went out more in 2014 There was a buzz in the City in 2014 People in this area are more comfortable talking about doing creative things than before There’s a lot more happening in the City since Limerick City of Culture When you look around you can see changes in the City People don’t think any differently about Limerick now People have even more pride in Limerick since it was City of Culture I felt I was involved in Limerick City of Culture

62 /

All responses

Under 18s

Disagree Agree + + strongly strongly agree disagree

Total responses

86%

76%

17%

66%

54%

84%

80%

18%

68%

15%

68%

49%

24%

56%

22%

81%

80%

67%

11%

68%

64%

58%

82%

80%

72%

55%

13%

69%

83%

10%

51%

20%

68%

12%

24%

43%

27%

53%

44%

17%

59%

20%

51%

10%

65%

11%

60%

15%

65%

68%

12%

68%

64%

59%

83%

48%

29%

39%

58%

24%

73%

15%

84%

74%

11%

56%

45%

15%

54%

14%

56%

12%

63%

14%

54%

22%

16%

52%

23%

35%

69%

59%

10%

46%

30%

39%

32%

63 /

What would you have changed about Limerick City of Culture 2014?

64 /

No. of respondents

% of respondents

Nothing/canâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t think of anything

70%

General negative comment

18%

General positive comment

13%

Total giving a response

No response

Marketing/publicity

No. of respondents

More publicity/marketing/advertising especially outside Limerick

More national media coverage

More media coverage

“Not sure what it was”

Pride / improved image of Limerick

Organisation No “public row”/negative publicity at the beginning of the year

Better organised/preparation/planning

More legacy/economic impact

More openness/transparency/accountability

Maintenance of murals

More money

Programme Different/wider range of artforms (music being mentioned most often)

More events particularly in the later part of year

More affordable/free events

Better finale

Better St Patrick’s Day event

More daytime events

The Giant’s Journey: “Granny” More Granny or events like it

Less investment/focus on Granny

Positive comments about the organisation of the event

Negative comments about the organisation of the event

Accessibility and inclusion More events for everyone or community/entertainment/street or inclusive events

More events outside Limerick

More for children/families

More involvement/funding for local artists/groups

More for teenagers/students

Parking/transport