The main impacts achieved by ENLARGE are:
- Complexifying knowledge on participatory tools and approaches by highlighting that, behind ‘best practices’ (but also supposed bad practices),there can be numerous design and management choices, each of which deserves careful consideration and reflection in order to understand which implications derive from sequences of choices and interactions within specific contexts.
Almost all respondents to both the dissemination survey (94 %) and the final evaluation survey (93 %) reported a high enough or very high improvement in their knowledge on collaborative processes. All the participants in the deliberative event declared an improvement (so and so or high) in their knowledge on collaborative processes and their pros and cons.
Furthermore, all respondents to the final evaluation survey declared that the CYOA was fairly/highly useful for identifying different alternatives and strategies in collaborative processes and their consequences.
The utility of the ENLARGE outputs (and in particular the CYOA gamebook) in better understanding collaborative processes and their relevance for stakeholders involved is also underlined by the response to the dissemination surveys and final evaluation survey. There is a high willingness to recommend the ENLARGE outputs to other potential users: 79% of respondents to the final survey would definitely recommend it, while 21% would probably do it.
- Improving awareness of local public administrators/stakeholders on the importance of reasoned participatory governance applied to sustainable energy issues as a way of increasing quality, solidity, effectiveness, sustainability and legitimacy of such policies
According to the final evaluation survey, 93 % of the respondents have taken or intend to take actions to improve the use and continuity of the collaborative processes in which they are involved after their involvement in the ENLARGE project.
- Enhancing effectiveness, sustainability and legitimacy of the participatory processes
Over half of the respondents (62 %) to the final evaluation survey reported having taken into consideration other options and their consequences in the collaborative processes they are involved in, while 31 % declared having already modified some aspects of the collaborative processes they are involved in.
The results reached by the ENLARGE project allow administrations to become open, innovative and collaborative, by rethinking their role and discovering new strategies and mechanisms to enhance collaboration between administrations, stakeholders and citizens. Furthermore, by favouring policy effectiveness of collaborative processes, the project also contributes to the improvement of public policies and services tackled by collaborative processes.
