Foundation of Impact: Monitoring and Evaluation | ZMINA:Resilience Capacity Building

Aims

This capacity building webinar introduced Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) as a strategic organisational practice — not a bureaucratic obligation — for cultural and creative organisations working in or aspiring to EU-funded international projects. The session was designed to make M&E accessible to organisations at the beginning of their journey with systematic impact measurement, while offering practical frameworks they could apply immediately.

The session aimed to help participants:

• Understand the distinction between monitoring (ongoing data collection) and evaluation (interpreting what that data means for outcomes and impact)
• Reframe M&E from a funder requirement into a learning tool that strengthens organisational decision-making, programme quality, and partnership credibility
• Apply the Theory of Change model to plan activities backwards from desired impact — rather than assembling activities first and hoping for results
• Understand the connection between the Golden Circle (Simon Sinek's "Start With Why") and impact-oriented project design
• Select appropriate quantitative and qualitative indicators that are meaningful for cultural sector work
• Choose practical, proportionate methods for collecting and using data — without requiring significant additional resources
• Understand what EU cultural programmes specifically expect from M&E in project proposals and reports
• Recognise the most common M&E mistakes and how to avoid them
• Build M&E capacity gradually, starting with what is manageable rather than what is ideal

Trainer

Paula Cukura is a social innovator based in Riga, Latvia, with nine years of experience supporting movements for social and environmental justice. Her work has been instrumental in the development of creative districts and community hubs, and she has been closely involved with Latvia's Academy of Culture for seven years. Paula holds a double Master's degree in Creative Industries and Growth Management from the Latvian Academy of Culture and Riga Technical University, where she currently works. Her project work has been co-funded by the European Union for eight years. She specialises in impact assessment and impact strategy development, and works in the RESIST project (Regional Ecosystems for Social Innovation and Social Transformation), which has produced open resources on social change assessment and indicator quality.

Content

The webinar was structured as a progressive journey from conceptual foundations to practical application. Paula moved through two core theoretical models — the Golden Circle and the Theory of Change — illustrated with a worked example of a cultural exchange festival, before turning to indicators, data collection methods, EU-specific requirements, and the most common M&E mistakes and how to avoid them.

1. Introduction & what is M&E
2. The Golden Circle: start with why
3. Theory of Change: how activities create impact
4. Indicators and data collection methods
5. M&E in EU projects
6. Common mistakes and key takeaways

The session was held on March 24, 2026 in English.