Позитивные изменения. Том 2, №4 (2022). Positive changes. Volume 2, Issue 4 (2022) - Редакция журнала «Позитивные изменения»

Impact Investment 2022 Results: A Perspective from the Positive Changes Journal Award Winners

Yulia Vyatkina

DOI 10.55140/2782–5817–2022–2–4–16–27

On December 7, 2022, the first annual award of the Positive Changes, a popular science journal about impact investments and social impact assessment, was presented. The award recognizes experts, journal contributors, and organizations for their input into the development of social and economic impact assessment. Read our article about who received the award and what for, how the winners of the award remembered 2022 in terms of impact and development of evaluation methodology, and what key events and new approaches can be highlighted.

Yulia Vyatkina

Editor, Positive Changes Journal

ABOUT THE AWARD AND THE NOMINEES

The award was organized by the Positive Changes Factory, the founder of the Positive Changes Journal, with the support of partners: Association of Volunteer Centers, Wowhouse branding agency and Gladway Foundation of Development of Media Projects and Social Programs. The awards was presented as part of the #Myvmeste 2022 International Forum of Civic Participation. Winners were announced in six categories.

“The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago. The second best time is today,” says Chinese wisdom. So it is never too late to make a dream come true or to make the world at least a little bit better. A planted tree is sure to produce a harvest.

As was noted by Natalia Gladkikh, editor-in-chief of the Positive Changes journal, the pioneers in the field of evaluation 20 years ago planted seedlings that are now bearing fruit: in 2021, Positive Changes Journal, a popular science Journal about impact investments and social impact assessment, appeared.

“We decided that each year we would celebrate those who most delighted us in terms of impact. It was difficult for the journal's editors to choose the 10 winners because there were so many people and organizations who inspired us, who developed innovative approaches to the evaluation, monitoring and planning of project activities. Our 10 laureates are people and organizations whose contribution to the development of the evaluation and impact industry is so great that without them things would be different,” said Natalia Gladkikh.

TO BE CLEARER AND CLOSER TO THE PEOPLE

The award in the Development of Social Projects Evaluation System category was won by the Center for Advanced Management Solutions (CAMS) for the introduction of assessment models into the system of public administration and the publication of methodological materials. In 2020, CAMS and the Accounts Chamber of the Russian Federation published an expert note “Application of the Theory of Change for Strategic Audit and Strategic Planning in Russia.”[17]

As the authors of the document note, there is a gap between the strategic goals of Russia's development, which are formulated by the President of the Russian Federation in his decrees and by the Government of the Russian Federation in its strategies, and the final results. The formal achievement of indicators does not always mean achievement of the originally planned social and economic effect. Moreover, different groups of beneficiaries often do not feel the effects of the goals set and achieved. One of the tools to bridge this gap is the theory of change, an approach in which each instrument of public policy must be focused on achieving a specific socio-economic change[18].

One of the authors of the expert memorandum, Maksim Tsygankov, head of the Program and Policy evaluation project area at the Center for Advanced Management Solutions, shared with the editors of the Positive Changes what important things happened in 2022 from the perspective of evaluation development in our country.

“It is too early to talk about the practice of evidence-based approaches in the public sector, despite the fact that in 2022 it was possible to finalize a number of evaluation projects, such as microdata projects of the Federal Service for Labour and Employment. Thus, detailed administrative microdata on the state of the labour market became available to researchers. Research is expected to be based on this open data, the results of which will help improve organizational and technological processes of employment for citizens and recruitment for employers[19]. In addition, I am glad to see a growing number of code and repositories around the world with the goal of evaluating and analyzing data. There are also cases from Russian companies, including MTS. MTS Big Data specialists have launched the first version of Ambrosia library for working with A/B-tests into Open Source[20]. We see that it is business that is mostly interested in the proof of practice,” said Maksim Tsygankov.

On the positive side, according to the expert, we can also add that the Accounts Chamber of the Russian Federation in 2022 mediated the evidence-based policy agenda in the public sector, continuing to hold a competition of best practices and initiatives of the evidence-based approach to management decision-making.

Also, the SOL' Social Innovation Support Center was awarded in the Development of Social Projects Evaluation System category for the introduction of social reporting standards and the theory of change in the activities of social enterprises.

The standard helps various social projects and charities to form a compelling account of their social activities and to formalize the logic of the project's transformative impact. It includes all the data required for reporting, from organizational structure to finances. The standard also provides an opportunity to show the real results of its activities to investors, government authorities and other stakeholders[21].

“We take a full-hearted approach to developing social innovation, and we believe if there is a problem, there is a solution. The social accountability standard tool allows social innovators to be clearer and closer to the