Forum for Social Innovation Sweden at Malmö University, in collaboration with Telia, has developed a tool to demonstrate the value of social sustainability efforts.
EU directives impose stricter requirements on larger companies to demonstrate and report on their sustainability efforts. It is generally more difficult to demonstrate the value of social initiatives or the impact they have. Telia Company operates in Sweden, Finland, Norway, Denmark, Lithuania, and Estonia. Digital inclusion is one of Telia Company’s priority areas of impact within sustainability, integrated into its business strategy. To reduce risks related to the digital divide and seize opportunities for inclusion, Telia aims to reach two million individuals with its digital literacy initiatives by 2025.
“In 2021, Telia launched a group-wide program focused on digital literacy, and today we have reached just over one million people who would otherwise be at risk of digital exclusion or finding themselves in vulnerable situations online,” says Sara Nordbrand, Head of Sustainability at Telia Company.
Telia is taking the next step in describing the impact of its sustainability efforts
In an international ranking on digital inclusion for 2023, Telia ranked 12th out of 200 technology companies evaluated and fourth among those headquartered in Europe.
“We’re now taking the next step by scaling up our initiatives and developing metrics to begin measuring the impact of our work. In this effort, we’re delighted to be collaborating with experts in impact measurement at Malmö University’s Forum for Social Innovation Sweden researchers at Jönköping University,” says Sara Nordbrand.
More and more people are recognizing the importance of demonstrating and communicating the value of social innovations
Forum for Social Innovation Sweden works to promote understanding of social innovation and cross-sectoral collaboration. SocialForum for Social Innovation Sweden processes consist of several elements. One element is the ability to demonstrate the value of social innovation.
“More and more people are recognizing the importance of being able to demonstrate and communicate the value of social innovations. It was exciting to follow Telia’s initiative and contribute to the work on Theory of Change, particularly given the cross-sector collaboration involved in the initiative, as well as in the development of the tool,” says Sara Bjärstorp, Executive Director of Forum for Social Innovation Sweden Malmö University.
Theory of Change tools Theory of Change more organizations can use
On behalf of Telia, Forum for Social Innovation Sweden has Forum for Social Innovation Sweden a tool and a guide that can be used to formulate and create an impact measurement plan designed to strengthen sustainability efforts. The tool consists of an Excel template that can be used to formulate an impact measurement plan in five steps. The accompanying guide, which consists of two appendices, is intended to support the use of the template. It contains various materials and information on theory of change and how to create a problem tree, for example.
“The template and guide can be used by any organization that wants to develop a Theory of Change plan Theory of Change demonstrate the value of social sustainability efforts and innovations,” says Anna Tengqvist, national and international coordinator for Forum for Social Innovation Sweden Malmö University.
Pilot project shows that the "Digital in Sweden" initiative creates a safe and welcoming environment for new arrivals
To test the template and guide, Forum for Social Innovation Sweden has Forum for Social Innovation Sweden a pilot project using the tool as part of the "Digital in Sweden" initiative, which is aimed at new arrivals in Sweden.
– The tool provided a clear framework for measuring the impact of the Digital in Sweden initiative. We identified goals for the initiative and developed evaluation questions to capture the results. Based on this survey of 33 respondents, we can see, among other things, that the goal of creating a safe and welcoming space for participants was achieved, as 100 percent of respondents recommend that other new arrivals participate, says Gloria-Karin López, project manager at Forum for Social Innovation Sweden.
As part of the collaborative project, researcher Frida Lygnegård at Jönköping University also conducted an evaluation of Telia’s “Mobilkörkortet” project in parallel with the work of Forum for Social Innovation Sweden.
Here’s how to develop a Theory of Change plan Theory of Change five steps
1. Define the purpose of the impact assessment: Why do we want to develop a Theory of Change how will we use the results?
2. Set goals and indicators using the theory of change, and create a problem-solution tree.
3. Develop an impact measurement plan and collect data
4. Analyze the value and impact
5. Share your work and results
Want to know more?
Read and download tools, guides, and templates.
Read Telia's article about its collaboration with Malmö University and Jönköping University.
Read Jönköping University’s article
Read the report *Understanding Children’s and Parents’ Experiences of the Mobile Driver’s License*, developed by Telia Company and the Swedish children’s rights organization Friends, by Frida Lygnegård at Jönköping University.
Learn more about Telia's "Mobilkörkortet" initiative.
Read the pilot report, “Summarising Impact Assessment Report on ‘Digital in Sweden’” (PDF),on “Digital inSweden” by Forum for Social Innovation Sweden.
Learn more about Telia’s “Digital in Sweden” initiative.