19 Feb 2026
Impact Assessment as a Conversation
Executive summary
This article originates from a collaboration between Fondazione Sistema Toscana and the University of Florence, within the framework of the Data Conversations project, to assess the impact of the educational activity of the Internet Festival.
It outlines a methodological approach, detailing how pre-event data collection and Natural Language Processing (NLP) can be used to map user expectations and align cultural programming with the actual needs of a young audience.
This article originates from a collaboration between Fondazione Sistema Toscana and the University of Florence, within the framework of the Data Conversations project, to assess the impact of the educational activity of the Internet Festival.
It outlines a methodological approach, detailing how pre-event data collection and Natural Language Processing (NLP) can be used to map user expectations and align cultural programming with the actual needs of a young audience.
What the reader will learn
The article illustrates how important it is to:
- Move beyond simple quantitative metrics (like attendance counts) to implement qualitative impact assessments that measure actual changes in audience knowledge and perception.
- Conduct pre-event "expectation mapping" to align your cultural programming with the specific needs of your target audience.
- Combine domain expertise with data science techniques, such as Natural Language Processing (NLP) and Topic Modeling, to extract meaningful insights from unstructured text.
- Validate findings and avoid "top-down" data interpretation through interdisciplinary collaboration between cultural organizations and academic partners.
- Use impact data for accountability, continuous improvement, and to justify the return on investment to stakeholders.
Do you want to turn data into strategic decisions for your next event? Download the full article to discover all the technical details and the methodology applied!
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