Impact and goal-oriented project planning with the Knowledge and Technology Transfer (KTT) Impact Canvas

Expectations of higher education institutions are constantly changing, as are the indicators used to measure their performance and success. In this context, the term „impact“ (often differentiated into outcome and impact) is particularly important. The Innovation Hub 13 has therefore formed a working group dedicated to the overarching topic of impact measurement as well as the concrete measurement of impact in the project framework. One important result of the work: the Knowledge and Technology Transfer (KTT) Impact Canvas.

The Knowledge and Technology Transfer (KTT) Impact Canvas has already been tested, further developed and optimised several times within the Innovation Hub 13. Based on the completed templates of the KTT Impact Canvas, various „storytelling“ ideas have emerged, i.e. the Canvas served as a template for structuring project measures so that they can be communicated in a simplified and comprehensible form.

The KTT Impact Canvas can thus be a helpful support not only for universities and research institutions. Public institutions with a focus on project management as well as associations and citizens‘ initiatives, start-ups or business development institutions also benefit from the KTT Impact Canvas: it acts as an assistance in planning and implementing projects in a more impact- and goal-oriented way.

Background:

The (regional) role of higher education institutions is constantly growing and thus also the number of new tasks. In addition to traditional teaching and research, these include knowledge and technology transfer as well as increased interaction and involvement of (regional) actors. Furthermore, universities are the driving force behind regional developments and important actors in overcoming major international and societal challenges such as climate change or the COVID 19 pandemic.

In this context, the measurement and presentation of the impact of all these tasks is becoming increasingly important. This includes rankings that compare and place different universities in terms of their impact (e.g. THE Impact Ranking). When applying for funding for research projects, funding bodies also expect impact goals to be formulated and their achievement to be measured accordingly within the framework of the project.

Finally, science communication also plays a decisive role: it creates visibility for projects, their activities and the resulting impacts through public relations work that encompasses all aspects. In this way, science communication creates the framework for more intensive communication both within science and between science and the public.