EXCENTRIC and Krakow Festival Office: exploring social impact measurement
As part of the Horizon Europe project EXCENTRIC, EFA is partnering with KBF – Krakow Festival Office to develop a system for festivals to use data in more meaningful, collaborative, and human-centred ways.
The city of Krakow built a strong link with EFA over the past years. It is one of the co-initiators of the EFFE Seal for Festival Cities and Regions. KBF – Krakow Festival Office plays a leading role in Poland’s cultural institutions, with a wide portfolio of festivals and long-term artistic and cultural activities. KBF is also behind the FEST FORUM, the annual gathering of Polish festivals coming from all over the country.
Moving towards social impact measurement
Within EXCENTRIC, KBF is working on a specific project called a “pilot” focused on social impact measurement. The pilot explores how festivals can better understand and communicate the value they create for audiences, artists, communities, and local authorities.
The Social Return on Investment (SROI) is an approach that helps organisations move beyond numbers and economic indicators to questions that really matters. For KBF, the challenge is not the lack of data, but rather identifying the value, meaning, and impact of their festivals and how to measure complex outcomes such as well-being, inclusion, skills development, and community connection. In the context of public cultural investment, this is increasingly important: social impact evidence can strengthen dialogue with the municipality, support accountability, and help articulate the wider benefits of festivals for urban life.
EXCENTRIC workshops in the Arts Festivals Summit Budva
The research done so far has been shared publicly during the Arts Festivals Summit in Budva. The EXCENTRIC consortium organised two workshops as part of its Open Demo Days, offering festival professionals and delegates an opportunity to engage with the projects’ methods and early findings. Reports from these sessions are available on the EXCENTRIC website.
- Measuring what matters: Social impact and shared data practices in festivals on the pilot with KBF – Krakow Festival Office (18 May 2026)
- Smart Culture: Tapping into data intelligence and collaboration for festivals and cities on the pilot with Oulu European Capital of Culture 2026 (17 May 2026)
The pilot is a learning process: KBF is working on questions that many festival organisers share: which indicators are relevant, how teams can align around impact goals, and how measurement tools can remain practical while still capturing meaningful change. By testing these questions through EXCENTRIC, KBF is helping to shape approaches that may be useful to the larger festivals community. Krakow’s contribution shows how cultural organisations can engage with digital transition not only to improve efficiency, but also to better understand and demonstrate their social value.