NEB Compass self-assessment – Step 5/6 – Principles

working PRINCIPLES – MULTI-LEVEL

Multi-level engagement

How extensive is engagement across scales, fields and time in the project?

The Working Principle Multi-level engagement fosters effective horizontal (with peers) and vertical (with others operating on different scales) exchanges.

The goal is to bridge local and global dimensions, connecting stakeholders for transformative impact and enabling cross-sectoral knowledge dissemination and experimentation.

Read more about the ambitions

To Work Locally

Inter-municipal cooperation • Network, coalitions • Informal cooperation

A project at ambition level I connects horizontally with informal networks (such as groups of individuals or neighbourhoods) and/or formal institutions (such as sectoral departments or political groups). It actively engages with them to influence the local living environment through a place-based approach.

Example
Santa Maria da Feira Community Arts Network (Portugal] was developed by the Social Action, Education and Culture Municipal Offices to engage ‘local entities and services, civil society organisations, local communities and many other relevant stakeholders’ in a participatory local governance network to help them work together to make art more accessible to everyone.
Possible guiding questions
  • Does the project interact with local networks and collectives? What activities does it put in place to do so?
  • Does the project aim to influence the local living environment? How?
  • Does the project cultivate a place-based approach? How does it do that?
 

To Work Across levels

Supranational institutions • EU Member States • Local and regional authorities

A project at ambition level II connects vertically with informal networks (such as groups of individuals or neighbourhoods) and/or formal institutions (such as governments or administrations) across various scales (from single municipalities to regional authorities and local studies to international research programmes). It actively engages with them to extend single-scale initiatives beyond their own dimensions (local, regional or national).

Example
The Immaginario Scientifico Science Centre (Italy) is a new museum aiming to involve ‘the public in the life of the international community that has made Trieste the “City of Science”’. The project closely involved the regional and municipal bodies and the Italian Ministry of University and Research in its design and setup.
Possible guiding questions
  • Does the project interact with networks and/or institutions that are active beyond the scale of the project itself (e.g. from local to regional, from national to international, etc.)? What activities does it put in place to do so?
  • Does the project work at different scales (e.g. neighbourhood and the city, one single school with a network of national schools, etc.)? How does it make it possible?
  • Does the project aim to have an influence across different scales? How does it plan to do so?
 

To Work Globally

Multi-scale impact • Cross-sectoral cooperation • Global North–Global South relations

A project at ambition level III works at the global level, aiming for a broader, transformational impact beyond its initial local scale. It connects networks and/or (inter)governmental institutions that, across various levels, share similar purposes, envisioning the future of the entire ecosystem.

Example
The VITA Erasmus+ project (Romania) is a project based on transnational cooperation between three universities in Romania, Italy and Norway aimed at stimulating learning on inter-cultural changes and managing different education traditions across cultures. This project has involved several regional and national bodies and built a network of collaborators from European countries facing similar issues to cooperate in the ongoing process. The project also aims to disseminate the findings and methodology not only across Europe but also to other fields and sectors.
Possible guiding questions
  • Does the project aim to reach a global, transformational impact? How?
  • Does the project consider the local impact, putting it in perspective with the future of the entire ecosystem? What actions does it plan to put in place to do so?