1. Social Innovation:
the impact of Higher Education,
how can it be measured and
monitored?
Montréal 2015
Sijbolt Noorda
President Magna Charta Observatory

2. • The Magna Charta Observatory of Fundamental
University Values and Rights is a non-profit
organisation based on the Magna Charta
declaration of 1988, founded by the University of
Bologna and the Council of European rectors,
now associated with EUA and IAU
• from its beginnings it wished to become a
worldwide program and project

3. 776 signatories
from 81 countries

4. ‘ The university is an autonomous institution at the heart of
societies differently organized because
of geography and historical heritage; it produces, examines,
appraises and hands down culture by research and teaching.
To meet the needs of the world around it, its research and
teaching must be morally and intellectually independent of
all political authority and economic power.’
[from Magna Charta Universitatum]

5. what shall we do in this workshop?
• we’ll talk and think about the impact of HEIs on
social innovation
• and the ways in which this is being measured
and monitored
• at both ends of the line, in society as well as in
HEIs
• higher education not as end in itself, but rather as
part of a chain of experiences and developments
in society

6. function public / private good benefits
value purpose impact
assessment markets effect relevance
use significance mission accountability
trust usefulness performance quality

11. what’s the concept?
• impact has become a popular concept to express the
value of higher education and research for its users.
• It is not a new concept. Although the term “impact” is a
relative newcomer to Higher Education policy speak, the
realities it refers to are perennial. Terminology may vary
(value, purpose, effect, relevance) the issue is a
constant.
• And rightly so. Universities are no l’art pour l’art
workshops and they never were meant to be. Even at
times when they served society through elites.

12. what’s new?
• the novelty is not in the issue but in the realities and
attitudes
• responsive universities (or rather: any HEI) must
constantly read their map and re-position themselves to
optimize their value
• yet, ‘value creation’ cannot be a one-way-street; the
product of HE is way too complicated for just a delivery
mode
• so society – businesses as well as not-for-profits,
government as well as students – should get involved
rather than just receive (in the customer mode)

13. current focus
• In the case of social innovation higher
education’s impact happens along a broad
variety of lines and programs
• via teaching & learning as well as
research & valorisation
• by way of attitudes & culture as well as
concrete projects & solutions

14. the challenge of measuring and
monitoring
• To know what we’re doing and what works
and what doesn’t we must monitor impact
and be accountable
• How to do justice to it in qualitative terms
as well as in quantitative terms?

15. if not quantifiable it doesn’t count
• admissions & recruitments
• ranking lists & reputation scores
• performance indicators
• bibliometrics, including impact scores
• financial figures
• awards & grants
• patents & licenses, et cetera

16. the qualitative value of multiple virtues
• public trust  reliable, civil, undisguised [overall
impression]
• student satisfaction  inspiring, competent, well-suited
[educational experience]
• partner confidence  sustainable, dedicated, efficient
[academic and business performance]

17.  impact? not uncomplicated
•  what a university must do to make a strong
impression on its users, partners, regulators
and/or funders is not a single and simple issue
• but rather a mix of accountability, market
performance and trust generation by a broad
variety of activities and qualities, involving
many actors and institutes, requiring shared
values and common attitudes & professional
achievements all over the place

18. what is going on in society that
(re-)defines the role of HEIs?
• growing complexities & social dynamics
• trust crisis & quest for integrity,
transparency, openness and
accountability
• grand challenges requiring new ways of
multidisciplinary thinking
• globalization, culture blending &
parochialism
• increasing competition & volatility
• et cetera

19. what shall we do in this workshop?
• we’ll talk and think about the impact of HEIs on
social innovation
• and the ways in which this is being measured
and monitored
• at both ends of the line, in society as well as in
HEIs
• higher education not as end in itself, but rather as
part of a chain of experiences and developments
in society