Caravan Next. A Social Community Theatre Project. Methodology, Evaluation and Analysis

The European project Caravan Next. Feed the Future – Art Moving Cities has found its natural place within the scientific research promoted by the Dipartimento di Studi Umanistici (Department of Humanities) of the University of Turin on the topics of Media, Music and Performing Arts. This study aims to highlight the role of the methodology of Social Community Theatre with respect to Audience Development and Audience Engagement, and its socio-cultural and well-being impact, through the interventions implemented by its network of 13 partners: Nordisk Teaterlaboratorium - Odin Teatret, Denmark; Social Community Theatre Centre of the University of Turin (Unito | SCT Centre), Italy; Atalaya - TNT, Spain; Teatr Brama, Poland; ZID Theater, The Netherlands; Stanica Žilina-Záriečie, Slovakia; Bürgerstiftung Rohrmeisterei Schwerte, Germany; Technical University of Crete (TUC), Greece; Farm in the Cave, Czech Republic; OMMA Studio Theater, Greece; European Association for Local Democracy (ALDA), France; Ace Kibla, Slovenia; OGR-CRT – Società Consortile per Azioni, Italy. During 42 months of activity, Caravan Next involved 30 associated partners, about 100.000 citizens from 16 European countries. It also developed capacity building activities based on the artistic languages and the techniques of the Social Community Theatre for approximately 2.000 people and organised dissemination events in countries from 5 continents: the United States, Uruguay, Australia, Taiwan and Morocco. The second chapter and the third deal with the topic of the evaluation of the Caravan Next project, which is based on an experimental evaluative approach that measures the impact of a community-based art process on its participants and the professionals involved. The evaluation approach was conceived through the expertise of the scientific team at the University of Turin and statistic analysis experts, and involves a co-design approach between the Caravan project team and the partners, promoting capacity building which favours the actual design of the evaluation process. The quantitative and qualitative data that emerged indicates: the strong impact the Social Community Theatre methodology has in engaging a public which normally doesn’t get involved in cultural achievement/production, the capacity building of participants with regard to learning and developing on a social level, the construction of local and international networks and the development of transversal professional skills in audience engagement, project design and management with partners. The evaluation approach adopted in the Caravan Next project is set up with a methodological approach that is driven by tools of quantitative and qualitative social research, allowing the value of the Social Community Theatre experience to emerge in terms of the cultural, social and well-being impacts on participants. After a brief literature survey on the evaluation processes in Social Community Theatre, the method used to formulate the questionnaires, the challenges of the broader evaluation process, the overall data of the research and the methodological sparks that emerged are presented. The research is aimed at the statistical analysis of the information collected by means of the Caravan Next questionnaires. The available data are analysed to detect some particular associations between subjective characteristics and various aspects of the Caravan Next activities, both on the side of participants and on the side of partners. In particular, according to a number of specific research questions, the analysis will try to highlight the similarity and the divergences among the various activities, taking into account their geographical distribution. Overall, the evaluation process lasted from May 2016 to September 2018, encompassed 15 events (5 Macro and 10 Micro events) and was based on a medium-large sample of European citizens (n=737), including seasonal migrants and asylum seekers, which is statistically relevant (35.51%) when compared to the universal sample of people who have actively followed the artistic work (n=2075). One of the main results of the project is the involvement of a considerable number of citizens who had never taken part in any form of theatrical activity, not even as amateurs. Moreover, the participants were motivated to carry on the experience, with reference to both Social Community Theatre activities (90%) and the enjoyment of cultural activities (92%). Finally, creativity and the ability to understand others are the skills that have been improved the most.