2023 Worldview Reflections

Looking back on 2023, it’s been a busy year for the Worldview project which saw increased engagement and usage right across the Dóchas network. Worldview is a Public Engagement Research Project exploring Irish attitudes to overseas development aid (ODA) and we’re grateful to all our members who supported various Worldview activities throughout 2023. Here are some highlights from the year that was.

January to March

In January, alongside our research partners Development Engagement Lab and IPSOS Behaviour and Attitudes, we kicked off the year with a presentation of the latest Wave 3 (2022) Worldview results as part of a workshop hosted by the Department of Foreign Affairs attended by several Dóchas members. 

In March, a comprehensive review was undertaken by the Worldview project manager to reflect on progress to date and identify potential gaps and emerging areas of interest that can be focused on going forward. A survey was developed to elicit feedback from an organisational perspective via the Worldview Steering Group. The review found that the project is on track with its objectives overall and identified several areas of enhancement to ensure all results and outcomes are achieved within the project’s lifetime. The review can be viewed here.

April to May 

On 25th April, the 3rd Annual Worldview Results Webinar took place online where we were joined by Worldview research partners Behaviour & Attitudes and Development Engagement Lab for a packed session. The webinar unveiled findings from the 2022 Worldview survey, which targeted 2.5k Irish adults to discern their current beliefs and attitudes towards ODA. It also included timely analysis related to the war in Ukraine and the cost of living crisis. 

The second half of the webinar centred around a discussion on the critical role community engagement plays in reaching new audiences. We had three distinctive perspectives share their experiences, including:

1. Karen Casey, Head of Community Engagement & Outreach, Trócaire
2. Marte Lid, Senior Advisor, Department of Communications, Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation (Norad)
3. Sophie Willis, Field Organiser, Aid Alliance UK

The webinar itself and all Wave 3 presentations can be found in the Worldview Toolkit here. 

Earlier in the day on 25th April, Dóchas hosted a CEO breakfast event also focused on the 3rd Annual Worldview Results, presented by Behaviour & Attitudes. We were joined by David McNair, Executive Director for Global Policy for the ONE Campaign, who shared his extensive experience of turning data insights into action and the power of collective messaging for the Irish development sector. David shared his key takeaways from the session after, which can be viewed here.

 In May, Dóchas was pleased to join a parallel session at The Wheel’s Summit on 23rd May, which focused on the theme of integration. The most recent Worldview findings were presented and led to a dynamic panel discussion on the necessity of understanding our audiences and the critical role Global Citizenship Education (GCE) can play within communities throughout Ireland.

Also in May, Dóchas was delighted to host the first in-person Worldview Practitioners Workshop which saw strong representation and attendance from across our members and team function areas such as GCE, fundraising, communications, public engagement and advocacy. The workshop provided an opportunity to delve deeper into specific aspects of the most recent Worldview research with a focus on enhancing understanding of the audience segments with the aim of delivering targeted, motivating and persuasive communications which engage audiences and build support for ODA. 

A key output of this workshop was the development of Worldview segment ‘Personas’ to help demystify the segment groups by spotlighting one individual member of the group. Each workshop group was assigned a segment and produced the person they saw as a representation of that particular group. The Worldview personas can be viewed here and we would encourage members to use them as a tool within their own teams when developing their communications strategies.

We were also virtually joined at the workshop by Rikke Lind Andersson, Head of Engagement at the Office for Humanitarian Action, Civil Society and Engagement (HCE) in Danida, the Danish International Development Agency, who shared valuable insights on Danida’s experience of building public support for ODA and their approaches to engaging target and hard to reach audiences. 

June to August

In June, we were delighted to see both Dóchas and Worldview featured in the 2023 Politics and Society Leaving Certificate Exam Paper which can be viewed here on pages 10-14. The paper asked students to critically examine and assess the Worldview data presented and to draw their own conclusions and reflections in their answers.  Importantly, this further illustrates Worldview’s utility as a resource and tool for both students and educators which is an area we plan to explore more in 2024.

September to December 

In September, Worldview collaborated with Trócaire and Sightsavers Ireland to launch the Global Solidarity Hub at the National Ploughing Championship in Ratheniska, Laois. The Hub showcased a range of activities aimed at engaging attendees on issues related to ODA including reflection walls, SDG Connect 4 and virtual reality headsets. Attendees were invited to reflect on and share their own ‘worldview’ which included responses such as: “We are all interdependent and must keep a wide worldview” (62, Tipperary) and “Aid helps bring awareness to the struggles of the developing world” (19, Laois).

In October, Worldview participated in IDEA’s Global Citizenship Education Research Showcase which examined the role research data and insights can play in helping to inform GCE strategies and activity. 

Looking ahead to 2024

After a busy 2023, there’s plenty more to come in 2024 as Worldview enters the final year of this current phase. We’ll be launching the newest Wave 4 survey results in Q1 2024 which will include a focus on Irish awareness, knowledge and attitudes towards the Sustainable Development Goals and will explore the extent to which Irish people see a connection between the impacts and effects of climate change and escalating needs such as the food crises affecting the Horn of Africa and West Africa. Worldview will be hosting more in-person events and workshops throughout the year and also be looking to recreate the Global Solidarity Hub presence at the National Ploughing Championships again and potentially another summer festival. Lastly, we’ll be sharing the final Wave 5 survey results towards the end of year while planning for what the next phase of the project might look like past 2025, building on the progress and achievements to date. 

If you would like to find out more about any of these upcoming activities or the project in general, please contact Laura Gibbons on Laura(at)Dochas.ie