Funded by the European Union. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or the European Education and Culture Executive Agency (EACEA). Neither the European Union nor EACEA can be held responsible for them.
Module 5

Community Impact

About the module

Ready to make a difference? Module 5 equips you with the knowledge and tools to explore your community’s impact through the lens of the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). You will delve into the ‘Theory of Change’, learning how to shape your activities to drive sustainable development and translate your efforts into meaningful outputs, outcomes, and impact. Through hands-on learning, you’ll discover how to collaborate with vulnerable groups to uncover and address genuine community needs. This module will empower you to identify opportunities for sustainability, forge impactful partnerships, measure the results of your actions, and play an active role in building more sustainable, resilient, and inclusive societies.

LENGTH
31 minutes
EFFORT
Self paced, learn at your own effort
PRICE
Free
PREREQUISITES
No prior experience is required
REQUIREMENTS
An internet connection to access and download module materials
LEVEL
Introductory
LANGUAGE
English
ASSOCIATED SKILLS
Critial thinking, innovative thinking, problem solving skills, impact assessment skills, systems thinking,
Learning objectives
  • Showcase the systemic character of sustainable development and analyse the relevance of community impact.
  • Teach how to identify the relevant ‘community’, raise awareness for the” people most affected by challenges and interventions” and promote inclusion.
  • Highlight the role transformative partnerships play in the whole process from initiating, to developing and executing, and finally evaluating an intervention.
  • Empower learners to actively develop their own theory of change and assess their community impact.
Learning outcomes
  • Have the skills to deeply understand the systemic character of sustainable development (social, economic, environmental, cultural), which helps you identify real challenges, needs and sustainability opportunities in your region.
  • Be able to mobilise your community and engage in multi-stakeholder partnerships to formulate a sustainable outcome.
  • Know how to identify and plan effective activities to achieve a specific, clear, and actionable outcome that will meet the community's needs.
  • Have developed a theory of change for your own sustainable community impact initiative, establishing meaningful linkages to the SDGs.
  • Will become a real changemaker and know how to measure and evaluate the impact of your initiative.

Modules' structure

Meet the presenter
Dr. Judith Terstriep

Head of Research Department Innovation, Space & Culture​,
Westphalian University​ of Applied Sciences​, Institute for Work and Technology​

Jessica Siegel

Junior Researcher & Project Manager,
Westphalian University of Applied Sciences, Institute for Work and Technology

Acknowledgement
This MOOC is published as part of the Erasmus+ project “Sustainable Development Strategies for Higher Education Institutions” (SDS4HEI) funded under the Erasmus+ Programme KA222-HED – Cooperation Partnerships in Higher Education, project no. 2022-1-DE01-KA220-HED-000088936, co-funded by the European Union.
Legal Notice
The views and opinions expressed in this document are the authors’ sole responsibility. They do not reflect the views of the European Union or the European Education and Culture Executive Agency (EACEA). Neither the European Union nor EACEA can be held responsible for them.
Copyright
The copyright is by the authors. The document is available in open access and licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. See credit lines of images or other third-party material in this report for license information.
© 2025 The SDS4HEI Project. All rights reserved.
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