Final evaluation of the project to contrast educational poverty in Bergamo province

Title DigEducati

Location Bergamo, Italy

Duration 43 months

Lead partner Fondazione della Comunità Bergamasca

Partner 18 società cooperative sociali (o consorzi di SCS), 4 Aziende Speciali Consortili, 8 Comuni e 2 Comunità Montane, Rete Bibliotecaria Bergamasca, 2 S.r.l., Università degli Studi di Bergamo

Funding Fondazione Cariplo, Impresa Sociale Con I Bambini

 

Context

The idea for the project DigEducati emerged during the COVID-19 emergency (2020), when school closures and social distancing measures transformed the relationship between students and their families and the digital world. This change was sudden, radical and necessary, but it was not sustained by a corresponding provision of either technical equipment or skills for students, families and teachers, leading to widespread educational poverty phenomena linked, among other reasons, to the digital divide.

The DigEducati project stepped in to support children and their families through three main initiatives:

Grants for devices and internet access: Provision of approximately 800 devices (refurbished laptops) with annual internet connectivity (1,200 subscriptions) for families of children in need. The devices were provided on loan for use in collaboration with the Comprehensive Schools that requested them for their students.

Online platform and tutors: Design, development, management and maintenance of a digital platform to host digital support services for young people and their adult carers. Establishment of an inter-institutional group comprising universities, libraries and schools to research and select educational digital content (digital literacy and fact-checking) to be uploaded to the platform.

Community Centres: Launch of 50 Community Centres: existing spaces within the participating local authorities (in particular public libraries, cooperativepremises and parish halls) where community hubs will be set up to support young people in using digital tools and content, not only for educational purposes. At the heart of the project, the Community Centres were run by local staff specially trained in digital issues and the transfer of digital skills.

 

General Objective 

ARCO was involved as partner responsible for the evaluation of the project. The M&E and Impact Assessment Unit developed a specific monitoring and evaluation framework for activities aimed at contrasting educational poverty and the digital divide, which supported the partnership throughout the duration of the project.

ARCO also conducted the social impact assessment, which took place approximately 18 months after the end of the activities, between April and May 2026.

 

Our contribution

The integrated monitoring, evaluation and impact assessment system proposed by ARCO had the following objectives:

  • to support the partnership in overseeing the progress of project activities aimed at tackling educational poverty and the digital divide, through data collection tools, monitoring and annual progress reports;
  • to provide an overall assessment of the project’s quality and the short- and long-term changes it has brought about in the context of the intervention, on the beneficiaries and stakeholders;
  • to facilitate an internal learning process, aimed at identifying lessons learnt and good practices.

The original evaluation objectives were modified during the course of the project, in line with changes to the project itself. Indeed, based on the needs that emerged during implementation, the project gradually shifted its focus from the digital skills and resources available to children and the local area to strengthening the socio-educational services provided by its Community Centres.

The ultimate aim of the project’s entire ongoing monitoring and evaluation system was impact evaluation, which in turn sought to estimate the long-term changes generated by the project, as well as to verify its sustainability over time.

Read more on the M&E and Impact Evaluation Unit