The ESS ERIC Consortium delivered all 27 deliverables due and 18 of the 19 milestones were met (with one becoming redundant). The pandemic caused significant delays and changes to ways of working and delivery, however remedial action minimised the risk to the project. In the end all critical objectives were met, which is testament to the flexibility and responsiveness of the Consortium.
WP2 resulted in the signing of an MoU between the ESS and the European Values Study, reflecting agreement to cooperate closely. This work package also saw continued cooperation with international partners already working with the ESS (Australia and South Africa) and the signing of new agreements with China, Japan, South Korea, the East Asian Social Survey and the General Social Survey (USA). These developments have strengthened the ESS and the social sciences more generally.
WP3 saw three ESS impact events held throughout the grant on the themes of ESS and research (e.g. health), ESS and teaching, and ESS and policy impact. In addition, an impact evaluation highlighted the extensive academic and non-academic impact of the ESS, whilst a report on the policy impact showed significant use of ESS data thus far, whilst also highlighting future opportunities.
WP4 saw ESS ERIC membership and participation increase and regional committees established in Southern Europe and the Western Balkans which have strengthened the ESS there. At the end of the project ESS had 28 Members and 1 Observer. Israel, Montenegro, Serbia and Spain and joined the infrastructure during the project whilst Greece and Ukraine took part as Guests.
WP5 saw the ESS provide a harmonised technology solution for data collection implemented for the first time in 11 countries, including the use of the same digital survey. These tools were also repurposed to be suitable for the future of ESS data (self-completion methods from 2027).
WP6 saw the successful delivery of a 12-country web panel recruited as part of ESS Round 10 face-to-face fieldwork. However, as Round 10 was delayed due to the pandemic, the panel itself was delivered much later than originally planned, using a staggered approach, due to cross-national variation in Covid restrictions. The panel represents a world first in terms of scale and methodology. WP7 planned how to continue the panel after the project ended, and a prospectus for developing the panel was published.
WP8 ensured the project complied with all ethical and GDPR (data protection) requirements.
All of the activities within the project were regularly communicated to ESS stakeholders (ESS ERIC General Assembly members, ESS Scientific and Methods advisory boards) who were key target audiences. Results from the project were also communicated to ESS users through the website news section and the data user bulletin. Additionally, the availability of the CRONOS web panel data for download was widely publicised. The results were showcased at the final ESS consortium meeting in Brussels where representatives from the EC and the JRC were in attendance. Results were also shared with fellow scientists at the Cross-national Survey Design and Implementation Workshop (CSDI) and the European Survey Research Association conference.
