Football for Good: Evaluation of the 'Festival 23', During and After the FIFA Women's World Cup Australia/New Zealand 2023

Festival23 was a Football for Good (F4G) project aligned with the FIFA 2023 Women's World Cup in Australia and New Zealand. It was designed to produce a lasting social legacy of enhanced social capital, social inclusion, leadership, and resilience in Football for Good emerging women leaders across the globe. Football 23 brought together Youth Leaders Delegates (YLD) from across the global Common Goal membership of community organisations. Festival23 was run in parallel to the Women's World Cup quarter finals, from August 6 to August 14, 2023. This report provides the findings of the evaluation of Festival23 co-led by UNSW Sydney and Western Sydney University academics. Festival23 welcomed 69 women aged 18-30 from organisations globally that use football for social and educational purposes. They came from over 45 different countries, the majority being from the Asia-Pacific region, including 13 from the festival's host countries (Australia & New Zealand). In addition, eight managers from the Oceania Football Confederation (OFC) were present to guide 8 young leaders from this region. Festival23 activities were centred around advancing four United Nations Global Goals: gender equity, climate action, employability & all abilities inclusion. The Young Leader Programme focused on empowering and building the skills of the 69 young women delegates and supporting them as emerging leaders in football. Opportunities for YLD to directly engage with youth in Australia included community sports days (gala days) in nine local communities across Sydney and a fair-play football tournament for members of the community who may not have had an opportunity to engage in the festivities surrounding the Women's World Cup. The evaluation aimed to investigate and understand the perspectives and experiences of the YLD, staff and festival organisers participating in and leading the 'Festival23' 'Football for good' activities and the impact on the YLD knowledge, attitudes, and skills. The research questions were: 1. What are the main impacts of the festival on the YLD in the short and longer term with a focus on: Ӣ Cross-cultural connections and collaborations Ӣ Leadership skills and confidence Ӣ Learnings about social enterprise, gender equality, climate change and inclusion 2. What are the learnings about the Festival23 organization and implementation which can inform future festivals? 3. In what ways are the participants leveraging the learnings from Festival23 when back in their communities? The study was a mixed methods design including pre/post survey measures, with qualitative data collected in open text survey responses, via postings on Slack, an online communications application (Slack) and through opportunistic video interviews throughout the festival. Focus groups were also held with Festival23 organisers and staff to understand their perspectives on the organisation, implementation, and impact of the festival. The survey instrument collected quantitative and qualitative self-reported perceptions of YLD's including their attitudes to interacting with people from other cultures and of their beliefs in themselves as leaders prior, to immediately after and three weeks post the festival.