European Community of Practice

Why calculate the costs and benefits?

EQUAL projects develop innovative methodologies; methodologies which can also prove extremely useful to other parties. Mainstreaming is an important part of EQUAL. However, in practice, many people who originally show an interest seem to disappear as soon as they have to put their hands in their pockets. “Will I get a return on my investment?” and “How will I actually benefit if I use this methodology?” are questions which interested parties would like to see answered in advance. Yet as far as the projects are concerned, these are often difficult questions to answer.

The intention of this brochure is to help you answer these questions; in it we will show you how you can calculate the costs and benefits of your project. There is, of course, no obligation to outline the costs and benefits of your project; however, it could be useful. It goes without saying that it would be a waste of the methodology you have developed if it were just to end up lying in someone’s desk drawer, simply because the other people involved had failed to realise that the benefits of the project would, in fact, have outweighed the costs.