The Greenlight Metric

The Greenlight approach is a social methodology that encompasses a metric. The metric consists of a survey that can be delivered via an App on an Android device or paper-based. The survey uses stoplight colours (red, yellow, green), images in tables, and scorecards to create scorecards that enable socio-economically challenged individuals and families to see and understand the ways in which they are struggling.

Currently there are 6 different metrics – Poverty, Disability, Resilience, Teacher Wellbeing, Tertiary Student Wellbeing, Inclusion & Diversity in Schools.

  • Poverty is the most widely used metric, especially with non-profits, social enterprises, and CSR programmes.
  • Resilience is used with employees, self-employed, and entrepreneurial households.

The poverty survey assesses poverty levels using 50 indicators grouped into 6 dimensions of poverty

And for each of the 50 indicators, there are three scenarios to choose from

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So how does it work?

Your facilitators are trained in the Greenlight approach to conduct household visits or individual sessions with your participants. If you don’t have access to people who can do this, there is a list of independent Greenlight facilitators who can assist with the surveys.

In households, it is preferable that as many members of the household as possible will be present for the survey and interview process. The Facilitators create a safe space for your participants to share sensitive information and ensure that they are prepared to answer all questions as honestly as possible.

The participants complete the Greenlight survey on paper or using the App developed for Android devices, by selecting the scenario for each indicator that most reflects the their current circumstances. During the survey, many realisations are made, as people become aware of the role that they have played in their own lives and what they are/are not in control of. It is often an emotional session and the facilitators are trained to hold space for them.

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indicator 2
Metric

The result is a Greenlight scorecard that is easy to understand and use in follow-up processes. The results allow households and people to reflect, prioritise and plan how to resolve challenges that affect them, because it breaks down their situation in bite-size chunks that does not overwhelm them. Then, with the assistance of organisations that have competencies relating to each indicator, they can plan a way forward. Information is power, and doing the survey and receiving the scorecard helps to activate awareness and encourage agency.

Because the metrics contrast “doing well” with “struggling but trying” and “stuck“, it encourages people to take action to help themselves to address the difference. As households and participants systematically work on moving their issues from red to green, regular application of this survey over time allows for more comprehensive measurement and mapping of social and cultural wealth, which until now has been a challenge for the development sector.

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Metric

Because the metric contrasts poverty with non-poverty, it encourages people to take action to help themselves to address the difference. As households or employees systematically work on moving their issues of poverty from red to green, regular application of this survey over time allows for more comprehensive measurement and mapping of social and cultural wealth, which until now has been a challenge for the development sector.

map

Data can be aggregated and mapped using online geo-referencing, offering a better perspective of the real issues at hand in specific areas of the country, and scaling for a national snapshot in time.

These maps can enhance decision-making for government services such as electricity and sanitation and can influence priorities for engagement. Similarly, the corporate social investment sector could use these maps to identify the issues of greatest need within their geographical footprint.