Case Study

In Scotland, WEAll Scotland worked with Foundation Scotland, a funding organisation aiming to create long-lasting change for happier, fairer, and more sustainable Scottish communities, to develop the Four Corners Matrix.

The Four Corners Matrix helps Foundation Scotland to assess the transformative impact of their grant proposals. The Four Corners Matrix has two dimensions: 

• Horizontal dimension. The horizontal dimension captures whether the proposal can be classified as an ‘upstream’ or a ‘downstream’ intervention. Upstream interventions tend to be those which prevent harm from occurring (transformative policies). Midstream interventions mitigate harm and, to some extent, prevent it from recurring. Downstream interventions are those which help affected individuals cope with acute harm but don’t prevent this harm from returning (reactive and anticipatory policies).

• Vertical dimension. The vertical dimension captures the alignment of the proposal with the wellbeing goals that Foundation Scotland is trying to achieve. It asks whether the proposal ‘powerfully embodies’ or ‘undermines’ their vision for a wellbeing economy in which people, communities and nature are resilient and can thrive. 

An ‘Upstream dimensions’ and an ‘Embodying table’ are used to support this assessment and to help determine where specific projects sit on both the horizontal and vertical axes of the Four Corners matrix. The ‘Upstream dimensions’ table provides guidance for deciding where projects sit on the horizontal axis, by outlining characteristics of downstream, midstream and upstream actions. The ‘Embodying table’ includes an assessment of the impact of the funding proposal on Foundation Scotland's wellbeing goals as the starting point for coming to an overall assessment.

Placing policy proposals on the Four Corners template has helped Foundation Scotland to become more intentional in their investment in a balanced mix of upstream, midstream and downstream interventions that are aligned with their vision for a wellbeing economy.