1. CULTURAL VALUE PROJECT
Professor Geoffrey Crossick
Director, AHRC Cultural Value Project
Town Meetings 18-21 March 2013

2. Why the Cultural Value Project?
• AHRC’s work to measure cultural value
• Past efforts driven by political imperative
• Value of arts and culture increasingly discussed
• Need for more ambitious & broader approach
• Research not advocacy

3. The broader approach
• Value to individuals & society of all arts & culture
publicly-funded, commercial, 3rd-sector, informal
breadth of arts and cultural activities
• Start: value located in arts and cultural experience
• Framework approach
components
methodologies & evidence
• Range of disciplines (return to that theme)

4. The components – for now at least (1)
• Reflective individual and engaged citizen
fundamental experience of arts/culture at root of this?
• Benefits to economy
creative industries
cultural vibrancy & inward investment
cultural environment & innovation
economic impact
• Urban regeneration & civic cohesion
incl. community arts
incl. cultural assets and neighbourhoods
•

5. The components – for now at least (2)
• health & medicine
physical health
mental health
ageing
• culture & understanding in international setting
cultural engagement & trust
• and what about wellbeing?
subjective and objective measures
place of culture

6. The challenge of evaluation
• How evaluate arts/culture value across components?
• Appropriate methodologies & forms of evidence
• Evaluate not measure
no necessary hierarchy quantitative & qualitative
issue is appropriateness and rigour
• Case studies
identify and develop methodologies

7. The range of disciplines needed
• Creative disciplines
• Full breadth of humanities disciplines
• Social sciences
eg economics, ethnography, sociology
• Sciences
eg cognitive psychology, neuroscience, medicine
• Working across disciplines
for understandings and for methodologies

8. The digital world of culture
• Cultural production, experience, engagement
• Access
• Social construction of cultural activity
distinction producer and consumer?
• Does digital cultural engagement change cultural value?
• Social networking & interactive media
new research opportunities
capturing the experience
•

9. Where has project reached?
• Breadth of welcome and interest
UK and international
• We’re organising workshops to shape thinking
incl. small expert workshops
• Need for active engagement
time is short, funding modest
must engage with existing work
award holders members of Project
• And the Funding Call…

10. Funding call
• Open call
not pre-empt imagination & interests of applicants
• Partnerships with cultural sector and organisations
• Subsequent calls more focused
• Critical reviews of existing research
• Research Development Awards
unusually wide range suggested
areas of particular interest are no more than that
• Assessment Panel and criteria
•

11. And now….?
• How AHRC will fund this work
call requirements, eligibility
full application process
• Plenary questions
• Refreshments
connect with each other
talk to Patrycja Kaszynska and myself
talk to other AHRC staff esp. about process