Andrew Taylor on the Business of Arts & Culture
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Measuring multiple impacts
Posted: July 6, 2007
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Most now recognize that economic impact studies of arts and culture are useful in arguments for public funds, but extraordinarily narrow and flawed in building understanding of actual impact. The Impacts08 project in Liverpool is working to add breadth and rigor to the measurement process, and the range of variables to be assessed.
The five-year study is tracking a full range of variables prior to, during, and after Liverpool's yearlong designation as European Capital of Culture in 2008. The designation by the European Union is an opportunity for a region to showcase its cultural life, and reframe its international brand as a cultural center.
By benchmarking before the event, and measuring the same indicators in the years during and after, the study hopes both to evaluate the broader impact of such cultural effort, and refine the toolset for other communities to do the same. The project's baseline and benchmark reports were posted in March. Among the measures and "indicator clusters" are six main categories (described in detail here):
Here's hoping the researchers and policy-makers involved can broaden our larger conversation beyond traditional economics.
Thanks to Colin for the link.