Cultural projects are often expected to transform people and places, but without the necessary conditions. The Centre for Cultural Value’s Stephen Dobson explores how the concept of Societal Readiness...

In this How-to guide Holly Sandiford shares more about why building creative methods into your practice can help to uncover richer data and insight.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, festivals faced a major challenge: how could they create meaningful shared experiences when people could no longer gather? Moving online was often described as a practica...

This article provides a critical overview of cultural sector responses to the publication of Baroness Hodge’s (2025) review of Arts Council England (the Hodge Review). It offers a snapshot of how t...

What might the experience of Italian opera houses tell us about the wider relationship between cultural policy, investment and cultural vitality?

Youth programme evaluation is typically a retrospective exercise, with a report produced at the end of a project. The Centre for Cultural Value’s Rob Eagle and Stephen Dobson advocate for a more parti...

Stephen Dobson and Anna Kime from the Centre for Cultural Value reflect on why ethical data practice sits at the heart of their approach.

The Centre for Cultural Value launches Cultural Vitality Labs, a new participatory research programme working with three partners to explore how cultural vitality can be understood, evidenced and used...

Stephen Dobson and Liz Harrop of the Centre for Cultural Value discuss their next steps after securing ‘the rare gift of stability’- thanks to confirmed multi-year funding.

Ava Podgorski reflects on the Speak Up Youth Researcher initiative, a bold example of peer research in schools as part of a wider National Theatre-led youth programme.

Fun Palaces share the 2025 Impact Report. Read 10 years of stories, facts and figures as well as the importance of measuring cultural impact

This research digest draws together research and practice on how to support the cultural vitality of places.

Data is vital to demonstrate culture’s impact, yet narrow, fragmented evidence continues to obscure its true value. Stephen Dobson and Liz Harrop of the Centre for Cultural Value argue that a UK Cultu...

Setting clear goals and metrics is a vital part of evaluation but how can you plan to understand any unexpected outcomes from your work? Setting clear goals and metrics is a vital part of evaluation b...

The contemporary cultural value debate has been broadly UK-driven, albeit with European and international dimensions. However, the Covid-19 pandemic and the subsequent focus on sector working condi...

YouTube video by Centre for Cultural Value

The Centre for Cultural Value has been leading a project to develop a Cultural Indicator Suite, a new framework that helps to communicate the holistic everyday cultural vitality of the places we live.

Researchers Alice Borchi and Carlo Alberto Petruzzi examine recent events in Florence, a city caught between the pressures of mass tourism and the need to preserve its cultural identity.

This how to guide, created by the FailSpace project team, will help you to understand how to better recognise, acknowledge and learn from failure and how to fail well.

YouTube video by School of Arts, Languages and Cultures

Like many cultural organisations, the Centre for Cultural Value finds itself at a crossroads. Its manager, Liz Harrop, explores how to build a more inclusive and sustainable sector.

The Centre for Cultural Value is connecting with international academic colleagues as part of a new COST Action

A new report calls for a new era of creativity and the arts in schools, boosting the creative economy and providing new opportunities to children whose talents are at risk of being wasted.

Rob Eagle reflects on their experiences of creating a four-week art installation with and for their local community.

As the Centre for Cultural Value's initial five-year funding period ends, we share our plans to take a deliberate and strategic pause to reflect, innovate and prioritise the Centre’s long-term sustain...

Researchers Alice Borchi and Carlo Alberto Petruzzi examine recent events in Florence, a city caught between the pressures of mass tourism and the need to preserve its cultural identity.

Lisa Baxter, founder and CEO of The Experience Business and partnership manager of the Centre for Cultural Value’s Collaborate programme died at the end of last year. Here the former director of the C...