Relative Values

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Recent research suggests that small-scale cultural activities may be of particular value to communities because of their ability to develop social capital and "engaged citizenship". Small-scale organisations also stimulate the creative economy when they act as "hubs" or incubators where networks can grow, tools and specialist services can be shared, and innovation is inspired. It is thought that small-scale cultural activities can generate these effects without leading to displacement of local residents and cultural production activities, as regeneration projects relying on large-scale arts infrastructure have been shown to do.This project will undertake a comparative evaluation of four local arts organisations whose work seeks to engage with their territory to produce social capital and positive social impacts. The aim is to create a reference model for these effects. Each of the partner cultural organisations and their directors already has a deep and extensive knowledge of the territories in which they operate, which has been enhanced by the research undertaken and knowledge and skills exchange structures established by The Art of Cultural Exchange. This new follow-on phase of the project will enable them to turn their expertise and learning into a tool that guides public policy: a model for identifying how small arts resources incubate arts and culture resources, providing ways to evidence the value for individuals and communities. Valiati and his team at CEGOV will train a key staff member from each of the four local partners to implement creative economy evaluation methodologies that they have developed for Brazil's Ministry of Culture in other contexts. The four partner arts organisations will be protagonists in identifying indicators to measure the ways in which the creative economy operates and is incubated within fragile communities. The project team will establish a common set of components that enables each organisation to map and narrate their own territories which will include indicators of local development priorities; social vulnerability and the creative economy; recognized incubators, accelerators and social development initiatives; evidence of culture and urban development. The project aims to discover effective ways to build the capability of small-scale arts organisations to measure and raise their own cultural value in relation to the specifics of their own local creative economy; to create a manual for the referential model, together with documentation/learning from the pilot project; to disseminate the bilingual toolkit/model through public events in Manchester, London and Rio de Janeiro; and to share these results with cultural funders and stakeholders who were engaged in the original research, 'The Art of Cultural Exchange'.Each of the arts organisations that will participate in this follow-on phase is recognised for their success in developing the cultural value of arts initiatives that have a significant and measurable impact on individuals and their communities in fragile urban territories. They have also demonstrated through collaborations on previous research projects that they can learn from and develop new practices and perspectives through international artistic exchange. This follow-on phase will now enable them to work together with Heritage and Valiati to co-produce and test a model based on their experience and expertise that becomes a reference for policy makers and the wider cultural sector as they seek to stimulate social and economic development in fragile and peripheral territories. The respect that each of the organisations already commands within their respective communities, territories and countries - together with the network of partners that Heritage and Valiati bring to this collaboration - ensures that the learning from the original research will achieve greater reach and impact as well as serving a wider purpose.