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Understanding the difference culture makes

We are building a shared understanding of the differences that arts, culture, heritage and screen make to people’s lives and to society. We want cultural policy and practice to be based on rigorous research and evaluation of what works and what needs to change.

About us
Arts Together at Left Bank Leeds – Mafwa Theatre. Photo: Tom Arber
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Working together

We invite you to join a movement to help us better understand the role that culture plays in our lives. You might be thinking about how you can better evaluate the impact of your work, or how you can use research insights and critical reflection in your practice. Keep in touch to hear about resources, events and opportunities to shape our research and get involved.

Children in a community setting participating in music and dance activities, with some playing tambourines and others dancing. An adult leads the group in a brightly decorated room with wooden floors. This is an archive photo from the 1980s.
Junction Arts. Archive photo.

Junction Arts: Fifty years of creative placemaking

News
Kathryn Welch, tells us more about the Junction Arts story and what has been learnt through 50 years of creative placemaking.
A brightly coloured butterfly, resting on a twig. Other chrysalis sit along the twig waiting to transform
Photo by Håkon Grimstad on Unsplash

Taking the courage to pause

News
Six months into a deliberate and strategic pause, we share our initial reflections, the challenges and the unexpected rewards as we collectively navigate through this period.
A vibrant community event takes place in front of a block of flats. In the foreground is person wearing a hijab, jeans and a shirt smiling. There is also a person is a red t shirt and roller skates. In the background adults and children are rollerskating and playing.
Mafwa Theatre - Community Garden Event

Understanding and measuring cultural vitality in the UK

News
The Centre for Cultural Value has been working with The Audience Agency to develop a Cultural Indicator Suite, a new framework that helps to communicate the holistic everyday cultural vitality of the places we live.
A group of people stood together on a grassy bank by a river in a town at dusk. One person is talking to the group. They are stood by an ancient wall.
 

Research Digest: Environmental Heritage and Place

research
This research digest draws together the current research on the relationship between cultural heritage, environments and place. The relationship between the environment and heritage has a long history and incorporates a broad range of disciplines from conservation and social geography to climate science. Given this broad church, this digest has ...
A group of children, smiling and laughing stand next to a person with long dark hair, wearing sunglasses singing into a microphone. They are outside, behind them is a green gazebo with a sign that reads DJ Booth
Mafwa Theatre. Family Flourish Day. Photo by Molly McGee

Our essential reads: Evaluation Principles in practice

essential-read
A collection of articles, reports and resources providing some helpful examples of what the Evaluation Principles can look like in practice ...
A photo of 'Hibiscus Rising', an outdoor sculpture made by Yinka Shonibare, photographed in front of redbrick buildings in Leeds city centre. The sculpture is tall and plant-like, with a selection of different colourful patterns in red, yellow, blue, purple and green.
Hibiscus Rising Statue – Leeds (Photo: West Yorkshire Combined Authority)

Making evaluation count in cultural policy

research
As Lead Evaluation Officer for Culture at West Yorkshire Combined Authority, my role is concerned with how evaluation and cultural policymaking processes meet. This is an exciting space to work in, as it's where insight and learning connect directly with decision-making. Evaluation for accountability, evidence and learning For the Combined ...

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