About Laboratory Adelaide: The Value of Culture
Flinders University is developing an approach to the valuing of culture beyond the economic dollar value provided. Economic impact studies do not tell the full story of the value of an organisation or event. To remedy this, a team of researchers at Flinders University with partners in Adelaide’s cultural organisations and at the University of Sout
h Australia are testing methods to enable cultural organisations to tell a more complete picture of the value of cultural events and organisations to South Australia. The aims of the project are:
To better understand the practices of the cultural reporting of data and the flow of information from organisation to stakeholders including government, grants bodies, and patrons. To develop and trial mixed methodologies for analysing, measuring and reporting on the total cultural value of Australian arts and cultural organizations. To build capacity amongst arts and cultural organizations to measure and communicate the value of what they do, beginning in Adelaide. To contribute substantially to, and provide a platform for, the local, national and international debate concerning cultural value in academic and industry fields. In an era in which Adelaide’s cultural sector has become increasingly accountable to government, Laboratory Adelaide seeks to provide ways for cultural organisations to better assess the value they provide to the communities and regions they serve. Its collaborative nature allows for knowledge transfer between researchers, government and industry in developing solutions to the problem of measuring the benefits of often extremely disparate cultural activities. Arts and cultural organisations are looking for a new way to report to governments about the impact that their festivals, events and institution have on the community, state and nation in ways that go beyond the traditional economic assessment of tourism dollars brought into the region by people visiting the festival, event or institution. One methodology we are trialling is a Contingent Value / Willingness to Pay Methodology that allows us to bring into the Australian context experimental means of estimating and comparing cultural value of festivals, events and institutions that are being used in Europe. This methodology requires surveys to be deployed at arts and cultural festivals/ events/ institutions. The first survey is a user survey that asks questions about the experience, satisfaction and sense of monetary value of people who have attended or used the cultural product to determine the value. The second survey is a non-user survey aimed at individuals who have not attended or used the cultural product and asks them to determine value. The third survey asks more general questions about the benefit of arts and cultural activities and any transformative effect that may have ensued for the individual and their participation in the Adelaide community. In-person surveys conducted via tablet and online surveys will be used to gather as large a sample size as possible. Laboratory Adelaide researchers are happy to discuss the project in greater detail. The project aims to be of benefit to cultural sectors locally, nationally, and internationally. The team is therefore keen to have the cooperation of Councils and arts organisations to facilitate permits and to provide advice regarding data collection points and specialist focus groups that may be of assistance. Alternatively, you can contact my Research Fellow Dr Tully Barnett on 82015478, fax 82013635, or e-mail [email protected] . We will be happy to give you more information about the project, about the data we are collecting or about how to assist in the process. Professor Julian Meyrick
Strategic Professor of
Creative Arts
School of Humanities and Creative Arts, GPO Box 2100, Adelaide SA 5001,
Tel: 08 8201 2595, Fax: 08 8201 3635, [email protected]
CRICOS Provider No. 00114A
