Developing a taxonomy for culture and heritage capital

This project will develop a taxonomy of culture and heritage capital (CHC). It will enable decision-makers to "better understand what we need to value and measure consistently across the sectors" (AHRC DCMS call, 2022). The taxonomy will be grounded in robust theory and evidence from the arts and humanities, economics and natural sciences.

The Culture and Heritage Consortium is led by an economist and includes academics, policy practitioners and consultants from the arts and humanities, natural sciences and social sciences including economics. A panel of experts in the arts, natural capital, policy, heritage science and economics will provide support and challenge, whilst network organisations will help the research team collaborate with the arts, culture and heritage sectors. Throughout the project, coordination and communications experts will collate and share accessible content for different audiences.

The research will build a stock, services, benefits and values framework for C&H based on 6 work packages (WP). WP1 will draw from existing taxonomies in other sectors/industries, producing a best practice guide and a framework(s) for the CHC taxonomy. WP2 will review existing classification systems and taxonomies of stocks, services and values currently used by the C&H sectors to develop a draft taxonomy. WP3 will test that emerging taxonomy framework against literature and develop it further. WP4 uses deliberative and participatory research methods to inform, check and challenge the findings. WP5 will synthesise the outputs of the research, WP 6 covers project management.