UK Government launches Culture and Heritage Capital portal

A new Culture and Heritage Capital portal has been launched by the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport (DCMS) to help Government and private organisations articulate the value of culture and heritage capital.

The portal brings together research, guidance and estimates to help Government and private organisations consider the value of culture and heritage capital. Research, data guidance and tools will be published on the portal to help organisations make a stronger case for investment in culture and heritage assets.

Prof May Cassar, Director of the UCL Institute for Sustainable Heritage is a member of the CHC Advisory Board which provides advice to help DCMS create publicly available statistics and guidance which articulate the value of the culture and heritage sectors. 

Prof Cassar said:

“The value of environmental goods and services has been widely articulated for some time. It is now time for the culture and heritage sector to demonstrate its value, and the cost of any losses for example due to climate change or lack of maintenance, in terms that are understood by Treasury.  This work that is being led by DCMS will help cultural and heritage organisations to articulate their value to the economy and to society."

For the launch a series of DCMS reports alongside sector-specific guidance and research has been published covering an array of topics from the public value of digital archives to the value of place and the historic built environment within English cities.

• Valuing Culture and Heritage Capital: A framework towards decision making covers the framework that will underpin the work of the Culture and Heritage Capital programme
• Rapid Evidence Assessment: Culture and Heritage Capital Valuation Studies is a rapid evidence assessment of the current state of literature valuing culture and heritage assets was commissioned to identify useful studies that align with best practice
• Arts Council England: Culture & Heritage Capital contains research and guidance on Arts Council England’s ongoing Economic Value of Culture project. This includes new contingent valuation studies on galleries and theatres.
• British Film Institute: the value of digital archive film history is a case study on the public value of Britain on Film which provides evidence on the benefits of online access to film heritage
• Historic England: Heritage and the value of place is a contingent valuation and benefit transfer study assessing the value of local historic high streets, libraries and town halls to residents in eight medium-sized cities in England.

Visit the Culture and Heritage Capital portal on the UK Government website.