Measurement of social and cultural infrastructure: vision and approach

This inception report represents the Bennett Institute's independent thinking in the initial stages of the project on the measurement of social and cultural infrastructure, prior to the conducting of project-specific research.

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Background

The Bennett Institute for Public Policy has been commissioned by the British Academy to deliver a project on the measurement of cultural and social infrastructure. Through supporting this project, the British Academy is looking to “understand what a measurement framework and approach to social and cultural infrastructure would look like.”

The project forms part of The British Academy’s Social and Cultural Infrastructure programme. This explores the importance of social and cultural infrastructure for society and probes the implications of understanding and measuring its value for policymaking. Of particular interest is how social and cultural infrastructure policy interventions can address deepening spatial inequalities and the range of economic and social shocks, including the ongoing impact of COVID-19 as set out in the British Academy’s COVID Decade report (British Academy, 2021), the Russian invasion of Ukraine, and the cost-of-living crisis.

Authors

Professor Anna Alexandrova

Professor Anna Alexandrova is a Professor in Philosophy of Science at the University of Cambridge, with a special focus on social sciences. Prior to her current role, she was an...

Steph Coulter

Alumni

Steph Coulter was a Research Assistant at the Bennett Institute working across various aspects of our ‘place’ programme. He worked in partnership with the Institute for Government on a ‘Review...

Professor Diane Coyle

Bennett Professor of Public Policy and Co-Director of the Bennett Institute for Public Policy

Diane Coyle is the Bennett Professor of Public Policy at the University of Cambridge. She co-directs the Bennett Institute where she heads research under the themes of progress and productivity. Diane’s new...

Owen Garling

Knowledge Transfer Facilitator

Owen Garling is the Bennett Institute’s Knowledge Transfer Facilitator and he provides an important conduit between our own researchers and policymakers in the UK and internationally. His work helps to...

Professor Michael Kenny

Inaugural Director of the Bennett Institute for Public Policy

Biography Before he arrived in Cambridge, Michael held positions at: Queen’s University, Belfast; the University of Sheffield, where he was appointed Head of the Department of Politics; and Queen Mary...