Images courtesy of : V Roy, Paul Machacek
Images courtesy of : V Roy, Paul Machacek
Paul Kaynes, Chief Executive National Dance Theatre Wales, formerly Creative Programmer for the Cultural Olympiad in the West Midlands.
Arts Council England is a government-funded body dedicated to promoting the performing, visual and literary arts in England. Arts Council England West Midlands was responsible for The West Midlands Cultural Olympiad, a programme of themed arts / sports activities, festivals and events that took place in the region from 2009 as part of the London 2012 Olympic & Paralympic Games.
Feasibility study
Product development
February 2012
West Midlands Cultural Olympiad team wanted to enrich their Economic Impact Toolkit.
This included making contact and recruiting six different types of organisations to test the toolkit. Testing the usability of the toolkit with the organisation and assisting them through their first impact assessment. After testing, feedback was required on how the toolkit and resources could be improved based on the tests. Six case studies needed to be devised to illustrate the experience of the new users/organisations.
We worked with six organisations to test the Economic Impact Toolkit and documented their experience. The results were compiled in the form of accessible case studies, which were uploaded to the toolkit website to illustrate how the toolkit and the results can be used by various organisations. The case studies can be seen here.
As a result of working with Earthen Lamp, the Cultural Olympiad team was able to ‘get the ball rolling’ and create an initial cohort of organisations who could understand the process, uses and benefits of undertaking rigorous economic impact measurement. Organisations who were anxious about using the toolkit were shown the ease with which it could be used, and handheld through the process, leading to a more confident and informed group.