A LITERATURE REVIEW OF THE EVIDENCE BASE FOR CULTURE, THE ARTS AND SPORT POLICY
INTRODUCTION
1 The recent Partnership Agreement for a Better Scotland (PABS, May 2003)) has made several high level commitments to promote cultural life, including sport, as "inclusive and accessible", where participation brings real benefits to communities and individuals. PABS also commits to maximising the contribution that sport, culture and the arts can play in promoting Scotland and in attracting international events.
2 However, at present there is no strategic overview of the evidence base that indicates that sport, culture and the arts do indeed bring real economic and/or social benefits to society. This Review will therefore draw together recent research evidence that provides firm, robust evidence on the links between participation in culture and sport and the social and economic impact on communities and individuals. This is particularly important in light of further investment to be made in these areas, ensuring that good value for money is obtained in supporting the government's key objectives. The Review is a first step in developing a longer term research framework to inform policy development, implementation and evaluation in the areas of culture and sport. By providing a coherent social research evidence base, it will highlight gaps in research and will underpin future collaborative efforts between the various cultural and sport agencies to provide robust evidence on which to base cultural and sport policy .
BACKGROUND
3 In the Partnership Agreement for Scotland 2000 (PABS), the government committed to developing a National Cultural Strategy, recognising that arts and culture play a central role in enhancing the quality of people's lives and contributing to a civic pride in Scotland. Since publication of the Strategy, culture and sport have received substantial increases in funding, including national and non-national museums in Scotland, the promotion of excellence in traditional arts, major investment to enable one year's free music tuition for every school pupil by Primary 6, and the attraction of major events in Scotland.
4 The overarching aim of the National Cultural Strategy 2 is "to place culture at the heart" of government policy and to widen opportunities, promote education, and develop and celebrate excellence. The Strategy aims to "ensure that all can contribute to, enjoy and benefit from Scotland's culture" and acknowledges that "participation in cultural activities can improve the quality of life of individuals and communities, promote social inclusion, raise self-esteem and confidence, and widen horizons". Strategic objectives of the Strategy are to:
- Promote creativity, the arts and other cultural activity
- Celebrate Scotland's cultural heritage in its full diversity
- Realise culture's potential contribution to education, promote inclusion and enhance people's quality of life, and
- Assure an effective national support framework for culture.
5 The government also recognises how community art and culture can bring about social inclusion and regeneration and that arts and culture are able to provide a 'sense of place' and pride in the community. In recognition of this, one of the National Cultural Strategy's priorities seeks to "maximise the social benefits of culture" by promoting "community-based cultural and sporting activities in the context of Social Inclusion Partnerships, to include a wide range of activities".
6 Similar aims apply to participation in sport - The National Strategy for Sport 3 has as one of its main targets, that 49% of those aged 14 years and over in SIP areas will be taking part in sport activity at least once a week by 2007. Cultural services, including sport, have the potential to develop both personal social capital, increasing confidence and self-esteem and increasing employability, and social capital in the community, strengthening networks and creating a sense of local identity and pride amongst community members 4and community regeneration.
7 The link between participation in sport and health benefits has long afforded recognition, but the links between the arts, culture and health are still to be fully recognised. At the Arts as Medicine conference in 2001 it was stated that although "benefits of cultural projects in health and community are difficult to measure …they are manifestly apparent to those professionals and volunteers who work closest to the process" and that "health is not just about living longer - it's about well being and quality of life". Speakers at the conference provided various examples of initiatives where art had benefited the well-being of the patients, and research providing evidence on these findings is presented later in this Review. However, it was acknowledged that we may perhaps "lack a history of rigorous evaluation of things we think are beneficial (unlike USA)".
8 This Review will therefore draw together recent key findings on the social and economic impact of culture and sport, including various major events that have taken place, both in Scotland and elsewhere. It also covers information set out in policy documents relevant to the PABS priorities, and in corporate strategies and action plans of the different agencies, plus conference proceedings on relevant topics. In the timeframe available, it will not be possible to cover every research project or evaluation that has been carried out in these fields - there is a wealth of research available. However, the Review will focus on the main or most relevant research and evaluations that have been carried out in recent years, that relate to the National Cultural and Sport Strategies to increase participation of socially excluded groups, youth, ethnic minorities and disabled people, and that improve health, personal development, educational attainment and well-being.
Structure of the Report
9 An Executive Summary is provided at the beginning of this Review, highlighting the main findings on the social and economic impact of culture, the arts and sport and highlighting gaps in research in these areas. The Introduction and Background to the policy needs for the Review follows. The main body of the Review is divided into three sections - Section 1 on Culture and the Arts, Section 2 on Sport and Physical Activity and Section 3 on Conclusions.
10 Within Section 1 on Culture and the Arts, the literature is divided into sub-sections of the social and the economic impact of the arts. The social impact subsection on Culture and the Arts is further themed by Chapters 1 to 8 covering the following categories - Social Impact of Culture and the Arts; Social Inclusion; Ethnic Minorities; Reduction of Youth Crime, Disability; Regeneration/Community Impact; Arts and Health; and Arts and Education. The Economic Impact of Culture and the Arts sub-section is reviewed in Chapter 9, and Chapter 10 covers Cultural Tourism and Major Cultural Events.
11 The social impact subsection of Sport and Physical Activity is themed by Chapters 11-14 covering Sport and Social Inclusion; Ethnic Minorities; Disability; and Sport, Physical Activity and Health. The economic impact of Major Sporting Events is reviewed in Chapter 15.
12 Each 'theme' is summarised at the beginning of that chapter, highlighting the main findings from the literature in that particular research area. Within each chapter main findings and the nature of the research are bulleted or highlighted to make these more accessible to the reader.
13 Section 3 concludes the Review with Chapter 16, making general Conclusions about the findings, and highlighting Gaps in Research and Information.