The BOOST project, in which Creative Lives (formerly Voluntary Arts Ireland) is partnering with organisations from four other European countries, has published the first of its significant outputs.

The Baseline Report establishes the context in which the project partners will seek to recommend measures and best practices to help to boost social inclusion, social cohesion and active citizenship through cultural participation.

The project aims to support lifelong learning providers in the sector of amateur arts, voluntary culture, and heritage to work more consciously and systematically in promoting societal benefits. Up until now, providers in the sector have used many good practice
examples as inspiration and support. However, there is a need for more systematic tools and methods for these providers to concretely assess their own activities and then implement improved practices.

The first step, for the project, was to provide a baseline survey to clarify the societal benefits’ categories and levels for subsequent benchmarking. The evidence-gathering process included 30 interviews (6 per country) and 5 focus groups (1 per country), with selected experienced organisers in the field of amateur arts and voluntary culture giving expertise, insight and responses to key research questions.

Download the full report below to find out more about the research in Ireland, Denmark, Austria, Slovenia and Poland as well as how this can inform future work to encourage more inclusive culture. See the BOOST project website and Facebook page for future updates. 

[PDF, 3MB]

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