Strengthening cultural observatories and rethinking cultural measurement for future policy making

Cristina Ortega, Director (3Walks);
Elena Raevskikh, Research & Analysis Unit Head (Department of Culture and Tourism Abu Dhabi).

Held in the frame of the 2025 ENCATC Congress, this in-person meeting of the Working Group on Cultural Observatories and Measurement marked a new beginning after the initial establishment of the group in 2008. Reactivated with renewed ambition to shape the future of cultural data and policy, the working group was presented with two strategic priorities: consolidating cultural observatories as essential infrastructures for knowledge and decision-making, and reimagining cultural measurement through innovative methods, frameworks, and indicators that capture culture’s evolving impact, value, and relevance. By revitalising the network of observatories first supported by ENCATC and linking them with new initiatives worldwide, this meeting marked a new beginning for the working group on cultural observatories and measurement.