Building Cultural Data Capacity for Cities and Regions: Frameworks, Indicators and Methodologies

Workshop co-led by: 

Dr. Elena Raevskikh, Department of Culture and Tourism-Abu Dhabi, ENCATC Member

Dr. Giovanna Di Mauro, Department of Culture and Tourism-Abu Dhabi, ENCATC Member

Worshop in coordination with:

Dr. Cristina Ortega (3Walks / ENCATC Member)

This workshop brings ENCATC members together to shape the future of cultural data by discussing and co-developing frameworks, indicators, and methodologies to better measure and understand culture across cities and regions. Building on ongoing work by UNESCO, OECD, and the World Cities Culture Forum, the workshop will contribute to international dialogue to support more robust, comparable, and policy-relevant cultural data.

Building on insights from the 33rd ENCATC Congress in Barcelona and the Working Group “Strengthening Cultural Observatories and Rethinking Cultural Measurement for Future Policy-Making”, this upcoming exchange invites cultural professionals, policymakers, and researchers to collaborate on innovative approaches to cultural measurement. As with previous workshops led by this Working Group, the event will be interactive and will result in documented outcomes that will inform future ENCATC events and international publications.

This session will:

• Explore practical frameworks, indicators, and methodologies to address common challenges in cultural measurement and policymaking.
• Showcase real examples of how city-level data can capture cross-sector impacts, including Culture and tourism, Urban development, Health and wellbeing, and Social inclusion.
• Facilitate peer exchange, encouraging participants to share the role that cities should play in implementing change in cultural measurement.

Before the session, registered members of ENCATC will be invited to complete a short questionnaire on their experience with cultural indicators, frameworks, and methodologies at city and regional level. During the workshop, these reflections will be shared and discussed to identify opportunities for greater data alignment across cities and regions, while also recognising indicators that capture each city’s unique profile. The session will conclude with a discussion on gaps, priorities, and next steps, focusing on how cultural data can better support policy development. Both the questionnaire and the discussions will inform a summary report to be shared by ENCATC, helping to practically support forthcoming expert convenings and ongoing international discussions on cultural data and indicators.

This is a unique opportunity to contribute to a growing international dialogue on defining and measuring the broader value of culture. Your insights and experiences will help shape future approaches and strengthen evidence-based cultural policies.

The outcomes of this exchange will directly inform upcoming thematic events, such as:

• ENCATC Annual Congress 2026
• Bilbao International Forum of Cultural Observatories 2026
• Abu Dhabi Culture Summit 2026

Participation to this Working Group is exclusively accessible to ENCATC members.

More about this group here