Making the case for CASE

James Doeser, Senior Officer, Research and Knowledge at the Arts Council kicks off a new series of blogs about the Culture and Sport Evidence programme.

I’m the project lead for a short communications campaign to promote the Culture and Sport Evidence (CASE) programme.

CASE is a joint strategic research programme led by the DCMS, working with the Arts Council England, English Heritage and Sport England. It uses a range of research methods and analysis to produce briefings, reports and resources designed to inform the development of policy in culture and sport. Its overall aim is to strengthen our understanding of how best to deliver culture and sporting opportunities of the highest quality to the widest audience generating the best outcomes for society.

Opening up CASE

Although the CASE programme has been running for some time, the current programme of work and its key findings merit a closer look from a wider audience, so we can all gain a deeper insight into the different ways in which people engage with culture and sport, what value that engagement adds to our society and how this can inform effective policy making.

Helping you to use CASE resources

We know (because we’ve asked people as part of the campaign) that one reason CASE isn’t getting as much attention as it deserves is because some of the outputs can seem a little intimidating, impenetrable or hard to use. Some of the CASE tools need specific expertise to use, which means people often need the help of specialists in data analysis, or simply a lot more time, to focus on the reports and tools provided by CASE. With diminishing resources across all sectors, this additional time and support is not always available.
We’re planning to address some of these issues by developing additional materials such as case studies, fact sheets, infographics and data visualisation to help translate CASE outputs into clear and easy to understand information that will resonate and be of genuine use to everyone, regardless of their existing knowledge or expertise.

What does CASE offer?

It provides evidence of the impacts of engagement in sport and culture. It provides a wealth of data at local level – including tools to help local authorities generate a cultural profile so they can make informed spending decisions. CASE is a rich resource for anyone working to increase participation in sport and culture including public engagement teams, marketers, campaigners, community groups, central government and local policy makers.

Stay informed

We’ve set up a Twitter hashtag (#CASEprog) and we’ll be tweeting about CASE via @DCMS. Please join the conversation. I’m really keen to get the discussion going to find out how we can support people to make more use of CASE and help the CASE community grow.