MESOC is a European project that focused on the measurement of the societal value and impacts of cultural policies and practices. Implemented between 2020 and 2023 with funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 framework programme for Research and Innovation, 2014-2020), MESOC has proposed, tested and validated an innovative and original approach for measuring the value and impacts of culture on society.

Coordinated by Universitat de Valencia, and involving the CALL Research Lab (www.call-researchlab.polimi.it/) of the Department of Architecture and Urban Studies of Politecnico di Milano, MESOC responded to the need to recognize how much culture matters to European societies, going beyond its economic impact, which often prevails in public discourses. It highlighted the fact that culture also matters in terms of health and well-being, people’s engagement and participation, and urban regeneration.

The MESOC vision highlights how the impacts of culture on health and well-being, people’s engagement and participation, and urban and territorial renovation, operating at the individual, community and societal levels, influence and reinforce one another. It also stresses that these are complex relationships that sometimes cannot be measured directly, but rather require the prior identification of some enabling conditions and factors that may contribute to impact, as well as of so-called ‘transmission variables’ that more easily lend themselves to measurements through indicators (see the MESOC Handbook).

The project is funded under the topic:

TRANSFORMATIONS-08-2019 – The societal value of culture and the impact of cultural policies in Europe (H2020 Programme)

For more info about the project visit: https://www.mesoc-project.eu/

PHOTO CREDIT: “Instrumental model for a public space” by Tom Purves licenced under CC BY 2.0