Design and application of a system of evaluation indicators for municipal cultural policies

Abstract

The publication of Agenda 21 for Culture in 2004, gave rise to significant growth in the area of evaluating public cultural policies. Despite these efforts, however, many challenges still remain on the long road to consolidating municipal cultural policies. We put forward a system of evaluation indicators aimed at managers and policy makers interested in evaluating local cultural policies within the paradigm of empowerment. This article provides an overview of the development of such a system of evaluation indicators. It begins with a review of the existing literature of indicator-based evaluation experience, in particular in the cultural sector. This was the basis of our own design which was validated by experts and tested in a case study. The article concludes with some reflections on evaluating local cultural policies.