The main objective is to develop a taxonomy of culture and heritage capital (CHC) that articulates the multiple benefits and values generated by culture and heritage (C&H)in a way that enables us to give weight to C&H in wider economic appraisal and decision-making. It will enable decision-makers to "better understand what we need to value and measure consistently across the sectors" (AHRC DCMS call, 2022). The taxonomy will be grounded in robust theory and evidence from the arts and humanities, economics and natural sciences. An extensive qualitative research programme will also locate it in the lived experiences and practices of C&H by checking, challenging, refining and socialising the findings. The Culture and Heritage Consortium is led by an economist and includes academics, policy practitioners and consultants from the arts and humanities, natural sciences and social sciences including economics. A panel of experts in the arts, natural capital, policy, heritage science and economics will provide support and challenge, whilst network organisations will help the research team collaborate with the arts, culture and heritage sectors. Throughout the project, coordination and communications experts will collate and share accessible content for different audiences. The research will build a stock, services, benefits and values framework for C&H based on 6 work packages (WP). WP1 will draw from existing taxonomies in other sectors/industries, producing a best practice guide and a framework(s) for the CHC taxonomy. WP2 will review existing classification systems and taxonomies of stocks, services and values currently used by the C&H sectors to develop a draft taxonomy. WP3 will test that emerging taxonomy framework against literature and develop it further. WP4 uses deliberative and participatory research methods to inform, check and challenge the findings. WP5 will synthesise the outputs of the research, WP 6 covers project management. Strand A of the AHRC/DCMS research call is a pivotal framework for all research Strands in this call. We propose a staged and iterative approach that will deliver provisional outputs at an early stage which will be thoroughly tested and refined as the research matures over 30 months. A programme of communications with all strands is built into this proposal with the assumption that there will be a need for collaboration and communication with Strand B of this call. Our project is innovative and experimental and it is an international first. It addresses the disconnection between economics and C&H by synthesising evidence from economics, arts and humanities, natural sciences and broader social sciences. It will extend scholarly knowledge and make new connections across disciplines. The proposed taxonomy will deliver cutting-edge research that is grounded in academic rigour and tested, challenged and co-designed with stakeholders to ensure the research can be operationalised and used to support better decisions and outcomes for C&H. It will provide a proof of concept that will widen the outputs and address interconnectivity challenges beyond the scope of this study. A wide range of impacts are expected: IM1 Improved understanding and access to evidence about how the benefits from C&H are realised to inform strategic cases in the HM Treasury 5 Cases Model for example. IM2 Provides a systematic approach for CHC valuation to ensure high quality more robust evidence that reflects values known in C&H literature. IM3 Engages the sector in an economic debate to unpack commonalities and de-mystify aspects of economics to encourage greater engagement and ownership on an economic platform. IM4 The taxonomy will support better design of valuation studies by improving the knowledge about how the benefits from C&H emerge. IM5 The CHC taxonomy will support the development of more holistic evaluation and monitoring frameworks for C&H.

"Heritage science" refers to the "fascinating, rich and diverse range of scientific challenges" associated with conserving movable and immovable heritage. Its significance should not be underestimated. Heritage, through tourism, makes a substantial contribution to the economy (£7.4 billion a year), and the sustainability of that contribution depends on heritage science. In November 2006, we published a report entitled Science and Heritage in which we acknowledged that the UK had a high reputation in the field of heritage science but warned that UK standing was "under threat" and that the heritage science sector was "fragmented and under-valued". (House of Lords Science and Technology Committee (2012). Science and Heritage: A follow-up. London: HMSO p4) In 2007, on the recommendations of the House of Lords Science and Technology Committee, the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) and the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) launched the Science and Heritage Programme to fund research activities to deepen understanding and widen participation in heritage science. During the following 7 years, this £8.1 million multi-disciplinary, collaborative Programme has funded 48 projects involving more than 300 researchers, 234 institutions and 50 industry partners both in the UK and overseas. The purpose of this Impact Fellowship proposal is to strengthen the dissemination of research activities supported by the Science and Heritage Programme, with a particular focus on developing the relationship between heritage science researchers and industry in order to promote heritage science innovation and to inform policymakers of the value of heritage science to culture and the economy. For heritage science researchers to fully contribute to public benefit and economic growth a shift in attitude by both researchers and industry has to take place to create stronger strategic links and to exploit opportunities which anecdotal evidence suggests there are industry sectors that could benefit from heritage science research and innovation. Currently, the heritage tourism industry is the best understood industry utilising heritage science research and this will be considered alongside other business sectors such as construction and property development; creative media; insurance; forensics and security and sensors and instrumentation. Through a series of workshops, face-to-face interviews and data collection and analysis, the Fellowship will identify the benefits, impacts and growth opportunities produced by heritage science research and innovation, along with the research projects that have contributed wider benefits to policy, industry and the heritage sector and the industry sectors that utilise, or could utilise heritage science research. By examining industry needs, the skills and training required by future heritage scientists to engage with industry can be identified and evidence can be provided to produce recommendations on how policy could support the development of an innovation systems framework for heritage science. This will in turn be used to promote an innovation culture among researchers and industry willing to explore the business potential of research outputs. The research will be underpinned by a number of leadership development activities including publishing commissioned articles for Research Fortnight and Research Professional. Key outputs from the research will be published on the Science and Heritage Programme website and will include: a database of projects that demonstrate the benefits and impacts of heritage science research; a case study on skills training for heritage scientists and recommendations on how policy could support the development of an innovation systems framework for heritage science.

The central aim of Mind the Gap: Rigour and Relevance in Heritage Science Research is to optimise the impact of practice-focused research by examining a fundamental question emerging from AHRC/EPSRC Science and Heritage Programme (SHP) Research Clusters (2008). Specifically, this project will consider the impediments to effective collaborative research across the boundaries between academic research and practitioner communities, sometimes referred to as the 'rigour and relevance gap', and will consider the offer of arts and humanities disciplines to inform the question. The project will be developed through the case study of the key outcome of the cluster EGOR, PAS: 198 Specification for Environmental Conditions for Cultural Collections, as this published work attempts to bridge the boundary between academics and practitioners. Aims The purpose of this project is to: - Understand the dynamics and the boundaries of collaborative research so that a more effective and richer heritage science research can be achieved. - Engage and challenge arts and humanities disciplines in dealing with communication and cultural barriers in collaborative research. - Develop a framework that sets out the practices and protocols necessary for effective collaborative research and the uptake of research evidence that will sustain cultural heritage in the future. - Foster engagement with academic researchers, practitioners, and end users in the cultural heritage domain. To achieve these aims, Mind the Gap will: - Identify the barriers to communication between academic disciplines, practitioner and specialist communities as evidenced in SHP Research Clusters. - Improve research practice so that cross-disciplinary working can be effective and innovative, by exploring the contribution of arts and humanities disciplines such as linguistics, anthropology, history, education. - Undertake an attitude study of participants in the heritage science domain in the UK, to ascertain their experience of, and attitudes to, collaborative research and practices. - Publish a White Paper setting out a framework for collaborative research in heritage science. - Disseminate the findings of this project to policy makers including research councils, practitioners, professional and academic bodies, to ensure wide ranging and lasting impact. It is anticipated that the findings of this project will help to better understand how the economic and societal impacts of heritage science research are achieved and what organisational culture and practices' are in place to ensure the right research-based evidence, in addition to the culture necessary to achieve it. Using the 'lens' of arts and humanities disciplines, Mind the Gap will tease out the issues that define a 'working culture' and the distinct features of cultural heritage organisations, and heritage science cultures as reflected in language differences, working practices, and the take up of evidence in problem solving. One of the major outcomes of this will be the publication of a White Paper which will set out recommendations for overcoming the rigour-relevance gap in heritage science research and a framework for effective collaborations between academic and practitioner communities.

This project focuses on improving access to knowledge about collections in memory institutions (e.g. museums, galleries, libraries). Much of this knowledge is held in documentation about conservation: this includes records/data created when a) making observations about the production and condition of an object, and b) treating an object as part of conservation work. Conservation Documentation also includes records created as part of scientific analysis of the materials, planning for storage of objects and assessing related risks. Conservation records are rich in technical detail and observations of historical evidence. However, these records are not accessible to either researchers or visitors to memory institutions. Researchers require access to such records. For example, a researcher investigating the origin (provenance) of a book is likely to find information in conservation documentation helpful, as previous treatment documentation may contain binding descriptions, scientific analysis, or other material documentation which indicates provenance. In addition, memory institutions require new ways of engaging with audiences both online and on-site and unlocking conservation data can provide new ways in which to do this. This project establishes a Network of experts working on Conservation Documentation. The Network includes primarily conservators and computer/data scientists but also philosophers, scientists, archaeologists, librarians. They are recognised professionals working in leading memory institutions primarily from the UK and the US as well as from other countries. The Network will investigate current web technologies known as Linked Data to enable accessibility to conservation records. Linked Data (https://www.w3.org/standards/semanticweb/data) technologies allow the publication of records/data in such a way that they can be linked to other resources and enable re-use and discovery. By re-using conservation data, researchers can extract better conclusions because they have access to larger samples and material evidence from expert observations. We believe this will lead to transformative research projects in a) conservation, for assessing the impact of methods and materials, b) history/archaeology, for enabling provenance studies based on material evidence and c) curation/museology, for enabling new ways of engagement based on rich content. By re-using conservation data, memory institutions will be able to tell new stories about their collections to the wider public and engage with audiences through material evidence of objects. The Network will focus on two areas which are essential for implementing Linked Data solutions: a) Terminology, i.e. discussions on agreeing and naming the types of records created (e.g. lists of terms describing possible materials for paintings). An important standard for this work is the Simple Knowledge Organisation System (SKOS - https://www.w3.org/TR/2009/REC-skos-reference-20090818/). b) Modelling, i.e. discussions on how best to store/encode data so that they reflect real-life observations and therefore are reliable sources for research and engagement. The Network will examine existing work in these areas and identify gaps in research which can be addressed in future work. An important standard for this work is the Conceptual Reference Model (CRM - Information and documentation: a reference ontology for the interchange of cultural heritage information, ISO 21127) maintained by a special interest group (CRM-SIG) of the Committee of Documentation (CIDOC) of the International Council of Museums (ICOM). The Network will disseminate its findings through engagement with stakeholders which include conservation professional bodies and relevant departments in partner institutions.

Phase 2 of the Linked Conservation Data (LCD) project builds on an existing collaboration between University of the Arts London and Stanford Libraries and a number of other high profile US and UK partners as part of a Research Networking project funded under the AHRC's Highlight Notice for UK/US Collaborations in Digital Scholarship in Cultural Institutions. LCD explores methods for enabling access to knowledge about collections in memory organisations such as museums, galleries, libraries and archives. The work of conservators in these organisations focuses on investigating the structure and condition of objects and treating and protecting them. A core task in conservation is documenting observations made during this work. This creates a wealth of records about material observations, evidence and conclusions on the history of each object. Combining this knowledge with other historical resources such as texts is crucial for researching and interpreting history particularly for contested objects where the narrative from material evidence may be different from the popular understanding of an object. LCD aims to provide ways that conservation documentation can be produced, disseminated and re-used more effectively through Linked Data (https://www.w3.org/standards/semanticweb/data) in order to enable new research and new interpretations through offering researchers enhanced access to conservation data. We anticipate that this will contribute to educational programmes utilising conservation data, the development of improved methods for the protection of our cultural heritage and increased public engagement with collections in memory organisations. During phase 1, the LCD project: - addressed the issue of not being able to cross-search conservation records about the same things because of different vocabularies and established a pathway for harmonising and combining conservation vocabularies so that they can work together (https://www.ligatus.org.uk/lcd/output/142), - studied conservation records and identified some types which are difficult to describe and share and initiated discussions for new proposals to overcome these limitations (https://www.ligatus.org.uk/lcd/output/151), - raised awareness of the value of data in the profession through workshops and webinars (https://www.ligatus.org.uk/lcd/meetings). In phase 2 we aim to develop a Linked Data pilot implementation on book conservation which is of interest to partner organisations such as the Bodleian Library, the Library of Congress and the Stanford Libraries with different datasets harmonised into one system. The project builds on its existing partners and brings together national organisations and universities from the UK and US to form a critical mass of activity able to transform scholarship using conservation data. We are also partnering with major professional bodies in conservation who have agreed to co-author and co-sign a policy/strategy document to promote LCD's objectives. We are involving experts in education who will advise the consortium of how conservation data can be used to help educational programmes for schools in memory organisations. LCD phase 2 is the first step for setting up infrastructure for hosting shared vocabularies and datasets for conservation. We are preparing the consortium for a follow-up phase and we are establishing the foundations for Linked Data projects not only in conservation but potentially in other fields as well. LCD will inform current conservation documentation projects in memory organisations (e.g. three projects are in progress within consortium partners alone). The pilot is essential for testing methods and strengthening the consortium, as partners will work together through cross-disciplinary collaboration. A consortium of this scale with backing from major professional bodies is rare and this is a unique opportunity to make a real change to academic scholarship in memory organisations.