Impacts 08 Baseline Report and Benchmark Indicators Report on the impact of hosting the Liverpool 2008 European Capital of Culture.
This is the first comprehensive report to be produced by Impacts 08 – The Liverpool Model, European Capital of Culture Research Programme. Impacts 08 is a joint research initiative of the University of Liverpool and Liverpool John Moores University. The research programme, commissioned by Liverpool City Council, examines the social, cultural, economic and environmental effects of Liverpool’s hosting the European Capital of Culture title in 2008. The research is longitudinal in nature and is taking place over five years, from 2005 to 2010. This programme of research is building on and developing new methodologies to assess the multiple impacts of culture-led regeneration initiatives and aims to become a national and international point of reference.
The first baseline report offers an assessment of the current situation in Liverpool, across six main thematic clusters: economic impacts and processes; the city’s cultural system; cultural access and participation; sense of identity, image and place; and the physical infrastructure and sustainability of the city.
The full baseline report, summary benchmark indicators and core messages are available from the dissemination section of the Impacts 08 website (www.impacts08.net).
In the website are also find a selection of papers and conference presentations about specific projects and the programme’s theoretical and methodological framework.
The aim of Impacts 08 is to develop a research model for evaluating the multiple impacts of culture-led regeneration programmes that can be applied to events across the UK and beyond. An obvious example is the London 2012 Olympic Games, which will also incorporate a four-year cultural programme (cultural Olympiad) starting in 2008. Future European Capitals of Culture, such as Essen and the Rhur area, Istanbul and Pecs in 2010, should also benefit from and build on this research.

http://www.liv.ac.uk/impacts08/