Harvard Prof Mark H Moore to Lead SHOW ME THE VALUE Discussion at QPAC, Nov 4

On Monday 4 November, the Queensland Performing Arts Centre (QPAC) presents Show Me the Value a discussion about public value and the arts with Harvard Professor Mark H Moore.

Professor Moore will be joined for Show Me the Value by experts Dr Judith McLean, QPAC Scholar in Residence and Adjunct Professor at QUT (Creative Industries) and Dr Geoff Woolcock, Board Director of the Australian National Development Index and Adjunct Associate Professor Griffith University (School of Human Services and Social Work). The discussion will be facilitated by ABC Radio's Steve Austin.

Show Me the Value will explore how the cultural sector can overcome some of the challenges it faces measuring and communicating the value it contributes to society and the economy.

QPAC Chief Executive, John Kotzas said "At QPAC we're focused on how we can best manage and deliver on both our public and commercial imperatives. Being able to capture the whole picture of the value a cultural institution or organisation like ours creates therefore is crucial, but it's not straightforward to do. That is why we're fortunate to have Professor Moore explore this challenge with us while in Brisbane."

Professor Moore first impacted policy debate around the world with his seminal work Creating Public Value: Strategic Management in Government and his follow up book Recognising Public Value was published earlier this year.

"For QPAC, we've experienced solid growth in recent years and we want to maximise this success to deliver more public value to Queenslanders through our program. This is our responsibility as a cultural institution and we take it very seriously," said Mr Kotzas.

Professor Moore first worked with QPAC in October 2012. As part of his program, Moore participated in a discussion for Radio National's Big Ideas with Professor Julianne Schultz AM and Terry White Group Non-executive Director and QPAC Trustee, Rhonda White. They explored the parallels when pursuing public value, private value and shareholder return.

"Show Me the Value will significantly progress our national discourse on culture - it's important we in the sector find a way to convey culture's relevance to contemporary Australian society and the value it delivers to individuals, communities and the nation," said Mr Kotzas.

Telling the complete story has been notoriously difficult for the cultural sector and it has struggled through numbers alone. Professor Julianne Schultz AM highlighted the importance for the cultural sector to persist with its pursuit of achieving broader understanding and recognition in Australia at a recent Currency House breakfast in August, likening the journey to that of the environment and the significant progress made achieving recognition of its value.

Show Me the Value will be streamed live at www.qpac.com.au/youtubelive and comments and questions are welcomed via twitter @QPAC using the hashtag: #publicvalue.

Professor Mark H Moore is the Faculty Chair of the Hauser Center for Nonprofit Organisations, John F Kennedy School, Harvard University. Professor Moore impacted policy debate around the world when he first discussed the concept of public value in the mid-1990s in his seminal work Creating Public Value: Strategic Management in Government.

Dr Judith McLean is Adjunct Professor at QUT (Creative Industries) and QPAC Scholar in Residence. She is a Board Member of Tourism and Events Queensland, Chair of Southern Cross Soloists and an internationally recognised expert in arts education.

Dr Geoff Woolcock is Senior Research Fellow at Wesley Mission Brisbane and an Adjunct Professor in Griffith University's School of Human Services and Social Work. He is the current Chair of the Australian Community Indicators Network (ACIN) and Community Indicators Queensland (CIQ), advisory member of Partners for Liveable communities (PLC) Australia and is a Board Director of the Australian National Development Index (ANDI).

Steve Austin is the presenter of the Mornings program on 612 ABC Brisbane.