Meaningful Metrics

It can be difficult — if not impossible — to calculate the value of public goods such as caregiving, nature, and the arts.

What value does it have, for example, when public resources are allocated to an additional half hour of an educator’s time in a childcare institution each week? Or when, on our way to work, we pass by a colourful wildflower meadow rather than a monotonous lawn?

These questions call for interdisciplinary collaboration and a broader capacity for imagining alternatives grounded in both practical experience and research-based insights.

The humanities and social sciences can complement economic models by bringing new ideas into the conversation when prioritising public investments in Denmark and imagining social support systems of the future.

We work on these issues in a range of different projects, including our Policy Fellowship programme on climate and the economy, and RIPPLE.