Too often measuring value is limited to physical things that are easy to count. Public and social value – such as the value of bicycle lanes, clean air or happiness – has been harder to quantify, making what matters most to us difficult to manage and grow.

In government, this almost certainly has skewed public spending towards cures rather than prevention. Public Value: How can it be measured, managed and grown? brings together views from across Nesta’s areas of work to set out alternative ways to map and measure public value.

With better metrics on what matters most, we can guide investment towards ideas that help change the world for the good.