We commissioned five impact fellowships aimed at providing medium-term reflective thinking. Three of these were co-funded with Arts Council England, and focused on: private-public sector support for the arts; the social impacts of cultural arts on individuals and communities; and economic methods and valuation. The AHRC has also funded a fellowship looking at the impact of higher education on the creative industries. A fifth impact fellowship started in 2007, and has been looking at cultural policy and regeneration in Liverpool in connection with Impacts 08. The AHRC and ESRC are co-funding this fellowship.
The five project summaries are outlined below:
Fellowship in Social Impact of the Arts
In 2004, the Centre for Cultural Policy Studies was awarded a three-year Research Fellowship, funded jointly by the Arts and Humanities Research Council and Arts Council England, in order to develop rigorous procedures for a better understanding of the social impact of the arts. The project started in November 2004, with Dr Eleonora Belfiore as the Research Fellow and Professor Oliver Bennett as Director. The research has been conducted with particular reference to poetry, the novel and theatrical performance.
For more information click here.
Fellowship in the Economic Impact of Arts and Humanities
The Centre for Research in Environmental Appraisal and Management (CREAM), in the School of Architecture, Planning and Landscape, at the University of Newcastle upon Tyne, was awarded a three-year Research Fellowship in the Economic Impact of Arts and Humanities, funded jointly by the Arts and Humanities Research Board and Arts Council England.
The aim of the Fellowship was to develop and test new and innovative aspects of economic analysis and methods to evaluate the economic impact and value of arts and humanities, including arts and humanities research, to society. The study analysed impact and value in a number of different arts, culture, and humanities subject areas, including archaeology, museums and galleries, film, and theatre. The Fellowship was held by Dr José Grisolía. The research was directed by Professor Ken Willis.
For more information click here.
Fellowship in the Impact of Musical Performance
The University of Southampton’s Music School was awarded a three-year Research Fellowship in January 2005. IMPASSE was an interdisciplinary investigation aiming to develop new socio-economic impact assessment techniques which are relevant to and usable by policymakers, artists, researchers and research organisations. Research Fellow Andrew Pinnock worked on IMPASSE until the fellowship came to completion in October 2007, while Professor David Nicholls was responsible for the management of the project.
For more information click here.
Fellowship in the Impact of Higher Education on the Creative Industries
In 2005, The Schools of Performance and Cultural Industries, and Education at the University of Leeds were awarded a three year fellowship to explore the relationship between university research in the arts and humanities and innovation processes in the creative industries. The co-directors of the project were Professors Calvin Taylor and David Smith, and from 2006-2007, Dr Roberta Comunian undertook the role of Fellow. She is now a Lecturer in Human Geography in the School of Geography at the University of Southampton with a specialist interest in network analysis, the creative industries and urban geography.
For more information click here.
Impact Fellowship in Cultural Policy and Regeneration
The School of Sociology and Social Policy and the Management School at the University of Liverpool was awarded a three year Impact Fellowship jointly funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council and the Economic and Social Research Council. The aim of the fellowship has been to develop an academic programme of research on the impacts of cultural policy in the context of regeneration. This complements work currently being carried out around the main Impacts08 programme, offering an unprecedented opportunity to strengthen knowledge-transfer activities and inform decision-making at a critical moment in the history of Liverpool, as well as protect the integrity of academic research into the theory and practice of cultural policy, which can be used as a reference point for other cities throughout the UK and beyond.
For more information click here.
For further information about the Impact Felllowships please contact:
Alexia Hereford, Impact Analyst: a.hereford@ahrc.ac.uk