Research Development Workshop on Communities, Cultures, Health & Well-Being
19 – 21 September 2011, Cardiff
A research development workshop was held in Cardiff with the aim to build on existing research and bring together researchers from a wide range of disciplines and other experts from policy and practice communities, to identify the key future research challenges and opportunities for understanding the potential contribution of community cultures and community-based cultural activities to enhancing health and well-being in communities.
Details of the follow-up and development research activities being supported will be announced in 2012.
Presentations from the AHRC and from invited speakers at the event can be downloaded below:
Design and Communities Workshop
A workshop was held at the Baltic, Gateshead on 20/21 June 2011 to explore the contribution of design research to the Connected Communities Programme. The workshop brought together designers and researchers invited through their involvement in current the Connected Communities Programme activities or through their involvement in other relevant Research Council programmes, particularly the AHRC/ EPSRC Design for 21st Century Programme,
Connected Communities Summit 2011
A second summit was held in Clydebank, near Glasgow, on 4 & 5 July 2011. This was an invitation event for around 80 researchers drawn from principal investigators or other representatives from each of the development projects / activities currently being funded under the Programme. The Summit helped to network existing projects, inform the future shape of the programme as well as explore opportunities for further collaboration and development activities under the Programme.
Research Development Workshop on the Role of the Creative Economy in Developing and Sustaining Prosperous Communities in the UK
Birmingham 6-8th December
The AHRC organised a workshop in Birmingham in December 2010 as part of the Connected Communities programme with the aim to build on existing research and bring together researchers and other experts from policy and practice communities to identify the key future research challenges and opportunities for understanding the role of the creative economy in developing and sustaining prosperous communities and inform future policy and practice. The workshop sought to stimulate the development of innovative research proposals and collaborative consortia to pursue these challenges and opportunities.
Details of the follow-up and development research activities being supported will be announced in 2011.
Presentations from the AHRC and from invited speakers at the event can be downloaded below:
• 
Opening Presentation from Professor Shearer West (Director of Research, AHRC) on aims of the event (pdf 1013kb)
• Beauty and the Big Society: Tom Bolton, Commission for Architecture and the Built Environment (pdf 199kb)
• Clash, cluster, complexity, creativity: Professor John Hartley, AM, ARC Centre of Excellence for Creative Industries; Innovation, Queensland University of Technology, Australia (pdf 1051kb)
• Presentation by Professor Justin O’Connor Queensland University of Technology, Australia (pdf 502kb)
• Connecting Excluded Communities? Dr. Paul Benneworth, Center for Higher Education Policy Studies, University of Twente, the Netherlands (pdf 554kb)
Connected Communities Summit June 2010
A summit was held in Birmingham on 28/29 June 2010 bringing together about 60 researchers from current research projects, centres and programmes funded by the Research Councils of relevance to the Programme. Dr Bert Provan from the Department of Communities and Local Government also provided an update on the new policy context post the election.
The event discussed the shape and distinctive role of the Programme and also aimed to facilitate networking between existing Research Council activities. Proposals for follow-on activities from summit participants will be considered over the summer and further details will be announced via these pages.
Professor Shearer West’s opening presentation on the Programme and Dr Bert Provan’s (Department of Communities and Local Government)presentation can be downloaded.
Case studies
These case studies are on Research Council-funded projects relating to the Connected Communities theme.
Design Against Crime (pdf 223kb)
Admission All Classes (pdf 225kb)
Work in progress. We are planning to add case studies about projects funded by each of the Research Councils involved in the Connected Communities Programme. If you have a suggestion of a case study you would like to see on this page, please email Gary Grubb.
Consultation Workshops in June 2009
Two consultation workshops were held in June 2009 to help to further inform the potential remit, scope, aims and distinctive contribution of the Programme. Reports of these two events are provided below:
Consultation workshop with local government stakeholders organised in partnership with LARCI 1 June 2009.
Cross-Council Expert Workshop 2 June 2009.
Contact / Further Input
If you have any comments or suggestions on the further development of the Programme please forward these to Gary Grubb or Paul McWhirter at the AHRC.
These interim pages are under development.