Introduction
Vision
Scope of the Programme
Current Activities/Funding
Past Activities
Introduction
Connected Communities is a new cross-Research Council research programme, led by the AHRC, being developed as a part of a number of Councils’ future strategies We are working in close partnership with the ESRC, EPSRC, MRC and NERC and a range of other potential stakeholders in developing plans for the future. We have undertaken a range of consultation activities to date and are planning further consultation activities as we move forward. We will build upon the existing substantial body of Research Council-funded research relevant to the Programme and have begun by supporting over 80 initial development works, scoping studies, reviews and partnership activities. Opportunities to apply for research activities relevant to the Programme are currently available through existing funding routes such as the Connected Communities highlight notice in AHRC’s Research Networking and Fellowship schemes.
Vision
The current proposed vision for the Programme is “to mobilise the potential for increasingly inter-connected, culturally diverse, communities to enhance participation, prosperity, sustainability, health & well-being by better connecting research, stakeholders and communities.”
At the core of the Programme will be research to understand the changing nature of communities, in their historical and cultural contexts, and the value of communities in sustaining and enhancing our quality of life. This enhanced understanding will also inform the development of more effective community based interventions to address key economic and societal challenges. Engagement with communities at all stages of the research will be a key feature. The programme will seek to connect research expertise and data relevant to communities from across the research base in order to develop a more holistic understanding of community life rather than tackling issues in isolation.
Scope of the Programme
A revised outline paper (pdf 358kb) provides a summary of some of the initial thinking about the aims, scope and potential distinctive contribution that the Programme could make. Further ideas are contained in the slides presented at the Connected Communities summit in June 2010 (see past activities). These are evolving documents which will be revised in the light of further consultation and feedback on these documents would be welcomed.
Current Activities/Funding
Programme Funding Overview
AHRC/ESRC Joint Call - Community Engagement and Mobilisation
Supplementary Call for Scoping Studies and Research Reviews
Research for Community Heritage: Call for Research Development Awards
AHRC–NWO Humanities Research Networking and Exchange Scheme
Highlight Notices
Role of the Creative Economy
RSA Fellowship
Development Projects
Planned Activities
Programme Funding Overview
As a major cross-Council programme Connected Communities brings together a portfolio of activities within an overarching framework. A major aim of the Programme is to connect research on programme themes including relevant research in other Research Council programmes, centres and initiatives and relevant ‘responsive mode’ grants as well as relevant research supported by other funders. In some cases we may hold events (e.g. summits) and support activities specifically aimed at existing Research Council award-holders to promote enhanced linkages between these activities.
Research Council responsive mode funding schemes are a key funding opportunity for the Programme and we are happy to consider linking in relevant responsive mode grants into the Programme. Applications which cut across Research Council boundaries are particularly welcome and will be handled in accordance with the recently updated Cross-Council Funding Agreement. In some cases highlight notices may be used to encourage applications in certain areas; examples include the current highlight notices in AHRC’s networking, fellowships and collaborative doctoral awards schemes for Connected Communities and the highlight in ESRC’s Centres and Large Grants Competition 2011/12 for proposals on Community, participation and democracy in an era of austerity.
In terms of Programme-specific funding, we do not envisage holding a large single call for research grant proposals across the entire programme remit but rather a series of targeted calls and activities for specific types of activity (such as the research reviews and RSA fellowship calls in 2010) or which address specific themes within the Programme. In some cases these will be calls for research proposals, as under the current ESRC/AHRC joint call for consortia on community engagement and mobilisation (see below). In other cases this will be through a call for participants to attend a research development workshop, where follow-up funding may be available for workshop participants. Examples of this include the 2010 workshop on the Role of the Creative Economy in Developing and Sustaining Prosperous Communities in the UK, the workshop on Communities, Cultures, Health & Well-Being in September 2011 and a planned call for participants in a workshop on Communities, Cultures and Sustainability in 2012. In addition, from time to time we may seek to commission or tender for proposals addressing a very specific issue or objective or in partnership with other funders (see below for more details on current calls).
Our plans for the Programme are still evolving and developing and updates on future opportunities will be published on the Connected Communities webpages.
AHRC/ESRC Joint Call - Community Engagement and Mobilisation – call for outline proposals
The AHRC in funding partnership with the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC), working together under the Connected Communities Programme, have issued a joint call for outline proposals for two large research grants (up to £2.4m fec each) in the area of community engagement and mobilisation. It is expected that one large grant, drawing on insights from across the social sciences and arts and humanities will be made in each of the following areas: Making of Engagement and Regulation of Engagement. Full details can be found in the call specification on the ESRC website.
The closing date for proposals is 4pm, Wednesday 14 December 2011.
Supplementary Call for Scoping Studies and Research Reviews focussed on Arts and Humanities Perspectives on Communities
As a part of the cross-Council Connected Communities Programme the AHRC is inviting applications from arts and humanities researchers for a further round of research reviews and scoping studies. This open call aims to add value to the current portfolio of Programme activities by developing further the distinctive perspectives that arts and humanities can bring to our understanding of communities and connectivity, and bring these perspectives to the forefront of wider cross-disciplinary research and debates that have tended become dominated by social science and other perspectives.
The closing date for proposals is 4pm, Thursday 24 November 2011 and guidance on how to apply can be found on the scheme page.
Research for Community Heritage: Call for Research Development Awards:
The AHRC is inviting proposals for enhancing outreach and engagement between research groups in the arts and humanities, and community groups and organisations interested in exploring their local histories and heritage. Working closely with the Heritage Lottery Fund, and potentially other partners, the aim of this initiative is to catalyse and develop sustainable links between expertise in research organisations in the area of community histories and heritage and relevant community groups. It is expected that this will lead to the development of innovative collaborative or co-produced community heritage research projects led by community groups.
The closing date for proposals is 4pm, Tuesday 6th December 2011 and guidance on how to apply can be found on the scheme page.
AHRC–NWO Humanities Research Networking and Exchange Scheme : Sustainable Communities in a Changing World
The AHRC, in partnership with the NWO, has issued a joint call for research networking activities aimed at developing international partnerships between arts and humanities researchers in the United Kingdom and the Netherlands. One of the call’s two themes is ‘Sustainable Communities in a Changing World’ which outlines a broad potential agenda for community related research in areas such as pathways for sustainable communities, changing cultural values and cultural landscapes, community ‘cohesion’, ‘solidarity’ and identities, roles of religion, language and the arts, creativity, conflict, community history and narratives etc.
The closing date for proposals is 4pm, Tuesday 13th December 2011. Further details can be found on the NWO website.
Highlight Notices
The AHRC has highlight notices for Connected Communities under its Research Networking scheme to help to stimulate boundary crossing research activity - including cross-disciplinary and cross domain research and enhanced engagement between research, communities and other stakeholders - as well as the development of innovative research which can underpin and inform future development of the Programme. Research Networking proposals in the highlight notice should have arts and humanities research at their core but proposals that cross boundaries with disciplines outside the arts and humanities, as well as within them, are strongly encouraged.
The research networking highlight notice has been extended until July 2012. It was also supplemented in May 2011 to encourage applications in arts and humanities research areas that are currently felt to be under-represented in the current portfolio of development activities. Additional information relevant to the Research Networking highlight notice:
AHRC also has a highlight notice in its Fellowships scheme aimed at arts and humanities researchers who wish to spend focused time working in or with communities and/or community-based organisations and/or community policy or practice context to conduct research on topics relevant to the Connected Communities Programme. Proposals under the fellowship highlight notice should have arts and humanities research at their core but proposals that cross boundaries with disciplines outside the arts and humanities, as well as within them, will also be welcomed. The fellowships highlight for Connected Communities has been extended until October 2011.
A highlight notice for Connected Communities has also been included in the 2012 AHRC Collaborative Doctoral Awards Scheme. The closing date for applications is 17 November 2011. Further details can be found at on the CDA scheme page.
Details of the awards funded under the 2011 competition (including 7 under the Connected communities highlight notice) can also be found.
The ESRC Centres and Large Grants Competition 2011/12 includes a highlight notice for proposals on Community, participation and democracy in an era of austerity: Understanding how individuals and communities most effectively make their voices heard, and how social and physical mobility changes when in countries like the UK, the state retrenches. The closing date for outline proposals is 16.00 on 13 October 2011. Further details are available on the ESRC website.
Role of the Creative Economy in Developing and Sustaining Prosperous Communities in the UK
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 (including applicants responding to an open call for participants) 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. Further details of the event can be found under past activities.
Following the workshop five collaborative consortia are working up proposals to pursue longer-term research projects and seven smaller follow-up activities are being funded in 2011.
List of awards funded following the creative economy workshop (23kb pdf)
Scoping Studies and Research Reviews
As a part of the development process for the Connected Communities programme, the AHRC is currently supporting 44 small scoping studies and research reviews addressing a wide range of underpinning issues. It is hoped these will: stimulate debate and provide some early outputs for from the programme; inform future discussions about its shape, focus and priorities; and be of value to researchers undertaking research under the Programme in the future. These were commissioned following an open call to which over 130 applications were received by the closing date.
The AHRC has now announced a further competition to support scoping studies, aiming to add value to the current portfolio of Programme activities by developing further the distinctive perspectives that arts and humanities can bring to our understanding of communities and connectivity. It is also expected that these perspectives will be brought to the forefront of wider cross-disciplinary research and debates that have tended become dominated by social science and other perspectives.
The closing date for proposals is 4pm, Thursday 24 November 2011 and guidance on how to apply can be found on the scheme page.
List of current research reviews (39kb pdf)
RSA Fellowship
Connected Communities & RSA Citizen Power in Peterborough Programme Research Fellowship
This fellowship has been established in partnership with the Royal Society for the encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce (RSA) and its Citizen Power in Peterborough project. The AHRC and RSA have come together to exploit the research and engagement opportunities offered by the Citizen Power Peterborough programme and to enhance the potential contribution of high quality, independent, research to the development and evaluation of the programme. By doing this we hope to enhance the potential synergies between the Citizen Power Peterborough and Connected Communities Programme. Following an open call for applications the fellowship, ‘Places for all? A multi-media investigation of citizenship, work and belonging’ has been awarded to Dr Ben Rogaly, Department of Geography, University of Sussex (March 2011-March 2013). In addition, a linked collaborative research project ‘Understanding the impacts of citizen participation in Peterborough’ has been awarded to Dr Mark Roberts at De Montfort University (April 2011-March 2013).
Development Projects
Following the Connected Communities Summit in June 2010 17 small follow-up development projects are being funding to undertake a range of scoping, pilot, networking and other activities. A list of the follow-up projects can be found below. Further details of the projects will be made available in due course.
Follow-up projects (excel format 42kb)
Following the ESRC/AHRC Crime and Communities workshop in July 2010, 9 small follow-up development projects are being jointly supported by the ESRC and AHRC. A list of these projects can be found below.
Crime and Communities projects (pdf 109kb)
Planned Activities
A cross-Council working Group has been established with representatives from AHRC, ESRC, EPSRC, MRC and NERC to oversee further development of the Programme. We are also planning to establish a programme advisory group.
A further event on Communities, Cultures and Sustainability is tentatively being considered for 2012.
We are currently considering ways to further develop the international dimensions to the Programme, following a highly productive exploratory workshop in March 2011 with the US National Endowment for the Humanities on ‘the place of community in pluralistic societies.’
We are currently undertaking further consultation activities with a range of stakeholders and are considering potential further activities and partnerships. We would welcome further input and feedback from interested researchers and stakeholders as a part of these further consultations. Please send any further comments or inputs to Gary Grubb at the AHRC. Further details of future activities will appear on this website in due course.
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.