NCACE Evidence Café: Cultural Collaborations for Health and Wellbeing
Thursday 3 November, 14:00 - online
NCACE’s Evidence Café sessions have been held regularly since March 2021. The café is an online space for presentations, evidence and information sharing, story-telling as well as a community of knowledge sharing and exchange.

The focus for November’s café will be on Arts and Health, acting as a showcase for some examples of how research and creative practice is positively impacting public health and individual wellbeing. We will hear about research supporting innovative policy change within the Contemporary Dance sector, an animation for creative public health, and an artistic collaboration increasing support for young people with Type 1 Diabetes.

This session provides a platform for our cross-sector audiences to shine a light on how partners from HE and the arts and culture sector are collaborating to respond to wellbeing and health issues using creative and innovative practice. This session also relates to and generates evidence around one of our four core NCACE themes: Health and Wellbeing.

Alongside presentations from various speakers, there will be plenty of opportunity for group input. We are particularly interested in hearing from our attendees, so please do share any evidence, case-studies or other materials you may have on your own, or your institutions’ health-related collaborations either before, during or after the session.

This Evidence Café will also set the scene for our Annual Policy Workshop next June which will further augment this aspect of our work.

Our contributors include: Professor Paul Crawford (Nottingham), Professor Angela Pickard (Canterbury Christ Church University) and Katija Stiller (Breathe Creative), and will be co-hosted by Dr Laura Kemp (NCACE Senior Manager) and Evelyn Wilson (NCACE Co-Director). Bring your tea, your notebook and as many ideas as you want.

NCACE Festival of Cultural Knowledge Exchange 10 – 14 October 2022
Please note that this is the last week to book your ticket for individual festival events by clicking on the links below - book now to avoid disappointment. Thank you.

Artists in the academy limited tickets available
Monday 10 October, 10:00 - online
The notion of artists working both with and as thinkers and researchers is one that runs to the heart of our entire cultural life. It is arguably almost just a given. Our university arts and humanities departments are populated by staff who are also creative practitioners across the spectrum of the arts from performance to literature, poetry and of course also the visual arts. Yet, the presence of artists as researchers, activists, imagineers and knowledge mobilisers is by no means relegated only to the arts and humanities. Across the social sciences and many scientific disciplines, artists are working in a myriad of capacities and roles. The results of such practices and collaborations are equally diverse, with manifestations across all areas of our social lives. It is a delight to start our festival of Cultural Knowledge Exchange with an in conversation which explores some of the ways in which artists are working within academic environments. Speakers: Ruth Jarman, Semiconductor and Anne-Marie Culhane, Artist/performer.

Tools for Leading Cross-Sector Collaborations
Monday 10 October, 14:00 - online
Pulling together collaborative teams from across different sectors and disciplines can be challenging. The Good Employment Learning Lab at Manchester Metropolitan University, have been exploring how to support project leaders develop their collaborative toolkit and have found out what works. They’ve experimented with skills coaching, peer learning and masterclasses, to see how they benefit people who are working across different contexts. Flash Peer Learning has emerged as a really useful tool to support people to share their challenges and to support each other to find creative solutions. In this interactive session, Sarah Acton & Jennie Shorley from Manchester Metropolitan University will share their approach to peer flash learning in detail, giving you low-cost, high-impact tools to support your work. 

Exploring the value of collaborating with theatres
Monday 10 October, 16:00 - online
Earlier this year, NCACE commissioned the Independent Theatre Council and TORCH – The Oxford Research Centre in the Humanities – to find out more about the ways in which theatres and performance-makers exchange knowledge with Higher Education Institutions. Theatre is rich with possibilities for such mutually beneficial projects, but ideas around the cost and value of the work involved require careful navigation. Our survey delved into the experience of theatres, and uncovered a range of issues which we will highlight in this session. As well as hearing from the speakers, you will have opportunity to share your experiences and ask questions. Speakers: Charlotte Jones, The Independent Theatre Council and Ruth Moore, former Theatre and Performance Partnerships Manager, TORCH.
 
Cultural Compacts, collaboration, knowledge exchange: the role of Higher Education in fostering place-based cultural and artistic ecologies
Tuesday 11 October, 10:00 - online
The focus of this event will be to explore in greater detail the role of universities in the wider collaborative ecologies that the Compacts have helped bring about. We will explore the distinctive HE experience of working in collaborative, compact-based relationships in case studies where university involvement has been significant. Speakers: Professor David Amigoni (Keele University and Stoke Creates), Rebecca Ball (Chief Executive, Sunderland Culture), Paul Bristow (Arts Council England), Cara Courage (Socially engaged art and placemaking expert), Rebecca di Corpo (External Affairs, Bath Spa University) and Professor Katy Shaw (Northumbria University and AHRC Director of Creative Communities).

Ideas Lab: Defining & Refining Non-Financial Impact in Cultural Partnership limited tickets available
Tuesday 11 October, 14:00
Non-financial impact is central to the value of many mission-based partnership projects in the arts and culture. Yet articulating and measuring non-financial impact remains challenging using existing formulations. Responding to a call for reflection and sharing of current practice out of a recent Universities UK seminar on non-financial impact, this discursive session, led by Dr Alexandra Reynolds, University of Southampton and Dr Amy Corcoran, Royal College of Arts, invites participants to share examples of non-financial impact drawn from their projects and activities; including modes of measurement or evaluation.
 
Knowledge Sharing through Documentary Co-Creation: 'My Name is...' screening and Q&A 
Wednesday 12 October, 10:00 - online
My Name Is, is an international multi-award-winning mini documentary series into the experiences of individuals with non-western first names. It explores how using names links to identity and correlates to the pressures of conforming to westernized English norms. The process of My Name Is followed a decentred staff and student collaborative research process, that offers insights into a range of lived experience through equitable co-creation. In this session, you’ll be given the opportunity to see this politically important documentary that supports decolonial activities and practices, as well as encouraging messages of inclusion and respect. Speakers: Dr Javeria Shah, Royal Central School of Speech and Drama and Pauline Rutter, artist/researcher.

What is civic impact anyway? limited tickets available
Wednesday 12 October, 12:00 - online
Sheffield Hallam University established the Civic University Network in 2020 – a national network which aims to maximise the impact of civic universities in their place. In this session, the Sheffield Hallam team will reflect on the need to define civic impact as key to embedding civic aspirations at an institutional level. We will hear about the Civic Impact Framework, which has been developed by the Civic University Network, and which aims to help universities as the right questions about their civic activity. One of the domains of civic impact is Cultural Contribution. Next steps in further developing the understanding of what works will be explored. Speakers: Dr Debbie Squire, Sheffield Hallam University, Professor Ed Ferrari, Sheffield Hallam University and Adam Leach, National Civic Impact Accelerator (NCIA) at Sheffield Hallam University.

Nurturing Collaborations: Understanding a City’s Creative & Culture Ecology
Wednesday 12 October, 16:00 - online
How does understanding your role in the cultural and creative ecology of a place enable you to build meaningful creative collaborations? Dr Penny Hay has been doing this over many years across a series of creative projects focused on the city of Bath, both as a researcher at Bath Spa University and working with the charity, House of Imagination. In this session, Penny will draw on a range of her past and current projects to demonstrate how using a creative approach has ensured meaningful experiences for different audiences and long term collaborations with artists and educators across a range of projects. Speakers: Dr Penny Hay, Bath Spa University/House of Imagination, Dave Webb, The Studio in Bath, Andrew Amondson, Artist, Nathan Baranowski, Digital Wonderlab and Alexandre (Sasha) Mballa-Ekobena, Adidas AG. Berlin/ Nürnberg.

Patients as Artists: Innovating Dementia Care 
Thursday 13 October, 10:00 - online
What happens when you put reciprocity and joy at the centre of digital creative experiences to make them meaningful and enhance wellbeing? This talk and creative interactive workshop will give you a chance to hear how responding to the unexpected challenges of the coronavirus pandemic provided opportunities for the 'Innovating Knowledge Exchange' applied theatre projects to support patients living with dementia, leading to important changes in thinking and practice beyond lockdown. You will also have an opportunity to experience and play with these techniques yourself. Speakers: Dr Nicola Abraham (Royal Central School of Speech and Drama/Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust) and Rachel Hudspith (Royal Central School of Speech and Drama/Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust).

Changing Culture: Knowledge Exchange, Policy and Practice
Thursday 13 October, 14:00 - online
The Sir Lenny Henry Centre for Media Diversity (LHC) is an independent new body working to achieve accurate representation of all sections of society. Launched in 2020, the LHC has produced research for Channel 4, the BBC, ITV and others, which has to some degree changed their understanding, approach and output. The Centre has also run annual fellowship grants which support current media practitioners to conduct research using their contacts and inside knowledge, matched with and guided by academic researchers. This research has resulted in discussion within the media industry and, in some cases, brought about change in practice. In this talk, Director of LHC, Professor Diane Kemp, will give an overview of some of the centre's key work, focusing on how their collaborations with the broadcasting sector are aiming to change the face of British Television.

Social and Cultural Knowledge Exchange in the HE-BCI Review limited tickets available
Thursday 13 October, 16:00 - online
Hannah Browne, Lead Policy & Research Analyst (Knowledge Exchange) HESA will lead this interactive session on the recent Higher Education – Business and Community Interaction (HE-BCI) review. The Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA) undertook a major review of interactions between Higher Education providers and business and the wider community in 2022. This data is the main vehicle for measuring the volume and direction of interactions for central funding allocations and provides scope for future inclusions of further measures of impact. Social and cultural impacts are becoming increasingly significant indicators of a healthy innovation ecosystem, and the ways in which the value of social and cultural knowledge exchange is measured was outlined as one of the main priority areas of the HE-BCI review. Speakers: Dr Federica Rossi, Birkbeck/NCACE, Paul Manners, NCCPE and Jonathan Bradley, University of Sheffield.

Decolonising Shakespeare
Friday 14 October, 10:00 - online
At a time when heritage organisations and universities are struggling to balance British cultural identity with socially responsible attitudes to representing the past, can partnerships help bridge the gap between research and public exhibitions? How can using the decolonial practices critiqued by some portions of the establishment unlock university resources for wider audiences? Listen to Helen Hopkins of Birmingham City University discuss her partnership with the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust through the objects that formed the basis of her research and public engagement work. Historian, writer and curator, Subhadra Das, will discuss the decolonial responsibilities of museums, whilst the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust’s Head of Museum and Curatorial Services, Paul Taylor, Professor Charlotte Scott who has recently joined The Shakespeare Birthplace Trust as Director of Knowledge and Engagement and Head of Research Dr Paul Edmondson will join them both to discuss the mutual benefits of the long term partnership between the Trust and Birmingham City University.

“Why Does Place Matter? Foregrounding Felt Experiences”
Friday 14 October, 12:00 - online
Why does place matter? This question could be answered in several different ways, from economic to administrative. However, places also matter because they are the foundation stone of individual and collective life. In this understanding places matter not just because they are a geographic location but because they are a repository of emotions, experiences, meanings and memories – in short they are the site of lived and felt experiences. This session will consider the felt experiences of place, defined simply as the way we feel in and about place, and the felt relationships we have to and within place. We will do this through introducing the work of the Arts and Humanities Research Council’s ‘Place-Based Research Programme’ including some of the emerging findings of some of the Knowledge Exchange projects funded within this Programme as well as through guided and open discussion with the audience concerning the opportunities and challenges for considering felt experiences within place-based policies and practices. Speakers: Professor Rebecca Madgin, University of Glasgow, AHRC Place-Based Programme Director and Dr Elizabeth Robson, University of Glasgow, Post-Doctoral Research Associate for AHRC Place-Based Programme with Knowledge Exchange Projects and Partners.

How can the KE Concordat Support Excellent Cultural Knowledge Exchange? limited tickets available
Friday 14 October, 14:00 - online
In this panel discussion Greg Wade Policy Manager for Universities UK will explore key themes emerging from the first KE Concordat exercise with particular focus on relevance to cultural knowledge exchange and small specialist arts and cultural providers. He will be joined by Deborah Keogh, Knowledge Exchange Manager, Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, Dr Tom Cornford of Royal Central School of Speech and Drama, Amanda Baxendale, Head of Research and Innovation Services at the University of Derby and board member of Praxis Auril, Professor Caroline Wilkinson, Co-Chair, Culture Forum North & Director of FACE Lab at Liverpool John Moores University and Dr Gary Bratchford, Board member for Open Eye Gallery and President of the International Sociological Associations' Visual Sociology Research Group and co-editor of the Journal Visual Studies to share their experiences of engaging with the Concordat process, to reflect on how they used and adapted the framework to add value to their institutions and KE practice. The discussion will also touch on challenges that the framework revealed and how the Concordat process might iterate in the future. There will be an opportunity for participants to reflect on their own experience of the KE Concordat, and share their thoughts on how the process could be refined and iterated going forward.

Highlights from the Evidence Repository
With over 150 free resources related to knowledge exchange and collaborations between academia and the arts and cultural sectors, there is something for a range of different readers.

You may also be interested in:

International STEAM Conference 2022
The third International STEAM Conference takes place between the 18th and 20th of October 2022 at the newly launched STEAMhouse building in Birmingham, UK. This year, the conference has been extended to three days, allowing more opportunities to fully demonstrate how the ‘STEAM Approach’ is deployed within a wide range of applications, specialisms and organisations to develop strategy and foster innovation. This is the must-attend event of 2022 for anyone interested in the application of inter-disciplinary thinking in their own fields, whether in business, innovation, the arts or academia.