Projects
And Towns contains four research projects funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC). Each project seeks to understand the role of culture and place-based decision making in towns and small cities.
2021
Towns and the Cultural Economies of Recovery
Towns and the Cultural Economies of Recovery followed the UK Towns Fund. It sought to examine how towns understood the role of culture in their recovery, and how town recovery resonated during and after the pandemic.
2022
Feeling Towns
As part of the AHRC Place Programme, Feeling Towns sought to understand and evidence pride in place. It explored the correlation between place attachment and local cultural ecologies, using creative methods to understand what pride meant to different communities.
2023
Neighbouring Data
Neighbouring Data draws together and amplifies place-based data on pride, culture, heritage, health and wellbeing. This work offers insight into the qualitative data that local authorities and communities need to inform their place-based decision making.
2024
Poetry, Policy and Place
This project is interested in the role of poetry in place-based policy and decision-making. Poetry is deployed as a tool for community engagement and for representing qualitative data, especially felt and lived experience.
