Welcome to the Connected Communities Programme

Communities, Cultures, Health & Well-BeingResearch Development Workshop

Connected Communities ProgrammeCommunities, Cultures, Health & Well-Being

Research Development Workshop 19-21 September 2011, The Angel Hotel, Cardiff, Wales

Gary Grubb, Associate Director of Programmes, AHRCG.Grubb@AHRC.ac.uk

www.connectedcommunities.ac.uk

Connected Communities Programme:Connecting Research for Flourishing Communities

Evolving Programme Vision

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.

What do we mean by Community?Evolving approach but see communities as:

“dynamic processes through which groups come together, through choice or necessity, to share some common bonds or values or to co-operate and interact over a sustained period of time in pursuit of a

collective need or interest in particular issues or outcomes. Communities may be real or imagined, may share a virtual or

physical environment and/or may share aspects of identity (such as location, race, ethnicity, age, history, practice), culture, belief or

other common bonds, connections or interests but may also transform over time, be culturally diverse and involve significant

dissent and conflict”.

What do we mean by Community?• Importance of temporal as well as spatial dimensions• Recognise that there are many forms of community

e.g. ascribed, elective, imagined, transient, etc• Consider both the positive and negative aspects• Interested both in the relationships within

communities and the interactions between communities (past and present) and their outcomes for broader society and economy.

• Applicants expected to explain the ways in which they are using the term community and thinking about issues of connectedness and to justify why this is appropriate for their proposed research

Why Connected? – Research IssuesCurrently, in terms of the research:• Improve understanding of both the changing connections between

individuals & groups within communities & the connections between different communities and their implications for future society.

• Examine the connections between communities and their broader cultures, histories, beliefs and environments (including spaces, places and institutions) and how this can help inform future community-based approaches.

• Explore connections between research issues often considered in isolation to deliver more integrated understanding of the roles of, and impacts on, communities.

A Connected Approach• Connect UK and international

research.

• Connect researchers, organisations and communities in the co-production of knowledge and knowledge exchange.

• Connect research funders to enhance co-ordination and alignment of activities and promote partnerships and collaboration to maximise added value from the currently highly fragmented research field and address strategic gaps

A Connected ApproachCurrently, in terms of how the

programme will add value:

• Connect previous research (synthesis, review, etc)

• Connect researchers, knowledge, approaches and data from across disciplines to deliver more integrated understanding and promote cross-disciplinary research

• Connect to RCUK Programmes (e.g. Digital Economy, Lifelong Health & Well-being, LWEC, Global Uncertainties, Energy)

Incorporation of Distinctive Arts and Humanities Perspectives

Religions – Beliefs – History - Custom – Ritual – Narrative -Tradition – Law – Experience - Heritage - Values –

Attachment – Belonging – Feelings – Emotions - Ideas –Purpose & Meaning – Ethics – Protest – Symbolism –

Iconography – Representation - Fashion – Design -Culture – Consumption - Music – Performance –

Migration – Identities – Diaspora – Archives – Writing –Beauty – Aesthetics – Art – Creativity - Critique

Addressing Cross-Cutting Themes: Understanding Changing Connectivity & Communities

Some fundamental cross-cutting questions & issues:

• What are communities for in modern societies? How have community values & identities changed over time? How do they contribute to quality of life? What do flourishing communities look like? What can we learn from history & different cultures?

• Changing connections within and between communities. Inter-relationships, identities, rituals, narratives and networks. Ties to traditions, institutions & places. Trans-national communities.

• Understanding communities as dynamic & complex cultural systems

• Factors shaping changing communities – interfaces between technological, environmental, social, cultural & economic factors

Understanding Changing Community Cultures and Histories & Patterns of Connectivity within & between Communities

Current Reviews & 2011 Summit

Community values,

participation,self-reliance

and resilienceESRC/ AHRC

joint call 2011

Community health and well-being

Workshop & Follow-up

2011

Community creativity

prosperity & regeneration

Creative economy

workshop & follow-up

2010

Sustainable community

environments, places and

spacesPossible

workshop & Follow-up

2012?

Connecting Research with Communities & other Organisations, Stimulating Research Partnerships and Enhanced Harvesting of Research for Impact

Partnership Activities & Summit 2011

Connecting Research on CommunitiesSummit 2011

Community cultures, diversity, cohesion,

exclusion & conflictUK/US

workshop 2011

Programme Themes & Activities

Summit 2011 Follow-Up Funding1. Small Follow-up Grantsgg

Understanding Changing

Community Cultures, Histories & Patterns of Connectivity within & between Communities

Community values, participation,

self-reliance & resilience

Connecting Research with Communities and other organisations

Social Innovation

Connecting Research on Communities

Sustainable community

environments, places

& spaces

Community creativity

prosperity &regeneration

Community cultures,

diversity, cohesionexclusion &

conflict

Community health and well-being

Co-production

Co-design

Harvesting for ImpactPartnership

Belonging

Identities

Heritage

Cultural Institutions

Community Care

Networks

Clusters

Design

Creative Community Economies

Community Arts

Civility

Beauty

Diasporas

Beliefs

Changing Health

Power

Democratic Renewal

Crime

Loneliness & isolation

Gang Culture

Mobility

Mental Health

AgeingCommunities

Youth

Adaptation

Language & Communication

International Collaborations

Cross-disciplinary Innovation

Globalisation

Virtual Communities

Social Change

Technological Change

Cultural Change

Environmental Change

Economic Change

Conflict

Political Change

Programme ThemesOverview

Volunteering

Entrepreneurship

Customs

Voice

Narrative

Key Features of Connected Communities Projects

Some ideas from the Summit in June 2010High quality research as a given, but also:

• Sustainable engagement with real communities from the outset to beyond project life; communities involved in identifying challenges and possible solutions; partnership working; innovative approaches to co-production.

• Ideas of connectedness and disconnectedness, fluidity of complex relationships between individuals, within communities and between communities; both positive and negative dimensions of ‘connectedness’.

• Prepared to consider complex underlying issues and questions such as ethics, power, rights, equity, nature of benefits and burdens, sustainability, well-being.

Key Features of Connected Communities Projects

Some ideas from the Summit in June 2010• Grounded in deep understanding of communities as diverse &

complex cultural phenomena but seeking to draw wider transferable or generalisable insights.

• Draws together insights from different research approaches /different disciplines/ different research & policy domains.

• Crucial role of comparative and historical dimensions.

• Develops novel approaches to long-standing challenges or understanding new cultural phenomena.

• Focus on communities (variably defined) as the prime unit of analysis but not forgetting the ‘bigger picture’.

Key Features of Connected Communities Projects

Some ideas from the Summit in June 2010• Relevant to strengthening well-being in communities and to

policy & practice.

• Builds on past research, understanding and current evidence base, ‘not reinventing the wheel’ but developing transformative approaches.

• Focus on change and processes of change; forward looking but informed by the past.

• Explores creative approaches – looking at ‘what could be’ as well as ‘what is’.

Key Features of Programme ProjectsSome further ideas from the 2011 Summit

• Exploits the benefits of inter-disciplinary research but not interdisciplinary for interdisciplinary’s sake

• Innovative / something not done before / not boring! / some element of ‘edge’

• Not constrained to produce predictable outcomes / allows for higher risk research which may not produce the ‘expected’ results

• Ideas driven• Sets new agenda• Transparent methodologies• Has relevance beyond the specific case studies• Builds upon existing knowledge. • Engages with stakeholders alive and dead• Should have pathways to potential impact embedded within the project• Methods to assess the impacts upon communities built into the design • Benefits from insights from the arts and humanities

Aims and Focus for this WorkshopWe hope the workshop will stimulate the

development of innovative ideas for transformative, cross-disciplinary, community-engaged research

consortia, combining arts and humanities expertise with other research disciplines and community, policy

and practice partners, to pursue the challenges and opportunities of supporting enhanced health and

well-being in community contexts.

Policy and Research Context

Flourishing People, Connected Communities, A Framework for Developing Well-Being, Department of Health 2009

Examples of Possible Challenges• What role does participation in community-based cultural and creative

activities and ‘cultural connectivity’ play in promoting purpose & meaning in life and in enhancing mental health & well-being?

• How can an understanding of community histories, cultures and values inform more targeted and better designed community-based initiatives and services that meet the health and caring needs of specific local or cultural communities (e.g. youth, ageing, disability, ethnic, faith, diasporic communities)?

• How can cultural and creative activities help to engage communities with the challenges of promoting healthier behaviours and lifestyles (e.g. mental or physical exercise, better diets etc), in the co-design, co-production and co-delivery of services and in tackling addictive behaviours (e.g. drug and alcohol mis-use)?

• How might it be possible to enhance the role that creative and cultural institutions, community organisations and/or cultural heritage play in supporting the health and well-being of communities and to better understand any associated value and benefits for communities?

Examples of Possible Challenges• Engaging with diverse cultural communities

in all stages of the research to develop flourishing communities which support enhanced health and well-being

• Innovative methods and approaches to capturing and assessing in a more holistic way the value and benefits (and any dis-benefits) of interventions and community-based cultural initiatives

The Challenges• These are just examples. Aims of the workshop

are to identify challenges and develop creative approaches to addressing them

• We do not have a pre-determined idea of the types of projects or approaches, topics etc that should emerge, but we do have an idea of the types of things we are looking for in follow-up proposals...

An OpportunityTo “do something different to make a difference”

An opportunity for:• Creativity, innovation, imagination – projects should look

different from previous research (but build on current knowledge & understanding)

• Novel cross-disciplinary / Cross-Research Council collaborations including arts & humanities perspectives

• Exploring new partnerships with policy / practice / business / voluntary sector & communities

• Putting communities at the heart of the research• Co-design & co-production of research• Projects with the potential to move beyond single case

studies to make a significant difference to research landscape, policy, practice and communities

A Unique Funding Opportunity• Longer and larger research projects (up to 5

years, £1.5m FEC) (plus co-funding opportunities)• Development funding up to £15k to support

development of promising ideas for large projects

• Follow-up funding up to £40k for other development activities (scoping, piloting, reviewing, networking, engaging, etc activities)

• Unconstrained by Research Council boundaries but with Arts and Humanities research perspectives playing a central role.

Follow-Up Funding• We want to capture ideas and energy from the workshop

and exploit opportunities for collaboration & adding value to our current portfolio

• Activities could include:- networking events (e.g. seminars, workshops, on-line fora); - knowledge exchange and dissemination activities (e.g. conferences, joint publications, policy briefings);- people exchanges / secondments; - joint scoping studies / pilot projects (e.g. to test exploratory research methods / approaches); - joint reviews / syntheses of research; - community engagement activities; - collaborative training activities

Follow-Up Funding• Funding up to £40,000 available to summit participants, to

start February 2012 and run for up to a year

• Should be cross-disciplinary, including a significant arts and humanities contribution, but can cross the remits of Councils

• Stakeholder & community engagement activities expected

• Must involve at least two workshop participants & two institutions but can involve any number of other collaborators (academic/ non-academic, international etc...)

• Applications through Jes, closing date 23rd November 2011, outcomes January 2012.

• Light touch peer review

Roles at the Workshop • Speakers – Provide context, suggest ideas, stimulate debate...

• Facilitator -Simon Wilson – guide us through the workshop and help us to get the most out of it...

• Participants – suggest ideas, be open to new ideas and feedback, be prepared to take some risks and move outside comfort zones, develop the research agenda, discuss comment and question, provide and respond to feedback, network, collaborate, enjoy ...

• Challenge Panel – provide advice on emerging ideas, help to identify most promising ideas for development with the most potential to contribute to the aims of the Programme, provide feedback, ask questions, challenge...

• Research Council staff – help facilitate the meeting, advise, answer questions etc.

Roles at the Workshop –Challenge Panel

• Gary Grubb AHRC (Panel chair)

• Margret Meagher, Arts and Health Australia

• David Buchanan, University of Massachusetts at Amherst

• Phil Taverner, Assistant Director NETSCC - Public Health Research and Health Services Research, University of Southampton

• Mike Locke, Volunteering England

• Eleanor Marks, Welsh Government (Weds only)

• Katie Finch, MRC

Roles at the Workshop –Research Council staff

• AHRC, MRC, EPSRC and ESRC staff - help facilitate, link to other research activities and provide advice

• Adam Walker, Gemma Broadhurst and other AHRC colleagues – advice on post workshop follow-up funding application process

• Samantha Roythorne and AHRC colleagues –logistical and workshop arrangements, T&S claims etc.