Cultural Intermediation & Creative Economy

Background

Professor Paul Long is the Communities Work Package Lead of the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) funded project, ‘Creative Intermediation and Creative Economy’. It is a joint research project between the University of Birmingham, University of Salford, Liverpool John Moores University, City University and the University of Cardiff.

The project seeks to get deprived urban communities involved in the creative cultures and arts, with research being carried out through a four year period from 2012 – 2016.

This large-scale study is part of the AHRC’s Connected Communities programme which also includes an ongoing research project from School of Media lecturer, Dave Harte, on citizen journalism.

Aims

• Discover the value of cultural intermediation
• Find out how to strengthen the connection between communities and creative economy
• Create new ways of measuring value
• Analyse development of cultural intermediation in order to inform practice
• Examine how intermediation fits in with the current policy landscape
• Design new forms of cultural intermediation
• Enhance practice by reflecting on cross-discipline work

Benefits

The realising of the value and further understanding of intermediation, will result in a higher standard of practice by policy-makers and practitioners. This will be furthered with training in research methods for the creatives involved.

Just some of the debates that the project will make a big contribution to, are: Creativity and Valuation, Historical Evolution of Creative Economy, and Governance and Localism.

Partners in this research are: ACE, AIR, a-n, Brighter Sound, Chris Jam, Community Development Trust, Creative Partnerships, MADE, Manchester City Council, Manchester International Festival, RSA, Sampad, Unconvention, and Visiting Arts.