UAL supports Warwick UK Cities of Culture: Future Trends series

This week, Warwick UK Cities of Culture Project and University of Warwick, with support from UAL, published the ‘Future Trends series’ - discussing the value of culture and its impact on people, society, the economy, wellbeing, and prosperity.

The papers, commissioned by the AHRC, are expected to inform and engage with ambitions for cultural growth at all levels. They also offer a practical guide to understanding a range of concepts, methods, data, and evidence when planning and preparing proposals and programming.

The Future Trends series consists of 7 papers, including 4 co-authored by UAL researchers:

Innovations in Economic Impact Assessment and Future Directions

Co-authored by Dr Patrycja Kaszynska, Senior Research Fellow at UAL.

This paper explores how Coventry UK City of Culture 2021 has taken an innovative approach to Economic Impact Assessment to gain a more complete and better-grounded understanding of the benefits generated by its City of Culture year and how this approach can be considered in relation to the DCMS Cultural and Heritage Capital Framework.

Social Value Creation and Measurement in the Cultural Sector

Co-authored by Dr Patrycja Kaszynska, Senior Research Fellow at UAL.

This paper reviews the current understanding of creating and measuring social value in the cultural sector. It uses a case study of the Social Value Assessment for Coventry UK City of Culture 2021 to support assumptions and to create recommendations for future research and practice.

Reasons to co-create

Co-authored by Dr Patrycja Kaszynska, Senior Research Fellow at UAL.

This paper analyses the meaning and value of ‘co-creation’ within the arts – ultimately suggesting that the value of co-creation is best understood in terms of what makes it meaningful to those who participate.

Maximising and Measuring the Value of Heritage in Place

Co-authored by Dr Graeme Evans, Professor Emeritus at UAL.

This paper suggests that greater focus is needed on hidden and everyday heritage, and also on the experience and interpretation of designated heritage assets in order to better reflect and represent contemporary society. UK Cities of Culture provide a valuable opportunity to drive place-shaping efforts and imp,rove impacts from local heritage engagement through the involvement communities.

You can read the full Future Trends series here.