Environment & SustainabilityConnecting communities through food: the development of community supported agriculture in the UK
Principal Investigator: Professor Neil Ravenscroft
From 2010 to 2011
There is a convergence of the cultural and material worlds occurring in farming, driven by communities making connections between the production and consumption of food. This new civic agriculture is experienced in multiple ways, from small groups of allotment holders, to large groups owning substantial farming businesses and land. Read more
Meanwhile use as performance: Securing social value from vacant space
Principal Investigator: Andy Dearden (Sheffield Hallam University)
From 2012 to 2013
’Meanwhile’ use of temporarily vacant spaces is applied by many organisations to access cheap space during the recession. This project explored how community-based organisations could make the most effective use of these opportunities. We brought together community development practitioners, community groups, landlords, local authority representatives and ‘meanwhile’ brokers to explore issues. Read more
Participation’s “Others”: A Cartography of Creative Listening Practices
Principal Investigator: Julian Brigstocke
From 2014 to 2015
This project asks how participatory research might be extended to become better able to ‘listen’ to voices that do not fall within the boundaries of the traditional individual human subject, such as past and future generations, non-human life, radically decentred minds, and objects and technologies. Read more
Networked communities as dynamic co-created learning environments
Principal Investigator: Professor Neil Ravenscroft
2013
Through a series of co-created and facilitated workshops and training programmes, Phase 1 of this project has brought facilitation practice into conversation with academic research methods to create a co-designed multi-method model for organising the generation of data about personal and community histories and associations. Read more
Cambridge Community Heritage
Principal Investigator: Dr Carenza Lewis, University of Cambridge
From 2012 to 2013
In Cambridge Community Heritage (CCH) project (2012-13), ten University of Cambridge researchers in Archaeology, History, Heritage and Public Engagement collaborated in research with 37 community groups in eastern England. Read more
Memories of ‘Mr Seel’s Garden’: Engaging with historic and future food systems in Liverpool
Principal Investigator: Dr Michelle Bastian
From 2012 to 2013
On the outer edges of Liverpool ONE, a 42 acre regeneration area of the city centre, there is a Tesco Superstore. Read more
In conversation with…:co-designing with more-than-human communities
Principal Investigator: Dr Michelle Bastian; University of Edinburgh
From 2013 to 2014
The aim of this project is to explore how an expanded account of community – one which recognises the active participation of non-humans – might contribute to our understandings of how research can be co-designed and co-produced. Read more
Cultural Planning for Sustainable Communities
Principal Investigator: Graeme Evans
From 2013 to 2014
This 18 month research project aims to use cultural mapping and planning as a way to explain and value the relationship between arts & culture and the environment. Ideas of and behaviour towards the natural environment and ‘ecosystems’ tend to lack a cultural dimension, or include the cultural sector of arts organisations, artists and other ‘hidden’ community culture. Read more
Foodscapes
Principal Investigator: Michael Buser, University of the West of England
2013
FOODSCAPES was an AHRC Connected Communities project that explored the use of art as a way of opening up discussion about food, food poverty and sustainable communities. Participants included Knowle West Media Centre, The Matthew Tree Project, the Edible Landscapes Movement, UWE Bristol, University of Southampton, the James Hutton Institute and Paul Hurley (artist-in-residence). Read more
GEM (Grown, Edible, Meaningful)
Principal Investigator: Ann Light
From 2013 to 2014
The GEM project invited people to grow edible plants together to inspire reflection on environmental issues across cultures and faiths. Our team of researchers and community organisations wanted to know what different meanings growing food holds across different communities and to learn if this affects feelings towards the environment, ecological issues and other people. Read more
