Responding to and modelling the impact of COVID-19 for Sheffields cultural ecology - a case study of impact and recovery
Lead Research Organisation:
University of Sheffield
Department Name: English
Abstract
COVID-19 is radically affecting Sheffield's cultural ecology. The implications appear catastrophic from surveys conducted by PI for the LEP and partners. (https://www.sheffield.ac.uk/about/city/news/cultural-sector-covid-response-survey-1.887602. National sector surveys underestimate the interconnectivity of the cultural ecology of the City, the role of place, concentrating on national economic data rather than the local recovery models required (see Florida, 2005; Scott, 2006). Disparate sectors within entertainment, creative industries, leisure, heritage are overlooked in standard business responses. Data from Sheffield City Council (SCC) demonstrate that over 47% of the city's creative businesses are ineligible for government grants/loans due to business rates models/mode of production.
An immediate response is required: to collect/analyse data on economic impacts on the wider sector; to understand, respond, work with the city's cultural partners assessing how this co-produced approach will enable a robust, evidence based pathway of recovery that can be a model for other places. This project capitalises on benchmark data created through 5 reports (https://www.sheffield.ac.uk/about/city/reports) and a SWOT analysis of Sheffield's cultural ecology commissioned by the SCR/LEP (August 2019) produced by Toulmin/Marshall. The combined collected data will investigate the impact of COVID-19 on Sheffield's cultural ecology - financially, socially, creatively and the implications for the wellbeing of practitioners/audiences. It will explore organisational impacts on LA funding, critique failings in sector models, provide evidence for change, examine positive adaptations. The collaboration includes civic/cultural partners e.g. Sheffield Culture Consortium. By generating immediate and relevant research data about venues, audiences and freelancers that directly impacts on the economic recovery of the sector locally & regionally with national impact, this co-produced research will bring wide and immediate impact by creating data that will directly input into local and regional economic recovery plans, provide a series of benchmark reports for wider national bodies and create a model of best practice for Core Cities and other networks to evaluate the impact of Covid on the wider creative place ecology.
An immediate response is required: to collect/analyse data on economic impacts on the wider sector; to understand, respond, work with the city's cultural partners assessing how this co-produced approach will enable a robust, evidence based pathway of recovery that can be a model for other places. This project capitalises on benchmark data created through 5 reports (https://www.sheffield.ac.uk/about/city/reports) and a SWOT analysis of Sheffield's cultural ecology commissioned by the SCR/LEP (August 2019) produced by Toulmin/Marshall. The combined collected data will investigate the impact of COVID-19 on Sheffield's cultural ecology - financially, socially, creatively and the implications for the wellbeing of practitioners/audiences. It will explore organisational impacts on LA funding, critique failings in sector models, provide evidence for change, examine positive adaptations. The collaboration includes civic/cultural partners e.g. Sheffield Culture Consortium. By generating immediate and relevant research data about venues, audiences and freelancers that directly impacts on the economic recovery of the sector locally & regionally with national impact, this co-produced research will bring wide and immediate impact by creating data that will directly input into local and regional economic recovery plans, provide a series of benchmark reports for wider national bodies and create a model of best practice for Core Cities and other networks to evaluate the impact of Covid on the wider creative place ecology.
| Description | The culture sector suffered from a 60 per cent decline in output - gross value added (GVA) - due to social distancing rules and lockdowns over the past 18 months. Restrictions led to 55 per cent of jobs being furloughed in the sector - the second highest sector affected (behind accommodation and food) in the UK. Impact of restrictions varied within the sector - computer games, software, book publishing, TV broadcasting and libraries grew or had modest declines, whereas cinemas, performing arts, museums and historical sites were badly affected. Impact on freelance workers has been particularly significant, with 75% drop in work, 63% loss of income, and 68% of respondents to our survey stating that their mental health had worsened during the pandemic. Findings showed resilience and creativity in adjusting to the circumstances, using digital means or rebalancing areas of work. However, this often did not lead to a viable business model and offered reduced audience experiences compared to face-to-face. |
| Exploitation Route | As a direct response to emerging findings from the project, Professor Toulmin has been instrumental in leveraging funds (an initial £50k total) from Sheffield City Council, University of Sheffield and Sheffield Hallam University to support freelancers in the city region with grants. The first round of funding awarded over £77,000 to 83 freelancers in Sheffield in April 2021. Round 2 of the freelancer fund totalling £154,50 was awarded to 75 freelancers in October 2021 with an average award of £2060. In addition, £50,500 was awarded to five organisations: African Voices Platform, Carousel Print Studio, Hybrid 3, Site Gallery and SYFN with awards ranging from £5,000 to £15,000. A strong network of cultural sector contacts has been developed within the South Yorkshire region and engaged with the project, including stakeholders in both public and private sectors. A comprehensive co-production process has been undertaken with this group, this has allowed them to feed into business recovery activity and policy recommendations. We have also worked with SYMCA to: Produce a briefing document generated and shared with stakeholders across the city region, on analysis of Cultural Recovery Funding Shape the discussion and agenda around business and cultural recovery with Sheffield City Council, South Yorkshire MCA, the Cultural Consortium and key organisations within the city region which resulted in the allocation of £1m funding for the culture sector (specifically literature, film, theatre and music. Prioritise the provision of training to freelancers about developing application for funding skills by Sheffield Creative Guild in direct response to the research's findings https://sheffieldcreativeguild.com/freelance-fund-round-two/ within the allocation of £280k to Sheffield City Council. Implications for the future development of the sector. As a further result of the evidence produced by this work, the remaining Additional Restrictions Grant, was used by Sheffield City Council and using the criteria mapped by the project, Sheffield City Council determined four areas of need that were greatly impacted: film, performing arts, live music and independent writing and publishing. The University of Sheffield's Off the Shelf Festival partnered with arts providers the Poetry Business and And Other Stories to distribute the funding across these four key areas of the cultural sector. £40k is in the process of being allocated to invest in developing creative practice for individual writers in Sheffield. Similar schemes are in place in other places such as Doncaster who again used the evidence provided by the report. South Yorkshire Cultural and Creative Industries Network (SYCCIN) was established by South Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority in 2021 to advocate for the cultural sector. In addition members of the team are part of Network in partnership with the Showroom, Sheffield. |
| Sectors | Creative Economy,Culture, Heritage, Museums and Collections |
| URL | https://www.sheffield.ac.uk/city-region/enhancing-cultural-vibrancy/covid-research-0 |
| Description | The project is now complete and has demonstrated the devastating impact of Covid on the cultural sector in South Yorkshire. The findings have been used as follows: A report has been produced which compares the impact of Covid on the cultural sector in several comparable regions and the disproportionate effect on South Yorkshire. The findings have fed into business recovery planning and policy recommendations to local authorities, South Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority and central government. Locally this has already resulted in additional funding through the Additional Restrictions Grant, freelancer support fund and the development of skills training for freelance workers in the cultural sector. A briefing document has been generated and shared with stakeholders across the city region, on analysis of Cultural Recovery Funding. As a direct response to emerging findings Professor Toulmin has continued to shape the discussion and agenda around business and cultural recovery with Sheffield City Council, South Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority, the Cultural Consortium and key organisations within the city region. |
| First Year Of Impact | 2021 |
| Sector | Government, Democracy and Justice,Culture, Heritage, Museums and Collections |
| Impact Types | Cultural,Economic,Policy & public services |
| Description | APPGs, impact on local authority and policy makers |
| Geographic Reach | Local/Municipal/Regional |
| Policy Influence Type | Contribution to new or Improved professional practice |
| Impact | Funding available to freelancers has helped them to adapt their practice and undertake training and upskilling to adapt their businesses to recover from Covid. |
| Description | Contribution to the report "Fair Funding for Devolution". |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Policy Influence Type | Contribution to a national consultation/review |
| Description | Contribution to the report "South Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority Culture, Arts & Heritage Engagement Report". |
| Geographic Reach | Local/Municipal/Regional |
| Policy Influence Type | Participation in a guidance/advisory committee |
| URL | https://southyorkshire-ca.gov.uk/getmedia/5f45f74b-9778-4295-83dc-9a76bff2d729/SYMCA-Culture-Arts-an... |
| Description | Workshops |
| Geographic Reach | Local/Municipal/Regional |
| Policy Influence Type | Influenced training of practitioners or researchers |
| Description | Short film "Food for the Soul" - Festival of the Mind 2020 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A broadcast e.g. TV/radio/film/podcast (other than news/press) |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | A short film by co-I Dr Sarah Price exploring the role cultural events play in living a happy, fulfilled life. Information collated during the making of the film help to demonstrate the impact of COVID-19 on audiences and fed into the final report. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2020 |
| URL | https://www.sheffield.ac.uk/city-region/enhancing-cultural-vibrancy/covid-research/audiences-and-art... |
| Description | Various engagement activities |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Industry/Business |
| Results and Impact | May 2021, Professor Vanessa Toulmin presented the project at the Pandemic and Beyond symposium and to Sheffield Creative Guild. An event was held on 16 November 2021 to launch the findings of the research to participants, policy makers and local authorities. The purpose of the event was to sense check the findings and help to shape the policy ask and business recovery planning. Over 40 people attended to engage with the research findings. A report was produced to show the impact of Covid on South Yorkshire and how that compared to similar regions. This was also discussed by the South Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority at a Policy Makers Event on 2nd December 2021 with an invitation list of 65, including representatives from the SYMCA, local authorities in the region, the Arts Council and a range of other stakeholders. The report is available here: https://www.sheffield.ac.uk/city-region/enhancing-cultural-vibrancy/covid-research-0 The findings have been reported in the media as follows: BBC News; Daily Mail; Yahoo News; Yorkshire Post - page 5; BBC Radio Sheffield (item starts 0:02:26); Hallam FM; STV News; Watford Observer; North West Evening Mail; Wigan Today; The Courier; Sunday Post; Lancashire Telegraph; The Shuttle; Yeovil Express; Hillingdon and Uxbridge Times; Dorset Echo, the Irish News, Arts Professional which included an interview with Professor Malcolm Tait. BBC Arabic broadcast 21 January 2022 relating to the continued closure of museums and cultural venues in the Netherlands. BBC news 15 February '22. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2020,2021,2022 |