Outreach to Ownership: A community-led research pilot investigating inclusive approaches to community engagement across culture sectors

Lead Research Organisation: Historic Bldgs & Mnts Commis for England
Department Name: Engagement Group

Abstract

**Subject to revisions pending further discussions on structure and delivery with AHRC, advisory board and partners**

'Outreach to Ownership' is a cross-border hub and spokes research pilot delivered by Historic England and Historic Environment Scotland that will support a range of smaller culture sector partner organisations and their communities to explore a broad spectrum of inclusive approaches to community engagement across the sector in Scotland and England.

The hub and spokes model is an innovative partnership structure, with a small team at Historic England and Historic Environment Scotland playing a management and advocacy role as the hub, with smaller spoke organisations leading the inclusive engagement research, piloting and testing methodologies for a scaled-up all UK nations programme in 2022/23.

Community empowerment, whether through 'levelling up' initiatives in England, or community wealth commitments in Scotland, has become a key focus for UK and devolved governments in recent years. Such policies increasingly ask communities to shape, participate in, and even take responsibility for the design and delivery of cultural services and ownership of cultural assets such as museums, libraries, galleries and historic buildings, for example. This pilot will empower communities to interrogate the full extent of these trends across the culture sector, and to advocate for the contribution that an inclusive community-engaged culture sector can make to local socio-economic development and national policy.

This innovative pilot will produce new data and strategic insight that will help to identify where mutual aid models and research partnerships built around inclusive community engagement can be brokered across culture sectors, identifying advocating for the unique offer and leadership that local communities can bring to culture sector partners, such as the critical role of volunteers in delivering impact, inclusion and covid recovery across culture sectors. The pilot will evaluate and analyse the social and economic impacts of inclusive cultural engagement, identifying where best practice leads to increases in visitor numbers, improved wellbeing and social cohesion for local communities; business and skills growth. Critical failure points are also in scope: where community engagement fails or poses risk to cultural assets and services.

Spokes organisations will develop research topics in co-creative workshops. These might include: developing and sustaining community partnerships (E.G. with third sector organisations); co-commissioning of creative or historic interpretation work;
community engagement in digital-only contexts; inclusive engagement in rural and isolated places; co-design of exhibitions, events and outreach programmes; community-led research (archival, object-based, visual, oral historical, or ethnographic); community leadership and/or ownership of assets.
 
Title Cladaichean to laebraks 
Description Sculpture inspired by the archeology of the Scottish Islands 
Type Of Art Artwork 
Year Produced 2022 
Impact None reported at this time 
URL https://youtu.be/Cfg4p469_80
 
Title Community generate Mural 
Description A co produced Mural created with young people on the Island of Shetland 
Type Of Art Artwork 
Year Produced 2023 
Impact Young people on Shetland have engaged with defining and memorializing the intangible heritage of the islands and reflected on their places within the scope of Island history. 
URL https://www.moderdy.org/single-project
 
Description Over the course of two years and two phases of funding the Outreach to Ownership Research Pilot supported nine partner projects across England and Scotland. Spoke Partner organisations received grant funding in two rounds and benefited from capacity building workshops, mentorship and network facilitation delivered by the Hub Partners.

Partner project outcomes ranged from traditional research reports to community generated art works, films and digital toolkits. Additionally, the capacity building programme and grant funding allowed one partner to train up a Kickstarter placement who then went on to be offered a full-time role.

Top line findings from the pilot are as follows:

• Definitions of co-creation and co-produced research differ across the cultural sector with some areas being well versed in genuine co-production and others used to more traditional engagement activity.

• Flexibility around timetables and project oversight models is vital when supporting co-produced research with communities.

• Pairing capacity building and grant funding and reaching across the sector to deliver this creates strong relationships in spoke partners. It allows cross pollination of ideas, encouraging partners to think outside of the established way their section of the sector might approach an issue/ audience.

• An increased drive for co-production should come with an increased understanding of the risk funders are asking grantee's and their partners to absorb and where possible a rebalancing of the risk profile towards funders.
Exploitation Route Historic England will take forward the learning from this pilot to inform their active participation work as well as their grant funding streams. The AHRC have announced a call for the AHRC Community-led Heritage Research and Skills Hub which will allow IRO's and HEI institutions to take forward the findings from the GLAM Hub pilots to shape this new hub.
Sectors Communities and Social Services/Policy

Government

Democracy and Justice

Culture

Heritage

Museums and Collections

URL https://historicengland.org.uk/research/current/social-and-economic-research/outreach-to-ownership-pilot/
 
Description For the Hub Partners this pilot has informed the Historic England Grants Review and Communities Development Frameworks along with the Historic Environment Scotland approach to working with intangible cultural heritage. In the wider Heritage landscape the findings from the first phase of the pilot led to a conference bringing together representatives from funders (including the National lottery Heritage and Community Funds), higher education institutions, IRO's and umbrella bodies such as the Council for British Archaeology and the Heritage Trust Network together with community-led organisations working and receiving funding in the heritage and wider cultural sector to discuss and consider how risk is managed and absorbed when working innovatively and co productively. For the spoke partner organisations the evidence produced by their pilot project supported The Art House to begin a new social enterprise in Salford benefiting the makers and artists of Salford as well as the communities around Salford Quays who will now have access to a new network of artistic and crafting spaces and community interest companies working out of Quayside MediaCity. Using findings from their project the Churches Conservation Trust have highlighted the importance of issues around volunteer management and succession planning to Historic Environment Scotland. As part of subsequent conversations HES created a temporary role dedicated to looking at churches, which is partly motivated by these wider conversations. In Lincolnshire and Nottinghamshire 'Building on History' is intended to live on in the syllabus at Nottingham Trent University. On Skye and Shetland new relationships between cultural, social and youth institutions on the Islands have been created and strengthened with emerging pans to wrap the findings from the pilot into the educational transitions of Island children. And on the mainland the Scottish Council on Archives have been able to scale up the methods trialed through the outreach to ownership pilot into a two-year programme of work funded by a substantial grant from the National Lottery Heritage Fund. Findings from the hub and spokes model evaluation and podcast will inform applications for the new AHRC Community-led Heritage Research and Skills Hub.
First Year Of Impact 2022
Sector Education,Government, Democracy and Justice,Culture, Heritage, Museums and Collections
Impact Types Cultural

Policy & public services

 
Description Makey Wakey - Business Rates Avoidance and Evasion
Geographic Reach National 
Policy Influence Type Contribution to a national consultation/review
URL https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/65e1ffeb2f2b3b001c7cd881/SoR_A_E_V8_.pdf
 
Description Moder DY were invited to take part in a session on Heritage in Depopulated European Areas (Herindep)
Geographic Reach Europe 
Policy Influence Type Participation in a guidance/advisory committee
URL https://www.heritageresearch-hub.eu/project/herindep/
 
Description Moder Dy fed the results of their young people's survey into the Shetland Heritage Connections SWOT analysis
Geographic Reach Local/Municipal/Regional 
Policy Influence Type Contribution to a national consultation/review
URL https://www.oldhaa.com/blog/heritage-connections-swot-analysis-meeting
 
Description Moder Dy invited onto the Shetland Heritage Connections Advisory Group
Geographic Reach Local/Municipal/Regional 
Policy Influence Type Participation in a guidance/advisory committee
 
Description The Scottish Council on Archives Community Stories - Community Archives
Amount £139,830 (GBP)
Organisation Heritage Lottery Fund 
Sector Charity/Non Profit
Country United Kingdom
Start 03/2023 
End 03/2025
 
Description Everybody's Stories Matter Community Archive Collaborators 
Organisation Glasgow City Council
Country United Kingdom 
Sector Public 
PI Contribution Funding, capacity and project support from the Outreach to Ownership hub supported the everybody's stories matter project and the Scottish Council on Archives to build on existing and create new partnerships across the highlands and Islands of Scotland.
Collaborator Contribution Scottish Council on Archives undertook on the ground collaboration with range of organisations including Glasgow City Archives, Govanhill Baths, Community Archives and Heritage Group Scotland, OurStory Scotland, and Scottish Jewish Archives Centre.
Impact Collaborative partners are engaging with guidance and support provided by the Scottish Council on Archives including the new community archives toolkit along with ongoing training programs run by the SCA which partners were not previously aware of.
Start Year 2021
 
Description Everybody's Stories Matter Community Archive Collaborators 
Organisation Govanhill Baths
Country United Kingdom 
Sector Charity/Non Profit 
PI Contribution Funding, capacity and project support from the Outreach to Ownership hub supported the everybody's stories matter project and the Scottish Council on Archives to build on existing and create new partnerships across the highlands and Islands of Scotland.
Collaborator Contribution Scottish Council on Archives undertook on the ground collaboration with range of organisations including Glasgow City Archives, Govanhill Baths, Community Archives and Heritage Group Scotland, OurStory Scotland, and Scottish Jewish Archives Centre.
Impact Collaborative partners are engaging with guidance and support provided by the Scottish Council on Archives including the new community archives toolkit along with ongoing training programs run by the SCA which partners were not previously aware of.
Start Year 2021
 
Description Everybody's Stories Matter Community Archive Collaborators 
Organisation Scottish Jewish Archives Centre
Country United Kingdom 
Sector Public 
PI Contribution Funding, capacity and project support from the Outreach to Ownership hub supported the everybody's stories matter project and the Scottish Council on Archives to build on existing and create new partnerships across the highlands and Islands of Scotland.
Collaborator Contribution Scottish Council on Archives undertook on the ground collaboration with range of organisations including Glasgow City Archives, Govanhill Baths, Community Archives and Heritage Group Scotland, OurStory Scotland, and Scottish Jewish Archives Centre.
Impact Collaborative partners are engaging with guidance and support provided by the Scottish Council on Archives including the new community archives toolkit along with ongoing training programs run by the SCA which partners were not previously aware of.
Start Year 2021
 
Description Salford Loading - Quayside MediaCity. 
Organisation MediaCityUK
Country United Kingdom 
Sector Private 
PI Contribution Capacity building support from the Outreach to Ownership research pilot allowed staff at the Art House (and their community partners) to demonstrate the social and economic benefit of the Makey Wakey meanwhile use business model.
Collaborator Contribution Using the outputs from the Makey Wakey project (supported by Outreach to Ownership as described above) The Art House were able to embark upon a new Programme of meanwhile use in Salford. Expanding their business model and embarking upon demonstrating it's benefits in Salford using the techniques and skills developed through the Outreach to Ownership capacity building programme.
Impact A new social enterprise
Start Year 2022
 
Title BUILDING ON HISTORY a digital toolkit for communities 
Description A digital tool designed to help communities develop ways to recognize their heritage in different ways like designation or plaques. 
Type Of Technology Webtool/Application 
Year Produced 2022 
Open Source License? Yes  
Impact Underserved communities across Nottinghamshire and Lincolnshire have engaged with the process of assessing and assigning significance to heritage places and their intangible cultural heritage. 
URL https://connectwithyourheritage.org/toolkit/
 
Title Online community archives catalogues 
Description Creation of new online community archives catalogues which have been exported to a new data aggregation portal developed by SCA and launching in spring 2024 - Your Scottish Archives 
Type Of Technology Webtool/Application 
Year Produced 2024 
Open Source License? Yes  
Impact Not yet clear 
 
Title SCOTTISH COMMUNITY ARCHIVES TOOLKIT 
Description The Toolkit is divided up into seven sections. Users can dip in and out of each section as they need to or they can go straight to the links to other resources or the customisable templates. First Steps will help users get started if they have little or no experience of working with archives. It includes information on what community archives are, setting up a community archive, sustainability and volunteer management. Collections Management will help users to develop the skills and tools they need to manage their collections effectively. This includes choosing what users will collect, how they will collect it and what information they need to keep. Cataloguing will help users to develop skills in cataloguing their collections. Collections Care will help users ensure that their collections survive for a long time by explaining how to handle collections properly, protect them, manage environmental conditions, keep collections secure, prevent damage and when to call in an expert conservator. Digital Records will help users to preserve digital records and digitised (scanned) material and make them available in the long-term. Sharing Your Collections will help users provide access to their collections, suggest ways of making catalogues available online, and help them to develop talks, exhibitions and other outreach activities. Legal Matters contains basic guides to copyright, data protection and GDPR. 
Type Of Technology Webtool/Application 
Year Produced 2023 
Open Source License? Yes  
Impact As a result of the publication of the toolkit community archives across Scotland (and the UK as a whole) have access to targeted support with issues raised by community archive holders and users during the research undertaken as part of Phase 1 of the Outreach to Ownership project. This should result in better maintained, safer, better catalogued and more accessible community archives across the UK. 
URL https://www.scottisharchives.org.uk/community-archives/scottish-community-archives-toolkit/
 
Description Capacity Building and Mentoring Programme 
Form Of Engagement Activity Participation in an activity, workshop or similar
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach National
Primary Audience Professional Practitioners
Results and Impact The capacity building programme was a key strength of the Outreach to Ownership (O2O) model, and an important point of distinction between this pilot and a traditional grants programme.

One of the primary aims of the O2O pilot was to work with partners from outside the pool of regular IRO collaborators. We sought out diverse partners representing different types of organisation, who might not have initially considered themselves interested in or capable of delivering "research" in a formal capacity. O2O funded five delivery partnerships, representing 9 organisations and 21 spoke partner staff.

The research undertaken was also not typical for organisations working in the GLAM or heritage sectors. We therefore felt it necessary to support those partners to develop the skills and confidence to allow them to work effectively in a research context. To do this, we put together a programme of capacity building workshops which were delivered over the course of the pilot, guiding the partners through the different stages of their projects with appropriate support, training and development.

The goal of this programme was to enable our partners to identify their own priorities, interests, goals and ambitions and to help them find the most suitable ways of taking these forward.

The capacity building programme helped develop the skills required for the successful delivery of the O2O pilot, but it also built confidence and institutional awareness, and fostered relationships and networks which will outlast this specific pilot.

This methodology allowed organisations from outside the traditional research community to access funding, develop skills, knowledge and confidence, and deliver research which can inform, develop and advocate for the work they do.

The content of the programme can be categorised into three broad areas:

? core research skills and knowledge
? co-creation and community engagement
? communications, legacy and dissemination.

These roughly corresponded to the three phases of the programme: design, delivery and dissemination. These areas were delivered across a total of 11 all-partner events , from January through to October 2022.

Overall, there were fourteen individual contributors to the delivery of the programme, excluding the partner organisations themselves.
We drew on existing experience within our team, and within our wider HE and HES networks in recruiting appropriate subject matter experts. Having access to the very large pool of expertise within Historic England was especially valuable, with HE subject matter experts contributing significantly to all three strands of the programme.

We also invited external speakers with experience working in or studying community research and inclusive co-creation: Andrea Armstrong from the University of Durham, and Jo Vergunst from the University of Aberdeen. These experts provided their time in kind and were brought on board through existing relationships with the principal investigator, Michael McBratney. It is to the credit of all the contributors outside of the O2O team that they volunteered their time and expertise generously and enthusiastically.

Skills analysis took place in 2021 and 1:1 mentoring support from Hub staff and our commissioned consultants Bright Culture continued throughout phases 1 and 2 of the Programme completing in 2023.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2021,2022,2023
 
Description Conference - Risk management and fostering innovation in community-led projects 
Form Of Engagement Activity A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach National
Primary Audience Professional Practitioners
Results and Impact A national conference examining how public funders can better balance appetite for risk with the ambition to work innovatively, democratically, and co-productively with communities. Part of the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) funded Outreach to Ownership research pilot, which explores how communities can be empowered to undertake research that will drive change in the arts, culture, and heritage sectors.

Community empowerment, in emergent 'levelling up' initiatives or community wealth building commitments, is a key focus for both the UK and devolved governments. These policies increasingly ask communities to shape, participate in, and even take responsibility for the design and delivery of economic, social, and cultural services.

However, enabling participatory, co-produced, work is not always simple. This kind of work presents inherent risks. It is often difficult to design and undertake genuinely innovative and co-produced projects within the structure of carefully costed funding applications and funders project management and reporting expectations.

This full-day session will provided an open, safe space for representatives from funders, public bodies, and organisations working with communities to share their experiences of managing risk when developing and delivering innovative participatory or co-produced projects. We asked whether existing funding models and their oversight arrangements adequately support co-production, and whether public sector organisations and funding bodies should tolerate more risk in order to promote co-production aims.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2023
 
Description Everybody's Stories Matter Project Films 
Form Of Engagement Activity A broadcast e.g. TV/radio/film/podcast (other than news/press)
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Professional Practitioners
Results and Impact Three films commissioned to show work with community groups - launched on SCA website and SCA socials October 2023
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2023
URL https://www.scottisharchives.org.uk/latest/community-archives-feature-in-new-films-from-scottish-cou...
 
Description Everybody's Stories Matter Project presented at Archives and Records Association Annual Conference 
Form Of Engagement Activity A talk or presentation
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Professional Practitioners
Results and Impact A paper entitled 'Helping communities help themselves' delivered at the ARA annual conference. Bringing together a wide range of people working in the recordkeeping sector as well as academics and people from allied sectors with an interest in recordkeeping. The conference is organized by a the ARA Conference Committee made up of volunteers from the ARA Membership, members of the ARA staff team and external conference delivery partners.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2023
URL https://az659834.vo.msecnd.net/eventsairwesteuprod/production-openingdoors-public/df60579f43ae400993...
 
Description Everybody's Stories Matter Project web outputs 
Form Of Engagement Activity Engagement focused website, blog or social media channel
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach National
Primary Audience Media (as a channel to the public)
Results and Impact Extensive promotion of project on SCA website and socials - Facebook, X, Instagram and Linkedin
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2021,2022,2023
URL https://www.scottisharchives.org.uk/latest/everyones-stories-matter-research-project/
 
Description Everybody's Stories Matter Project workshops 
Form Of Engagement Activity Participation in an activity, workshop or similar
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach National
Primary Audience Study participants or study members
Results and Impact Multiple online and in-person workshops at different locations around Scotland in Phase 1 (2021-22) and one-to-one training provided to community groups in-person and online in Phase 2 (2022-23)
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2021,2022,2023
URL https://www.scottisharchives.org.uk/latest/everyones-stories-matter-research-project/
 
Description Inclusive Island Heritage - Charter 
Form Of Engagement Activity Engagement focused website, blog or social media channel
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach National
Primary Audience Study participants or study members
Results and Impact A co-produced Charter for Inclusive Island Heritage
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2022,2023,2024
URL https://msdsmarine.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/MSDS1222021_Charter-for-island-engagement.pdf
 
Description Inclusive Island Heritage - Moder Dy Webpages 
Form Of Engagement Activity Engagement focused website, blog or social media channel
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach National
Primary Audience Public/other audiences
Results and Impact Webpages explaining the part that Moder Dy and their collaborating artists have played in the Outreach to Ownership research pilot
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2021,2022,2023,2024
URL https://www.moderdy.org/projects-6
 
Description Inclusive Island Heritage - Webpages 
Form Of Engagement Activity Engagement focused website, blog or social media channel
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach National
Primary Audience Public/other audiences
Results and Impact Webpages for the Inclusive Island Heritage project linking project outputs and collaborators
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2021,2022,2023,2024
URL https://msdsmarine.com/projects/intertidal-fieldwork/inclusive-island-heritage/
 
Description Makey Wakey Film 
Form Of Engagement Activity A broadcast e.g. TV/radio/film/podcast (other than news/press)
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach National
Primary Audience Public/other audiences
Results and Impact This short film documents the work of the Makey Wakey team and their community partners during phase 1 of the Outreach to Ownership research pilot from January-June 2022.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2022
URL https://the-arthouse.org.uk/videos/makey-wakey-outreach-to-ownership-research-project-the-art-house-...
 
Description Makey Wakey Virtual Art House 
Form Of Engagement Activity Engagement focused website, blog or social media channel
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach National
Primary Audience Public/other audiences
Results and Impact An online virtual space generated by 3 D scans of The Art House which users can move around and engage with linked project content.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2022,2023,2024
URL https://my.scene3d.co.uk/tour/makey-wakey-waiting-room
 
Description Outreach to Ownership - testing a 'hub and spokes' model to support community-led research 
Form Of Engagement Activity A talk or presentation
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Professional Practitioners
Results and Impact Dr Ben Thomas and Charlotte Garratt gave a paper at the Participatory Historical Geographies session of the 2023 Royal Geographical Society with Institute of British Geographers Annual International Conference 1st September 2023.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2023
URL https://www.rgs.org/research/annual-international-conference
 
Description Outreach to Ownership Podcast 
Form Of Engagement Activity A broadcast e.g. TV/radio/film/podcast (other than news/press)
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Public/other audiences
Results and Impact 7 podcast episodes interviewing Outreach to Ownership partners and hub staff talking about the main outcomes and experiences of taking part in the research pilot. Project outputs (hub and spokes) are linked in the show notes.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2023,2024
URL https://open.spotify.com/show/48tceTzmtmv5j4Txh5SFWN