CAER Connected

CAER is an ancient Celtic word that has a range of meanings which coalesce around community identity, defence, resilience and sense of place. In Wales the word is particularly associated with Iron Age hillforts. Such sites are enigmatic prehistoric settlements on geographic promontories usually delineated and enclosed by significant earthwork ramparts. Traditional perspectives have regarded hillforts as functional defensive settlements, yet more recent interpretations argue convincingly that they constitute socially charged monumental expressions of identity. Their conception and creation representing complex inter-community negotiation and collaboration written large in the Iron Age landscape. Taking inspiration from these prehistoric partnerships, CAER Connected will establish a collaborative network of academics and non-HEI partners across 'caer' communities located in the shadow of three hillfort monuments in England and Wales to explore the value of the past for creating new futures.

CAER Connected builds upon the award winning archaeological and historical co-research methodologies and partnerships developed by the CAER Heritage Project (CAER) over the past nine years. Funded by a series of AHRC grants, CAER's initiatives have focused on the socially and economically disadvantaged communities of Caerau and Ely, Cardiff. Through participative archaeological and historical research blended with art, film making, social enterprise and other creative co-productive strategies (e.g. CAER Studio AH/R006857/1) CAER has involved over 19,000 participants of all ages in co-researching Caerau Hillfort - an important yet undervalued prehistoric monument. Caerau is currently being developed into a community co-produced heritage site through a major National Lottery Heritage Fund grant (£1.05m) secured by CAER along with community development partners Action in Caerau and Ely (ACE). CAER Connected takes these award-winning co-research strategies beyond the ramparts of Caerau, establishing new ways of approaching cross-community collaboration and support with other hillfort communities in the post-Covid context.

Through a creative sharing of expertise and knowledge CAER Connected will develop a reciprocal co-production network of academics and non-HEI partners (e.g. community development workers, school teachers and pupils, community activists and participants, artists, performers and film makers) across the 'caer' communities at Caerau and Ely, Cardiff; Penparcau, Aberystwyth and Oswestry, Shropshire. These communities all face different social and economic challenges, but are connected by a shared heritage of prominent prehistoric hillforts that provide striking landmarks in their local landscape. Of these groups, CAER is the most mature, and has been used as an exemplar for the development of social-purpose heritage activity at both Penparcau and Oswestry. With informal relationships already emerging between community action heritage groups at each location, CAER Connected will nurture, develop and sustain these embryonic partnerships. It will initiate co-productive artistic and creative initiatives designed to bring people together in these dislocated times; facilitating peer support, reflecting on the similar experiences, and embracing the different challenges, faced by these communities. In doing so, participants will develop confidence, skills and expand social capital and support networks. Through these strategies CAER connected will cultivate a culturally driven heritage vision for their localities, establishing trust, new friendships and shared perspectives through a collective valuing of the prehistoric the past.