Active Communities Arts Development: Social Prescribing, Sustainable Strategic Planning And Breaking Down Barriers Across Sectors In North Lanarkshire
Lead Research Organisation:
University of Edinburgh
Department Name: Sch of Health in Social Science
Abstract
North Lanarkshire's (NL) ambitious aim for regeneration includes reshaping and repopulating its town centres as places of creativity and enterprise to support economic growth. This involves developing a sense of place by protecting or redeveloping vacant priority buildings, and providing 'Super Hubs' to support integrated delivery of public services including lifelong learning, housing, third sector & adult care facilities, police & community safety initiatives, business & employment.
The high-level strategic plan for NL highlights shared priorities across sectors, focusing on aspects of the human condition to significantly improve the quality of life & wellbeing of people who want to live, learn, work, invest in and visit the locality. The arts and humanities, however, are absent from this vision. While Covid-19 has emphasised the need for accessible arts provision across NL, particularly for marginalised groups, there is no formal arts strategy. This is concerning as NL has the 4th largest population of Scotland's 32 authorities & the Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation reports increases in deprivation. This collaboration builds on existing research - the Measuring Humanity research programme 'measuring' health and inequalities through creativity and connectivity - at the University of Edinburgh (UoE) - to:
-co-produce a long-term, sustainable and 'measurable' Arts/Creative Communities strategic plan for NL with community members, including marginalised groups, and key stakeholders in health, education, business & employability, social justice & community safety that is integrated and aligned with other sectors' priorities
-connect NL's departments, schools and grassroots organisations to ensure sustained access to the arts from early years through to healthy ageing
-implement a social prescribing model to support the health & wellbeing of NL communities through the arts and humanities
-identify assets (building, cultural, human resources, communities' knowledge & aspirations) that will contribute to a sustainable regeneration plan devised with constituents
-implement a dignity and access fund for lower income households or those facing barriers in accessing the arts
-develop a co-produced, multi-sectoral template for other local authorities' Arts/Creative Communities departments to apply/adapt/feed into national policies in Scotland & England
The UoE will work with key national, regional and local partners (Scottish Communities Safety Network, Youth Theatre Arts Scotland; NL Enterprise & Communities; Community Learning & Development; NL Head of Education; NL Education & Families Social Work Service; NHS Lanarkshire and the Tron Theatre). We will apply the Measuring Humanity framework in various settings using participatory and arts-informed initiatives to connect with marginalised groups/other community members/partners across the lifespan:
-early years education: Creative Consultation; Arts Pop Ups; Future Fridays & Primary Pathways in Schools
-healthy aging: interactive 'Silent Disco' workshops with adults in care homes/living with dementia
-community safety/social justice: musicBox to gather experiences of community safety and empower communities to capture stories using meaningful creative, community-based tools
-creative consortiums: implement a mapping exercise of creative assets in NL to connect partners and create sustainable employment, education and improved quality of life opportunities linked to a social prescribing pathway
Community members will create an interactive, non-digital map (treasure trail) to show people how to get to arts venues; showcase various art-forms; and identify local, cultural assets. We will also pilot an Immersive Taxi Theatre Experiment for marginalised groups, cut off from transport links. The trips will get them to/from arts activities, while capturing meaningful stories about life experiences and turn them into creative podcasts
The high-level strategic plan for NL highlights shared priorities across sectors, focusing on aspects of the human condition to significantly improve the quality of life & wellbeing of people who want to live, learn, work, invest in and visit the locality. The arts and humanities, however, are absent from this vision. While Covid-19 has emphasised the need for accessible arts provision across NL, particularly for marginalised groups, there is no formal arts strategy. This is concerning as NL has the 4th largest population of Scotland's 32 authorities & the Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation reports increases in deprivation. This collaboration builds on existing research - the Measuring Humanity research programme 'measuring' health and inequalities through creativity and connectivity - at the University of Edinburgh (UoE) - to:
-co-produce a long-term, sustainable and 'measurable' Arts/Creative Communities strategic plan for NL with community members, including marginalised groups, and key stakeholders in health, education, business & employability, social justice & community safety that is integrated and aligned with other sectors' priorities
-connect NL's departments, schools and grassroots organisations to ensure sustained access to the arts from early years through to healthy ageing
-implement a social prescribing model to support the health & wellbeing of NL communities through the arts and humanities
-identify assets (building, cultural, human resources, communities' knowledge & aspirations) that will contribute to a sustainable regeneration plan devised with constituents
-implement a dignity and access fund for lower income households or those facing barriers in accessing the arts
-develop a co-produced, multi-sectoral template for other local authorities' Arts/Creative Communities departments to apply/adapt/feed into national policies in Scotland & England
The UoE will work with key national, regional and local partners (Scottish Communities Safety Network, Youth Theatre Arts Scotland; NL Enterprise & Communities; Community Learning & Development; NL Head of Education; NL Education & Families Social Work Service; NHS Lanarkshire and the Tron Theatre). We will apply the Measuring Humanity framework in various settings using participatory and arts-informed initiatives to connect with marginalised groups/other community members/partners across the lifespan:
-early years education: Creative Consultation; Arts Pop Ups; Future Fridays & Primary Pathways in Schools
-healthy aging: interactive 'Silent Disco' workshops with adults in care homes/living with dementia
-community safety/social justice: musicBox to gather experiences of community safety and empower communities to capture stories using meaningful creative, community-based tools
-creative consortiums: implement a mapping exercise of creative assets in NL to connect partners and create sustainable employment, education and improved quality of life opportunities linked to a social prescribing pathway
Community members will create an interactive, non-digital map (treasure trail) to show people how to get to arts venues; showcase various art-forms; and identify local, cultural assets. We will also pilot an Immersive Taxi Theatre Experiment for marginalised groups, cut off from transport links. The trips will get them to/from arts activities, while capturing meaningful stories about life experiences and turn them into creative podcasts
Organisations
- University of Edinburgh (Lead Research Organisation)
- North Lanarkshire Council (Collaboration)
- North Lanarkshire Council (Project Partner)
- NHS Lanarkshire (Project Partner)
- Scottish Community Safety Network (Project Partner)
- Youth Theatre Arts Scotland (YTAS) (Project Partner)
- Tron Theatre (Project Partner)
Publications
Davis, S
(2023)
North Lanarkshire Council Arts Strategy - 2023-2028
De Andrade M
(2022)
Art is Everywhere: How can the Arts tackle Inequalities?
| Title | #YoungWomenNL |
| Description | Kim Beveridge is a digital artist, filmmaker, AV designer and part-time lecturer. Kim created and filmed a series of dance performance pieces in collaboration with New College Lanarkshire Film & TV dept and New Clan Arts. Inspired by the online communities found on social medial platforms, the piece explores themes of self-exploration, class and place. |
| Type Of Art | Artefact (including digital) |
| Year Produced | 2022 |
| Impact | This work created opportunities for young women in North Lanarkshire to engage with artistic and creative employment opportunities. As well as learning more about the creative industry, the work also significantly changed public attitudes and perceptions about youth identity. |
| URL | https://measuringhumanity.org/art# |
| Title | Art is Everywhere (if you look closely enough) |
| Description | David Gilliver is a photographer, artist and recent winner in the macro photography category at the British Photography Awards, 2022. David has created a series of miniature scenes or 'dioramas' that question our relationship with the place in which we live. |
| Type Of Art | Artwork |
| Year Produced | 2022 |
| Impact | This artwork got stakeholders and community members in North Lanarkshire reflecting on the value of place. The dioramas are being distributed across North Lanarkshire at unique sites of cultural heritage, engaging the public with the process of art production in situ. |
| URL | https://measuringhumanity.org/art |
| Title | Bluebird |
| Description | Ryan Pollock is a 23-year-old writer and filmmaker from Wishaw. His film Bluebird tells the story of an unfulfilled litter picker, searching for the meaning that his life has always seemed to lack, and growing concerned at a volatile domestic situation in the neighbouring flat. |
| Type Of Art | Film/Video/Animation |
| Year Produced | 2022 |
| Impact | Showcased at UKRI networking events as an example of how issues of domestic violence and poverty can be depicted through the medium of film to breathe life into statistics on the same societal issues. |
| URL | https://measuringhumanity.org/art |
| Title | Healthy Images of Ageing |
| Description | Wullie Elliott took up photography at the age of 67. For Art Is Everywhere, he has created a stunning series of portraits showing older people in a positive light; doing the things that they love, which provide them with purposeful living in later years. |
| Type Of Art | Artistic/Creative Exhibition |
| Year Produced | 2022 |
| Impact | These photographs connected with usually excluded communities in North Lanarkshire reframing ageing as a healthy, positive, life-affirming process filled with creativity. Organisations such as Age Concern connected with the work and community members. |
| URL | https://measuringhumanity.org/art |
| Title | Junk to Funk |
| Description | Eilidh Manson is a visual arts tutor and mixed-media artist working across North Lanarkshire. She has a passion for giving old things a new life, and worked with community groups across North Lanarkshire turning discarded items into pieces of art. |
| Type Of Art | Artwork |
| Year Produced | 2022 |
| Impact | This work engaged with marginalised groups who wouldn't usually access the arts. The process of coming together in community to make art improved their health and wellbeing and reduced isolation. |
| URL | https://measuringhumanity.org/art# |
| Title | Referlished: Trash Art |
| Description | Emma Ferla is an artist and jewellery designer who cares deeply about plastic waste and the climate challenge. Inspired by the woodlands and nature reserves that surround her home, Emma has created three visual art pieces using plastic waste and bottle tops. |
| Type Of Art | Artwork |
| Year Produced | 2022 |
| Impact | Through arts-based workshops in local communities, this work educated community members on the perils of plastic waste and climate challenge topics. As a result, locals engaged in walks to clean up their green spaces. |
| URL | https://measuringhumanity.org/art |
| Title | Status: Changed |
| Description | Overdrive Dance Company engages male identifying young people with dance and creative movement. They present Status:Changed - a contemporary dance performance reworked by the young people involved and filmed in various locations around North Lanarkshire. |
| Type Of Art | Performance (Music, Dance, Drama, etc) |
| Year Produced | 2022 |
| Impact | This dance cut across the time-space continuum. Performed live at various North Lanarkshire heritage sites, it attracted crowds of locals who watched as the pop-up performance unfolded while being simultaneously filmed. Later, the film served as a discussion point with the National Heritage Lottery Fund who watched it with a view to reconsider how place-based and artistic work can be commissioned and valued differently. |
| URL | https://measuringhumanity.org/art |
| Title | Working (C)Lassies |
| Description | Holly Worton and Mawer are multi-disciplinary and performance artists respectively. Working C(Lassies) is a site-specific performance art piece exploring stories of Working Class women across the North Lanarkshire area. |
| Type Of Art | Performance (Music, Dance, Drama, etc) |
| Year Produced | 2022 |
| Impact | Showcased at UKRI networking events and other conferences/policy discussions as an example of how spontaneous, immersive theatre challenges the very nature of evidence capture and measurement. How is it possible to do a head count (reach) for passersby who engaged with this work as they were walking through a park? How is it possible to know how they were impacted when the approaches used were non-linear and creative? |
| URL | https://measuringhumanity.org/art |
| Description | Co-Production of 11 strands of community-based arts practices that addressed social inequalities through social prescribing methods, including MusicBox, Mind Body Soul, Walking Tall Tales, Educational Creative Consultation, Imagination Station, Arts Network, Arts and You Consultation, InMotion, High Street Pop up and Digital Mapping. This resulted in production and outputs of live performances, podcasts, compositions, field recordings, sonic postcards and a publicly accessible digital map. The digital assets map was co-produced in a multi-layered design to capture local narratives that emerged from the project in our targeted areas. These strands of work met all our key demographics from early years through to older populations. Targeting and connecting varied groups (e.g., BAME, refugees), ensuring that multiple, diverse voices were represented in strategic development and policy making. This representation in policy making was further achieved through the co-production of North Lanarkshire Council's first Art Strategy. The creation of an arts network and creative consortia that support the social prescribing pathways for the arts in North Lanarkshire, increased public understanding of how solidarity in linked to health and equity and network building between statutory partners, academic partners, community organiations and community members. Through Art is Everywhere, we aligned North Lanarkshire Council's work with Macmillan and Voluntary Action North Lanarkshire to develop social prescribing in NL. Although McMillan work with cancer patients - they want to extend the social prescribing to all community. They are developing a new format where they plan to employee 10 Community Connectors across the authority to sit in the existing 8 hubs. Their job is to receive self referrals and offer care plans/social prescribing options (like arts&you). There will be a central number that will be used for anyone to self refer (don't need a GP) then these referrals will be redirected to the right community connector (geographically). There will be a new VANL website with lots of groups for public to access. They will capture data, who is accessing and where they are going. We delivered all strands of work that reached key populations including: Creation of a digital community assets map. Creation of North Lanarkshire's first arts strategy Creation of Arts Network Integration of North Lanarkshire's arts team across council-wide services - ongoing process Submission of academic publications Creation of Creative Consortiums |
| Exploitation Route | The creation of an Arts Network of North Lanarkshire for local artists is continuing and taken forward by the artists themselves with support. The proposal of Airdrie as an arts town of Scotland has been taken forward on the back of the success of this project. We connected NL's departments, schools, grassroots organisations, businesses and accessibility networks to ensure sustained access to the arts, developing an arts strategy that could be used as a multi-sectoral template for other local authorities and feed into national policy in Scotland and rest of the UK. The findings of this project have fed into REALITIES where a model informed by the work in this grant is being rolled out across four sites across Scotland including North Lanarkshire. Integration experiments with various NLC service personell - e.g. What is creativity and how do you use it - sessions for council employees on what creativity is and enabling them to try out a facilitated session.The co-design of an external comms plan for North Lanarkshire Arts Team. Further build upon the networks and links made through the Arts Network, Creative Consortia and mulita-level strategic partnerships. To test-run a system of managing our own budget based on service provision offered multi-sectorally rather than paid individually. The arts team to work closely with their academic partners (UoE) to design evaluation methods of their work that does not require bureaucratisation of the work. Ensuring that artists are not monitoring and taking time away from the 'doing' Co-design of am innovate, creative assets map that not only captures the activities in the place but also how the activities are affecting the people in each place. Further development and growth of the digital community assets map as a public service and signposting service. Hosting of events and exhibtions in local areaswith invitiation to strategic, influential attendees A Re-design of the website Offering free events at library festivals. • Arts Network - local artists set up a system to keep in touch with each other to share opportunities/skills/knowledge • Worked with library initiative Bookbug to deliver a series of play and stay sessions with parents/grandparents and babies. Free sessions in exchange for opinions on pre 5 activity in NLC • Establishing a working partnership with Puppet Animation Scotland to deliver a programme for early years practitioners to deliver to children on emotional resilience and wellbeing. They would also like to explore the option of an artist in residence to mirror activity in Cumbernauld theatre and communities of NLC • Working with NHS to establish a network for woman who are peri/menopausal. Initially for NLC staff only, this will roll out to the community. Included in the conversation with NHS/NL Leisure to complement her physical activity programme with an expressive arts programe. • Partnered with McMillan Cancer charity, libraries and museums to run an event at Summerlee using the silent disco kit. It was extremely popular and have had lots of interest generated for future collaborations. • Delivered creative arts activity at restorative justice conference. This was to 200 delegates from social work and the justice system. The event was such a success, everyone engaged and open. |
| Sectors | Communities and Social Services/Policy,Creative Economy,Education,Environment,Healthcare,Government, Democracy and Justice,Culture, Heritage, Museums and Collections |
| URL | https://measuringhumanity.org/ |
| Description | North Lanarkshire Arts team has made progress through in this project in becoming a fully integrated council service, now playing a crucial role in reaching and collaborating with the people and places in the region that require support. The arts offer is now situated as a key asset in addressing social inequality, removing barriers of accessibility to the arts, and sustainably raising the profile of North Lanarkshire's artistic and creative activities. The service is moving from a delivery model of 'as and 'when', towards a holistic, key asset in addressing social inequality - woven throughout all council services, the arts being utilised as a social prescription not only throughout our health and leisure services but within our housing, social care, education, employment, business, and environmental services. The project has created conditions in North Lanarkshire for local community and arts services to reach and collaborate more effectively with communities that are harder to reach and engage with therefore offering a more transformative arts offer. We did this by co-producing interconnected, bottom-up, community-led initiatives that cut across four key components Early Years Education; Healthy Aging; Community Safety and Social Justice; Health and Wellbeing. The work was co-designed with local communities, including marginalised groups, and key stakeholders in health, education, business and employability, social justice, and community safety. We integrated and aligned the project with other sectors' priorities and targets in order to embed and connect the work with North Lanarkshire's council departments, schools, grassroots organisations, businesses, and accessibility/transport networks for sustained access to the arts. Targeting and connecting varied groups (e.g. younger groups, older groups, BAME, refugees). The implementation of social prescribing principles when co-producing arts-based activities helped to support the health and wellbeing of North Lanarkshire communities. Particularly in identifying assets (building, cultural, human resources, community knowledge and aspirations) that could contribute to sustainable regeneration plans co-designed with North Lanarkshire residents, including the implementation of a dignity and access fund for lower income households or those who face barriers in accessing the arts in the local authority. Allowing for an exploration of what could be done with what already exists within the local areas within the ten strands of work. This aligned with Scotland's Community Empowerment (Scotland) Act 2015 that recognizes the necessity for central and local government to support and empower communities and requires achieving through more community control and the strengthening of local voices in decisions about public services. The project increased visibility and recognition of North Lanarkshire's local artists work and the artistic talents of the communities that reside there, heightening visibility and creating connections for future cross-pollination to happen. It helped the council to measure impact for both the financial and social value of the arts and view arts as a process rather than an outcome, to de-instrumentalise arts as a social prescriber. The digital community assets map helped to plot places and creative assets across North Lanarkshire, tracking areas to explore what the need is, meeting that need and ensuring we do not end up in the same places all the time. Furthermore, the map created a cartography of the psyche - mapping narratives across the region that emerged within these creative activities. All of this was carried out embodying an ethos of Co-production, Co-design, Continuous Learning & Experimentation, informed by the relational principles of Measuring Humanity methodology and the Human Learning Systems (HLS) approach. |
| First Year Of Impact | 2022 |
| Sector | Communities and Social Services/Policy,Creative Economy,Education,Environment,Healthcare,Leisure Activities, including Sports, Recreation and Tourism,Government, Democracy and Justice,Culture, Heritage, Museums and Collections |
| Impact Types | Cultural,Societal,Economic,Policy & public services |
| Description | National Heritage Lottery Fund - influencing commissioning process (Scotland) |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Policy Influence Type | Participation in a guidance/advisory committee |
| Impact | Thinking differently about the types of evidence that could lead to a project being commissioned and subsequent impacts. |
| Description | REALITIES in Health Disparities: Researching Evidence-based Alternatives in Living, Imaginative, Traumatised, Integrated, Embodied Systems |
| Amount | £210,188 (GBP) |
| Funding ID | AH/X006131/1 |
| Organisation | Arts & Humanities Research Council (AHRC) |
| Sector | Public |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | 11/2022 |
| End | 07/2024 |
| Description | UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) Mobilising Community Assets to Tackle Health Inequalities |
| Amount | £210,000 (GBP) |
| Funding ID | AH/X006131/1 |
| Organisation | Arts & Humanities Research Council (AHRC) |
| Sector | Public |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | 11/2022 |
| End | 07/2023 |
| Description | valYOUed: arts and humanities evidence in place |
| Amount | £12,000 (GBP) |
| Organisation | Arts & Humanities Research Council (AHRC) |
| Sector | Public |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | 01/2023 |
| End | 04/2023 |
| Title | Cartography - North Lanarkshire's First Interactive Creative Asset made by and for Local Communities |
| Description | It started in the summer of 2021 with a blank sheet of paper and a vision to put art on the map in North Lanarkshire. We knew there were incredibly creative and inspiring people and places in the area, but sensed they were working and lurking in the shadows. We wanted to change that. We sensed the power of arts to bring about real change in North Lanarkshire's communities . For art and creativity to be the thread connecting education, employability, social justice, health, planning and regeneration and other sectors. For art to have a presence 'everywhere'. For art to help tackle inequalities. We convinced the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) to support us and Art is Everywhere was born alongside 8 other sibling's in the AHRC's place-based programme . Because place matters - and North Lanarkshire's worth it. Behind the scenes, we're working with North Lanarkshire Council and other partners to co-produce the area's first ever strategy for the arts . And this is for you - North Lanarkshire's first ever interactive creative map made by and for local communities. You get to add your name and profile to the list of creative 'People' in North Lanarkshire. You get to add any 'Places' that are inspirational for you or 'Resources' to help you on your creative journey. Simply go to the pages for People, Places of Inspiration and/or Resources by clicking the red buttons below. There you will be able to download a submission form that you can fill and return to us. Let's fill North Lanarkshire with amazing art and artists that are accessible and everywhere . |
| Type Of Material | Improvements to research infrastructure |
| Year Produced | 2022 |
| Provided To Others? | Yes |
| Impact | A unique, interactive mapping tool for North Lanarkshire to be updated by local community members as creative assets grow in the region. This tool is beingused as part of North Lanarkshire's asset hub mapping in a follow up grant funded by the AHRC - REALITIES in Health Disparities: researching evidence-based alternatives in living, imaginative, traumatised, integrated, embodied systems |
| URL | https://storymaps.arcgis.com/stories/6ac20b76899742329ffb28ed91b5dbc3 |
| Description | Art is Everywhere is now part of the Northern Corridor Local Outcome Improvement Plan (LOIP) Health Inequalities Sub Group |
| Organisation | North Lanarkshire Council |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Public |
| PI Contribution | Bringing expertise from Art is Everywhere to the tackle inequalities through the arts. |
| Collaborator Contribution | This collaboration helps improve the environment for the communities within the Northern Corridor. Through this partnership, North Lanarkshire Council, NHS Lanarkshire, Police Scotland, Scottish Fire and Rescue Service, and other public sector organisations are working together with local communities and voluntary groups to make improvements in the Northern Corridor. |
| Impact | * Providing a focus for the work of the Northern Corridor Community Board. • Ensuring that the communities within the Community Board area will have the opportunity to develop and benefit from the vision set out in the Plan for North Lanarkshire. • Setting out the priorities of various communities and organisations, monitor actions and reward success with their implementation. |
| Start Year | 2022 |
| Description | North Lanarkshire Council's Local Area Partnership |
| Organisation | North Lanarkshire Council |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Public |
| PI Contribution | Art is Everywhere collaborated with North Lanarkshire Council's planning and regeneration team to apply for National Lottery Heritage Fund. The bid was successful (full amount TBC) with this project running as a key strand throughout. |
| Collaborator Contribution | Integrating Art Is Everywhere project into planning and regeneration plans for North Lanarkshire, specifically: ? Airdrie is a former chartered market town which was once an affluent centre of the weaving trade in Scotland ? This has left a strong legacy in the built environment, with a number of attractive heritage buildings ? It however has a depressed local economy and its town centre has been in long-term decline, with many of these heritage assets now redundant and high levels of vacancy and 'low rent' uses of commercial space ? The town centre is also among Scotland's poorest places (with all its SIMD neighbourhoods in Scotland's most multiply deprived 5%) ? NLC is currently developing its plans for town centre regeneration in Airdrie and sees significant opportunities to break the vicious cycle of decline ? An action plan is emerging around four key objectives ? Consolidating the town's retail core ? Delivering town centre living across a range of tenures (bringing more residential footfall ? Establishing Airdrie as a hub for the creative sector and for enterprise ? Rediscovering and celebrating the lost heritage of Airdrie |
| Impact | North Lanarkshire Council is preparing bids to secure external funding bids, supported by NLC match and partner contributions, to deliver on these objectives ? This includes funding through Historic Environment Scotland's (HES) Heritage and Place Programme and National Lottery Heritage Fund's (NLHF) Thriving Places Programme ? The Council was successful at initial 'expression of interest' stage and intends to submit 'development phase' applications for both funding streams, with NLHF due on 17 November and HES on 15 December ? Both fund 'community engagement' activities which could include arts-based approaches to engaging with heritage - particularly around the discussed theme of 'reinterpreting the past, reimagining the future' and we'd be particularly keen to capture any ideas you have ? See pages 49-50 of the HES programme guidance and 'what can we fund' dropdown on the NLHF website here ? NLC is required to establish a 'Local Area Partnership' prior to bid(s) submission and we are keen to secure the University's approval in principle to participate in further development activity |
| Start Year | 2022 |