Realising the Impact of AHRC-funded GCRF Work on Heritage

PRAXIS is focussed on Arts and Humanities research across the GCRF portfolio. Specifically, its aims are to consolidate learning across GCRF projects funded by the (AHRC), to amplify their impact and policy relevance, and to champion the distinctive contribution that Arts and Humanities research can make to tackling urgent development challenges.

PRAXIS has four strands: Heritage, Conflict, Youth, and COVID-19. This application focuses on disseminating research outcomes of AHRC-funded projects focussed on Heritage. We aim to:

Share key learning from PRAXIS heritage reports to a broader audience, including relevant NGOs, charities, international agencies and policymakers;
Generate new research findings and capture effective methodologies, bringing together AHRC-funded projects (including their policy partners where appropriate) through targeted
events and dissemination activities;
Collate and publicise AHRC-GRCF projects' impacts to influence policy and practice at scale, especially with UK government departments, including DCMS;
Enable knowledge transfer, exchange, among researchers, practitioners, funders, and policymakers;
Build a repository of resources;
Develop key policy messages and further publications to disseminate the project findings and inform new directions for future research funding and policymaking.

These aims and objectives expand the original project aims by allowing us to feedback to the many principal investigators (PIs) and partners who have contributed to learning events, seminars, interviews, and reports. They will be able to engage with the outcomes that have arisen out of our previous engagement with them, to comment on it, and to work with us to derive larger, overarching learnings and recommendations through a series of target events. An overarching ambition will be to reflect on A&H effective methodologies and how these contribute to development in ODA countries.

Specifically, we will:

Engagement Events: Workshop series on 'Cultural Heritage, Climate Change and Disasters' (January-March 2022)

We will organise a series of workshops on Cultural Heritage, Climate Change and Disasters to capture effective project methodologies, to connect and extract learning on 'what works' (or not), and to promote exchange and knowledge co-production between academics, project projects, practitioners, and policymakers. We will also share and publicise the Heritage for Global Challenges report, the policy briefs published with UKNC for UNESCO, and insights from the brown-bag lunchtime seminars with DCMS, and the Arts, Culture and Heritage programming for the Resilience HUB at COP26.

The workshop series will present the key findings and lessons learnt from PRAXIS Heritage strands on projects focusing on disasters and climate change. It will also include highlights from research done by the DCMS/AHRC Cultural Heritage and Climate Change cohort, other projects from the AHRC-GCRF portfolio, PRAXIS engagement in the Resilience HUB at COP 26, and non-academic projects on this topic (e.g. from The British Council or Climate Heritage Network portfolios). The focus will be on how heritage can be mobilised to contribute to the sustainable development goals in ODA countries,

The workshop series will have both an academic focus as well as a more practical impact and target policy engagement. Partners will include: AHRC, DCMS, The British Council, the UK National Commission for UNESCO, and Climate Heritage Network (CHN), as well as partners on individual GCRF projects based in ODA-countries.

The workshop series will be targeted at policymakers in government, international organisations, NGOs and charities, with specific topics discussed with them in advance to make sure the sessions address needs.