On Shared Ground: networks and encounters around the margins of community heritage

On shared ground, why do some people participate in heritage projects and others do not? How can groups extend their communities of participation through their existing networks? How can groups communicate with and potentially work with people who may share their ground but not their interests or values? 'On Shared Ground: networks and encounters around the margins of community heritage' unites academics from a range of disciplines with community groups to work through these questions. Research will take place on three hills, in three different countries. Academics from The University of Sheffield, Cardiff University and The University of Aberdeen will work with three community groups to map existing networks and facilitate new encounters in order to identify and potentially work with those in and around the margins of community heritage.

The research has developed in response to an identified need by participating community groups to tackle the abuse and misuse of heritage landscapes whilst simultaneously promoting the care and use of these spaces. Working with communities on each site, academics will work with groups to map their existing networks and foster dialogues with other users of the landscapes. This will be achieved through a series of improvised activities on the sites, where community groups will potentially 'encounter' other users. These encounters will be recorded using a variety of methods drawn from the research expertise of participating academics and informed by the practice and experience of the project artist.

It is anticipated that this project will have impact in both academic and community contexts. It will advance current community heritage models by enabling and promoting the ability for community partners to further collaborate and co-produce research with groups beyond their immediate networks or in the 'margins' of their communities. By testing this approach across three sites, in three countries, this project is designed to serve as a pilot for further development of existing community heritage models. We will:

1. Generate new knowledge and approaches through a series of workshops with community groups at three sites.

Workshops will unite researchers from different disciplines with community groups in order to explore the efficacy of a range of creative techniques and research methodologies in opening up new interpretations and experiences of heritage sites. The content generated during these workshops and subsequent autonomous activities, led by the community groups, will be collated by the project artist into a short-film.

2. Enhance the research capacity, knowledge and skills of our community partners and their ability to connect with the wider community.

Community participants will be introduced to a range of research methodologies and approaches as well as a host of techniques with which to record their involvement with the project, ranging from visual and textual contributions to the project blog and the use of audio-visual technologies to more traditional research methods, such as ethnographic field notes. Following workshops, groups will be encouraged to work independently. They will be given three weeks to work with specialist equipment, gather material and apply the research skills they have acquired during the workshops. Our workshops will explore 'networks' and 'encounters'. By mapping existing networks and relationships to the space we will work with groups to identify the dominant users and related narratives associated with this use. Facilitating 'encounters' will connect the participants, and in turn, the research, with parts of the community and users of the sites we are yet to identify.

3. Log our methods and processes in a variety of media: online, in film and in a co-authored article.

The project blog will serve as a place for investigators, project participants and the project artist to record field notes as well as other visual and textual records. We will encourage the use of video and audio clips as well as visual imagery with a view to creating a digital scrapbook of contributions from community participants from across the three sites. The dynamic and immediate nature of the project blog will also encourage those beyond the project team and identified community groups to contribute to the project and record their involvement or 'encounters'. This web resource will also serve as a useful tool of reference for other academics and heritage professionals as well as individuals and communities interested in heritage research. The site will also be promoted via social media platforms and shared more broadly across academic and community contacts established by each HEI. The film will knit together footage from the three sites and will be edited in consultation with community participants in Sheffield. The final film will be shown at an open-air screening in Wincobank which will be attended by academics and community partners from Cardiff and Aberdeen. The film will subsequently be hosted on the website and promoted widely across our networks. A co-authored article reflecting on the methodologies, processes and findings in the context of existing approaches to community heritage will represent the academic output of the project. It is anticipated that all of the investigators and the project artist will contribute. It is hoped that community participants will also contribute to the article.