Creative Communities Podcast

What if the future of journalism started by asking communities what they actually want and need? 

Join Community Innovation Practitioner Shirish Kulkarni from Cardiff University in Blaenau Ffestiniog, a post-industrial town in North Wales shaped by its slate-mining heritage, Welsh language and strong sense of community. His research looks at how communities can have more control over the stories, information and conversations that shape their lives. 

Shirish works with local people, community organisations, creatives, designers and Welsh-language broadcaster S4C to rethink how journalism could become more relevant and rooted in the places it serves. 

Hear how Blaenau’s history and tradition of community organising inspires creative ways to build trust and talk honestly about how the town is represented. Along the way, the research challenges familiar assumptions about the relationship between journalism and the people it serves. 

What can journalism learn from approaches built on care, collaboration and local knowledge? And with Wales able to shape its own response through devolution, could these ideas help strengthen journalism, social cohesion and democracy? 

Chapters 

[00:00] – Welcome to Creative Communities 
[02:51] – Newyddion i Bawb: rethinking journalism with communities 
[05:02] – Blaenau Ffestiniog: a place that tells its own story 
[08:50] – Who gets to represent communities and how? 
[14:00] – Trust, journalism and seeing your life reflected 
[20:00] – What happens when communities stop waiting for solutions? 
[25:00] – Co-creating new ways to tell stories and share information 
[30:00] – Creativity, play and doing research differently 
[34:53] – From consuming news to making sense of the world together 
[40:00] – What journalism can learn from communities 

Useful links & further reading 

About Shirish Kulkarni’s Creative Communities research, including case study and policy paper – here

Explore the AHRC Creative Communities Programme – here

Special thanks & credits 

‘Newyddion S4C’ title music courtesy of the BBC.  

Thanks to our community partners CellB and Y Dref Werdd - particularly Rhys Roberts and Wil Gritten - for their support throughout. To Ceri Cunnington, Gwenlli Evans and Phil Lee Bran for their insights on Blaenau, and frequent musical interludes. 

Thanks also to Rhiannon White, Silvia Rose, Andy Walters and Jo Ward for their friendship, generosity and expertise. 

Special thanks to Creative Wales and S4C for supporting the work and to our community co-researchers who brought so much of themselves to our modern day sesiynau caban. 

About the series 

The Creative Communities Podcast shares stories from across the UK exploring how devolution, culture and creativity can unlock inclusive innovation and place-based growth. 

Across Series 2, you’ll hear how communities, researchers and cross-sector partners are working together to co-create culture and innovation across the UK’s devolved nations and regions. 

Credits 

Creative Communities is funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council UK (Grant Agreement No AH/X001555/1) and hosted by Northumbria University. 

With podcast production and training from MIC media. 

How can creativity strengthen belonging, connection and cultural participation in devolution? 

Join Community Innovation Practitioner Ruth Flanagan from the University of Manchester in Rochdale, Greater Manchester. She looks at how heritage craft and making together can help people connect with their communities, their history and the place they call home. 

Rochdale is a diverse borough shaped by industry, migration and generations of social change. Working with local partners, Ruth brings together women from across the borough to co-create a new community banner inspired by Rochdale’s co-operative and textile heritage. 

Hear how embroidery, personal symbols and storytelling helps women share their different identities and experiences, build friendships and find common ground. Through the research, their voices and ideas also become part of wider conversations about Rochdale’s cultural future. 

Ruth shares what the research has revealed about creativity, belonging and shared ownership, and how creative approaches can give people new ways to have a voice in the decisions that affect them. As more powers and funding are devolved locally, could research like this help communities play a bigger role in shaping cultural priorities, policy and investment?

Chapters 

[00:00] – Welcome to Creative Communities 
[02:13] – Banner making, belonging and community in Rochdale 
[04:36] – Rochdale’s radical history of co-operation 
[08:26] – Culture, investment and who gets to participate 
[13:00] – The history and power of banners 
[18:00] – Making together: stitching, learning and connection 
[23:00] – Designing a banner that represents Rochdale today 
[27:00] – Taking community voices into policy conversations 
[30:41] – What heritage craft can teach us about cultural devolution 

Useful links & further reading 

About Ruth Flanagan’s Creative Communities research, including case study and policy paper – here

Explore the AHRC Creative Communities Programme – here

Special thanks & credits 

Special thanks to the women who co-created the Rochdale banner, and to the creative practitioners, community organisations and partners who contributed to the research and this episode. 

Thanks to AHRC, Creative Manchester, Cartwheel Arts and everyone featured in the podcast! 

About the series 

The Creative Communities Podcast shares stories from across the UK exploring how devolution, culture and creativity can unlock inclusive innovation and place-based growth. 

Across Series 2, you’ll hear how communities, researchers and cross-sector partners are working together to co-create culture and innovation across the UK’s devolved nations and regions. 

Credits 

Creative Communities is funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council UK (Grant Agreement No AH/X001555/1 and hosted by Northumbria University. 

With podcast production and training from MIC media. 

What if local people didn’t just get asked what they thought about culture, but had a real say in shaping what happens next? 

Join Community Innovation Practitioner Dr Claire Tymon from the University of Huddersfield in Kirklees, West Yorkshire, as she explores how local people can play a bigger role in the cultural life of the places where they live. 

As part of her research, Claire is developing and testing Culture Labs - welcoming spaces bringing residents, artists, community organisations, businesses and public services together to share ideas and influence local cultural action. 

Hear voices from across Kirklees about the barriers to taking part in cultural life and having a say in the decisions that shape it. From Ashbrow to Marsden, discover how listening, film and storytelling are starting conversations about culture, identity and belonging. 

Kirklees is rich in creativity, talent and local knowledge. Claire shares what the Culture Labs pilot has taught the team about trust, shared ownership and why genuine co-creation means going beyond one-off consultation and giving local people a bigger role in shaping the future of culture where they live. 

Chapters 

[00:00] – Welcome to Creative Communities 
[02:17] – Culture Labs: putting communities into cultural decision-making 
[06:00] – Belonging, access and whose voices shape culture 
[14:30] – Developing the Culture Labs model 
[16:54] – Testing Culture Labs across four Kirklees neighbourhoods 
[20:17] – Co-design, storytelling and learning through doing 
[23:23] – Taking Culture Labs into public spaces 
[28:46] – Different ways to participate and have a voice 
[30:43] – From consultation to cultural democracy

Useful links & further reading 

• About Dr Claire Tymon’s Creative Communities research, including case study and policy paper – here

• Explore the AHRC Creative Communities Programme – here

  
  

Special thanks & credits 

Special thanks to the communities, creative practitioners and partners across Kirklees who contributed to the research and this episode. 

About the series 

The Creative Communities Podcast shares stories from across the UK exploring how devolution, culture and creativity can unlock inclusive innovation and place-based growth. 

Across Series 2, you’ll hear how communities, researchers and cross-sector partners are working together to co-create culture and innovation across the UK’s devolved nations and regions. 

Credits 

Creative Communities is funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council UK (Grant Agreement No AH/X001555/1 and hosted by Northumbria University. 

With podcast production and training from MIC media.

What happens to a creative city when the people shaping its cultural life can’t find affordable, long-term space to stay, work and create? 

Join Community Innovation Practitioner Eilish Victoria from the University of Dundee as she asks how community wealth building could help Dundee’s creative community access the spaces they need to thrive. 

Working with Creative Dundee, Eilish brings together artists, creative organisations, researchers, city partners and the private sector. Together, they’re building relationships and looking at how creative space can support community wealth building and Dundee’s long-term future. 

Hear why a lack of space can push creative talent out of the city, limit collaboration and leave grassroots organisations facing an uncertain future. And discover how keeping more opportunity, investment and decision making rooted locally could help change that. 

Eilish shares what the research has revealed about the value creative spaces bring to a city and why lasting change needs collaboration across sectors. With Scotland’s new community wealth building legislation creating new possibilities, could Dundee lead the way in using creative space to support regeneration, local economies and thriving communities? 

Chapters 

[00:00] – Welcome to Creative Communities  
[02:14] – Dundee’s creative identity and its space problem 
[04:41] – Why affordable, long-term creative space matters 
[08:37] – Who owns and controls the spaces creatives need? 
[13:04] – Bringing creatives, property and public bodies into the same room 
[16:00] – The opportunities and risks of temporary creative space 
[20:00] – Community wealth building and a new opportunity for Dundee 
[25:00] – Giving the creative sector a place at the table 
[30:00] – Building a creative space ecosystem through collaboration 

Useful links & further reading 

About Eilish Victoria’s Creative Communities research, including case study and policy paper – here

Explore the AHRC Creative Communities Programme – here

Special thanks & credits 

Special thanks to the creative practitioners, organisations and partners across Dundee who contributed to the research and this episode. 

About the series 

The Creative Communities Podcast shares stories from across the UK exploring how devolution, culture and creativity can unlock inclusive innovation and place-based growth. 

Across Series 2, you’ll hear how communities, researchers and cross-sector partners are working together to co-create culture and innovation across the UK’s devolved nations and regions. 

Credits 

Creative Communities is funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council UK (Grant Agreement No AH/X001555/1 and hosted by Northumbria University. 

With podcast production and training from MIC media. 

What makes a place feel like it belongs to you — and what makes you feel like you belong there? 

Join Community Innovation Practitioner Lisa Rea Currie from Queen’s University Belfast in Ards and North Down, Northern Ireland, as she explores why heritage spaces can feel welcoming to some communities but distant or out of reach to others. 

Working with local people, community partners and the National Trust at Mount Stewart, Lisa explores how creativity, shared experiences and repeated encounters can turn heritage spaces into places of belonging.

Through glassmaking, linen printing and other creative activities, co-researchers build confidence, make new connections and uncover the barriers that can determine who feels heritage is for them — from cost and class to identity and confidence. 

Discover what this research reveals about culture, participation and belonging, and what heritage organisations can do differently to open their spaces, share ownership and ensure more people feel they have a place in them. 

Chapters 

[00:00] – Welcome to Creative Communities 
[02:13] – Mount Stewart and the question of who belongs 
[06:48] – The barriers to accessing heritage spaces 
[09:45] – Putting communities at the heart of the research 
[14:00] – First encounters with Mount Stewart 
[20:00] – Exploring belonging through creativity and place 
[29:00] – From visitors to insiders: growing confidence and connection 
[35:05] – The unexpected impacts on policy and wellbeing 
[39:25] – Creating ‘desire paths’ to belonging 

Useful links & further reading 

About Lisa Rea Currie’s Creative Communities research, including case study and policy paper – here

Explore the AHRC Creative Communities Programme – here

Special thanks & credits 

Special thanks to the co-researchers, creative practitioners and partners who contributed to the BeHere research and this episode. 

Archive audio: 

Beauty to Last (1969) Courtesy of BFI, NMNI, Tourism NI and Northern Ireland Screen’s Digital Film Archive. 

About the series 

The Creative Communities Podcast shares stories from across the UK exploring how devolution, culture and creativity can unlock inclusive innovation and place-based growth. 

Across Series 2, you’ll hear how communities, researchers and cross-sector partners are working together to co-create culture and innovation across the UK’s devolved nations and regions. 

Credits 

Creative Communities is funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council UK (Grant Agreement No AH/X001555/1 and hosted by Northumbria University. 

With podcast production and training from MIC media. 

When regeneration brings new investment and opportunity to a place, how do you make sure the people already there have a say in what comes next? 

Join Community Innovation Practitioner Dr Sara Hassan from the University of Birmingham in Digbeth, Birmingham, as she explores how regeneration can support growth without losing the creativity, relationships and sense of belonging that already make the area special. 

With major developments including HS2 and the BBC bringing change and investment to Digbeth, Sara’s research brings together artists, youth organisations, cultural institutions, policymakers and developers to ask who gets to shape the area’s future, and who gets to stay. 

Hear how creative workshops, walking field trips, mapping and storytelling are helping people with very different perspectives understand each other, and why devolution creates new opportunities for local voices to influence decisions about place. 

Sara shares what her research has revealed about inclusive regeneration, belonging and growth and why better listening and bringing different voices together can help shape change that works for everyone. 

Chapters 

[00:00] – Welcome to Creative Communities 
[02:14] – Digbeth: creativity, community and a place in transition 
[05:13] – Regeneration, investment and the risk of displacement 
[13:07] – Who gets heard when a neighbourhood changes? 
[20:00] – Bringing Digbeth’s communities and decision-makers together 
[30:28] – From regeneration ‘done to’ communities to regeneration ‘with’ them 
[36:27] – What the research revealed about belonging and growth 
[39:48] – What other places can learn from Digbeth 

Useful links & further reading 

About Dr Sara Hassan’s Creative Communities research, including case study and policy paper – here 

Explore the AHRC Creative Communities Programme – here 

Special thanks & credits 

Special thanks to the people, creative practitioners and partners across Digbeth who contributed to the research and this episode. 

Thanks to artist Linda Stupart, whose performance features in the episode, and Jo Capper and Cheryl Jones from Grand Union, for supporting Sara’s recordings in Digbeth. 

About the series 

The Creative Communities Podcast shares stories from across the UK exploring how devolution, culture and creativity can unlock inclusive innovation and place-based growth. 

Across Series 2, you’ll hear how communities, researchers and cross-sector partners are working together to co-create culture and innovation across the UK’s devolved nations and regions. 

Credits 

Creative Communities is funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council UK (Grant Agreement No AH/X001555/1 and hosted by Northumbria University. 

With podcast production and training from MIC media. 

What can devolution unlock for the UK’s creative communities? 

Hosted by Professor Katy Shaw, Director of the AHRC Creative Communities Programme, the Creative Communities Podcast returns with six new stories showing what happens when communities, co-creation, cross-sector partnerships and research and innovation come together. 

Travel from Dundee, Birmingham, Rochdale and Kirklees to Ards and North Down in Northern Ireland and Blaenau Ffestiniog in Wales and meet Community Innovation Practitioners who are working with local people and cross-sector stakeholders to turn place-based challenges into new ideas, opportunities and action. 

Across the series, you’ll discover how devolution, culture and innovation can unlock growth and drive change through local voices, lived experience and practical ideas you can take into your own work, organisation or community. 

Series 2 launches this October.

Follow the Creative Communities Podcast to hear all six episodes. 

Useful links & further reading 

Explore the AHRC Creative Communities Programme – here

Listen to Series 1 – here

About the series 

The Creative Communities Podcast shares stories from across the UK exploring how devolution, culture and creativity can unlock inclusive innovation and place-based growth. 

Across Series 2, you’ll hear how communities, researchers and cross-sector partners are working together to co-create culture and innovation across the UK’s devolved nations and regions. 

Credits 

Creative Communities is funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council UK (Grant Agreement No AH/X001555/1) and hosted by Northumbria University. 

With podcast production and training from MIC media.

“We are more than a mass of cells, more than a diagnosis, more than the label of service user and carer. Music connects with that, to make it real and bring it to life.”

How can we amplify the community voices and foster health and well-being in collaboration with practitioners and music?

Join Community Innovation Practitioner and classically trained cellist Georgina Aasgaard from the University of Liverpool, as she explores the importance of valuing practitioners' expertise as they work with diverse communities.

In this episode, Georgina examines a successful music and health programme by the Liverpool Philharmonic and Mersey Care NHS Foundation Trust. 

You’ll visit collaborative music-making in action, including a library, a high-security hospital, and a community pantry. You’ll hear from the team and practitioners who deliver these courses and the participants who’ve benefitted from them.

Discover the power of practitioner-led, co-created music in diverse communities and the need for more participant voices and practitioner support structures.  

Georgina’s Community Innovation Practitioner story proposes the "5 C's of Practice" - Connection, Collaboration, Creativity, Commitment, and Care - as a framework for co-designing supportive community environments.

Read the transcript here

Chapters

00:00 Introduction to the Creative Communities Podcast

01:36 Exploring Liverpool's Music and Health Programme

02:36 Georgina's Journey and Research

07:26 The Life Rooms: A Unique Social Model

10:31 Impact of Music on Mental Health

20:51 Co-Creation in High Secure Hospitals

25:35 St. Dunstan's Church: A New Community Hub

36:28 Challenges and Opportunities in Collaborative Music Making

44:11 Conclusion and Next Episode Preview

Useful links

About Georgina’s Creative Communities project - https://creativecommunities.uk/research/georgina-aasgaard

More from AHRC Creative Communities Programme, and to find out how to get involved - Creative Communities.uk

Thanks

The Creative Communities podcast explores the power of cultural research and collaborative creativity. Join us as we discover how communities across the UK are tackling challenges and building a brighter future through groundbreaking projects. 

Over six episodes, meet inspiring "Community Innovation Practitioners" leading the way. We'll follow their journeys of cultural collaboration, co-creation, and innovation, showcasing real-life examples of how creativity empowers communities to build a stronger, more resilient UK.

Credits

Creative Communities is funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council UK (Grant Agreement No AH/X001555/1) and hosted at Northumbria University, Newcastle.

With podcast production and training from MIC media.

“The success story is a change of culture internally. That's really difficult to do. Changing the direction of a massive ship while it's in transit is a tough thing.”

How can an accessible, design-led approach support genuine community engagement and collaboration?

Join Community Innovation Practitioner and researcher Gaston Welisch from Glasgow School of Art as he explores how the University of Glasgow’s Arts and Humanities Partnership Catalyst is fostering collaboration between academics and industry and third-sector partners.

In this episode, discover how Gaston’s use of creative methods has enhanced collaboration and understanding of Catalyst themes. You’ll hear from the Catalyst team who have designed and tested this engaging and accessible research and the participants who are benefiting from this approach.

You’ll also visit the most recent Catalyst project that aims to revitalise Govan Old Church in Glasgow as a community hub.

Hear Gaston’s Community Innovation Practitioner journey through the Catalyst from the challenges, to achieving valuable insights and genuine community engagement that will better design projects that truly reflect and service local needs.

Read the transcript here

Chapters

00:00 Introduction to Creative Communities

01:37 The Catalyst, a Design-Led Knowledge Exchange

02:43 The Catalyst Workshops

04:24 Exploring Workshop Themes and Methods

05:10 Reflecting on the Catalyst Process

11:03 Challenges and Opportunities in Govan

18:38 The Role of Visual Tools in Collaboration

31:16 Participant Experiences and Feedback

41:49 Conclusion and Next Episode Preview

Useful links

About Gaston’s Creative Communities project - https://creativecommunities.uk/research/gaston-welisch

More from AHRC Creative Communities Programme, and to find out how to get involved - Creative Communities.uk

Thanks

--------------------------------------------

The Creative Communities podcast explores the power of cultural research and collaborative creativity. Join us as we discover how communities across the UK are tackling challenges and building a brighter future through groundbreaking projects. 

Over six episodes, meet inspiring "Community Innovation Practitioners" leading the way. We'll follow their journeys of cultural collaboration, co-creation, and innovation, showcasing real-life examples of how creativity empowers communities to build a stronger, more resilient UK.

Credits

Creative Communities is funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council UK (Grant Agreement No AH/X001555/1) and hosted at Northumbria University, Newcastle.

With podcast production and training from MIC media.

“This research project has given us a responsibility to do this. It’s put Portrush on the map as a skating destination.”

Join Community Innovation Practitioner and Research Fellow Jim Donaghey from Ulster University, as he explores the power of partnership, collaboration and DIY culture to support the long-standing campaign for a skate park in Portrush, Northern Ireland.

In this episode, discover how preserving skateboarding heritage through videography, is helping to connect past and present generations of skaters. This is helping to foster a sense of community and supporting them to advocate for a dedicated skate space.

You'll visit skate spots, meet passionate skaters, and hear from urban sports experts and lots of different community voices, from local shop owners to parents. 

Listen as Jim shares the story of this Creative Communities project, exploring the challenges and triumphs of creating a supported skate culture in his hometown.

BBC © copyright content reproduced courtesy of the British Broadcasting Corporation. All rights reserved. www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b006mvxy 

Music: ‘Causeway Rebel’ Team Fresh, 2010. By Browne, Crowe, Donaghey, Dunbar, Evans, Kennedy, Friers, Shields.

Read the transcript here

00:00 Introduction to the Creative Communities Podcast

01:31 Exploring Portrush's Skateboarding Scene

03:33 The Skatepark Campaign: A 30-Year Journey

05:51 Challenges

08:12 Community Voices: Perspectives on Skateboarding

14:21 Station Square: A Hub for Skateboarding

18:12 DIY Culture and Community Efforts

27:35 Research Interventions and Their Impact

35:11 Reflections and Future Prospects

52:58 Conclusion and Next Episode Preview

Useful links About Jim’s Creative Communities project - https://creativecommunities.uk/research/jim-donaghey

More from AHRC Creative Communities Programme, and to find out how to get involved - Creative Communities.ukThanks

Deepest gratitude to Slaine Browne for all his creative work, and to everyone at Causeway Association of Urban Sports – we’ll get Portrush a skatepark yet. Thanks to Coast Carpentry for showing us what to do, and to Igloo Pizza and Babushka Café for keeping us fed and watered.

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The Creative Communities podcast explores the power of cultural research and collaborative creativity. Join us as we discover how communities across the UK are tackling challenges and building a brighter future through groundbreaking projects. 

Over six episodes, meet inspiring "Community Innovation Practitioners" leading the way. We'll follow their journeys of cultural collaboration, co-creation, and innovation, showcasing real-life examples of how creativity empowers communities to build a stronger, more resilient UK.

Credits

Creative Communities is funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council UK (Grant Agreement No AH/X001555/1) and hosted at Northumbria University, Newcastle.

With podcast production and training from MIC media.