Organised by University of The Arts London (UAL)
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The Social Design Institute is delighted to bring together a panel of leading researchers and funders to share their insights on the challenges of evaluating place-based change in communities and on projects where design and the arts have played a key role.
Creative practices associated with designers and artists, as well as everyday creative ‘making’, are often linked to change and improvement in communities and places. However understanding the impact of such place-based change is complex because the language of ‘outcomes’ and ‘performance’ struggles to take into account the fundamentally social commitments of the practitioners and organisations working in these spaces. While some projects and individuals bring explicit ‘theories of change’ and the intentions to achieve specific outcomes, others work in more exploratory and open-ended ways, where the process itself is often considered to be just as important as outcomes. A wide range of impacts can result, which are valued by participants and stakeholders in different – sometimes conflicting – ways. At a time when the UK government is focused on addressing regional disparities, community-led change – including through the arts and design – have the potential to be mobilised to serve policy agendas, as well as addressing community needs and priorities.
The panel will consider questions such as: What can we learn from the different ways that project teams, commissioners, funders and participants go about evaluating place-based change through design and the arts? What should the UK government prioritise when bringing design and the arts into future place-making activities across the country? What is foregrounded and included, and what is marginalised or excluded, through different practices and evaluation agenda?
Speakers:
Tessy Britton, Founding Chief Executive, Participatory City
Dr Katrina Foxton, Independent Researcher and Dr Bethany Rex, Leverhulme Research Fellow, University of Warwick
Dr Patrycja Kaszynska, Senior Research Fellow, Social Design Institute, UAL
Kim Wide MBE, CEO and Artistic Director, Take A Part
Chair:
Prof Shahida Bari, Writer, Broadcaster and Professor of Fashion Cultures and Histories at London College of Fashion.
Organisers
- University of The Arts London (UAL)Six Colleges, One University
- London College of Fashion, UALA world leading centre for fashion education and innovation
- London College of Communication, UALPioneering world leader in creative communications education
- Central Saint Martins (UAL)World's top 2 university for Art & Design (QS Rankings 2019)
- Camberwell College of Arts (UAL)Driving positive social impact through creativity.
- Wimbledon College of Arts (UAL)At the heart of the world of performance.
- Chelsea College of Arts (UAL)An international network that explores diversity of ideas