Understanding the difference culture makes
We are building a shared understanding of the differences that arts, culture, heritage and screen make to people’s lives and to society. We want cultural policy and practice to be based on rigorous research and evaluation of what works and what needs to change.
Arts Together at Left Bank Leeds – Mafwa Theatre. Photo: Tom Arber
Our work
Cultural Vitality
Discover more about our current work exploring the pivotal role culture plays shaping place identity, fostering social cohesion and improving wellbeing.
La Fenice Theatre, Venice. Photo by Alice Borchi.
Beyond the bailout: What Italian opera houses reveal about cultural policy
News
What can the experience of Italian opera houses tell us about the wider relationship between cultural policy, investment and cultural vitality?
Cultural Vitality Labs with Norwich Creative City Compact. Photo by Andi Sapey.
Creative methods, cultural vitality and relational consultation practice
News
Holly Sandiford shares her reflections on how creative methods played a key role in spotlighting and connecting the many voices of the Norwich cultural sector in a recent series of Cultural Vitality Labs.
Cultural Vitality Labs with Norwich Creative City Compact. Photo by Andi Sapey.
Start from place, not planning. Grounding policy in cultural vitality.
News
Lia Ghilardi draws on her experience as a cultural planner to argue for a place-based and cultural vitality-focused approach to urban regeneration in cities, where local mapping of cultural DNA comes before strategy.