Written by Maddy Foard
It has now been 3 years since the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) Impact Accelerator Account (IAA) opened at UWE, supporting knowledge exchange and impact emerging from arts and humanities-based research.
Since then, seven IAA funding calls have awarded 85 grants to projects involving 116 UWE staff members, ranging in size from £1k to £23k. These projects represent a huge range of disciplines within arts and humanities research, including law, media studies, visual arts, music, philosophy, history, political sciences, theatre, and architecture. This funding is supporting academics to run projects that respond swiftly to emerging opportunities, strengthen collaboration with non-academic stakeholders, and accelerate the translation of research outputs into real-world impact.
This work has seen an incredible 199 new partners taking part in collaborative proposals, and the delivery of 260 collaborative activities with organisations such as Global Goals Centre, Bristol Woman’s Voice, MISFITS theatre and the Lords Research Service. Across the IAA funded projects, 49,000 people have taken part in knowledge exchange and impact events such as industry roundtables, training courses, school workshops, theatre performances and focus groups.
IAA funding has successfully supported UWE academics to make strong partnerships with industry, improving their processes, sustainability and commercial positioning. Tavs Jorgensen is setting up a commercial venture which looks to transform the brick and tile manufacturing industries; Sofie Boons is working to make the jewellery sector more sustainable in their gemstone production; and Jac Fennell is integrating wearable tech from Milbotix’s SmartSocks® (an SME in UWE Enterprise Zone) into HUG (a soft comforter designed for those living with dementia).
The work of the IAA projects is creating change at a local, national and international level. Documentary film maker Judith Aston and public policy expert Laura De Vito have been working very closely with the Avonmouth community to co-create a theory of change for this contested area of Bristol, while Jack Lowe has developed a digital game that supports cultural heritage organisations to include more diverse perspectives in the stories they tell about place and local heritage. Lisa Mol’s expertise in heritage and climate change conservation in war zones has supported charity Heritage for Peace to continue their work in Yemen, and Peter Clegg collaborated with police forces in The Sovereign Base Area of Cyprus to explore how accredited higher education training could assist them with navigating their nuanced context.
One of UWE’s strengths is in inclusive innovation and we see this in many of the IAA funded projects. Tom Mitchell working closely with the charity Drake Music to co-design and fabricate a new accessible digital musical instrument, and Amy Saleh prioritised equality in her project delivery by only using global majority suppliers (catering, filmmakers, designers etc.) for her project ‘Lit Legacies’, which designed educational materials to tackle the ‘teaching barriers’ in Black British literature.
Many of the IAA projects have been successful in translating their research into changes within policy and professional practice. Suwita Hani Randhawa brought together key political and civic actors to develop new policy insights around ecocide and is now an adviser to the Scottish Parliament to further influence policy changes. Verity McIntosh worked with Watershed in the build-up to the launch of their immersive gallery space Undershed, to ensure the experience design centres access and inclusion for all users.
The range of projects funded through the IAA reflect the diversity of UWE Bristol research and how we are ensuring our engaged arts and humanities research to have commercial, social and cultural impact. Support for impact development is always available for UWE academics and current IAA projects continue to develop their impact work, so there will be even more to celebrate over the coming year!
Visit the RISE page to find out more about how UWE research is driving societal improvement and transforming futures for the better. For more information on UWE Bristol’s arts and humanities research, impact or our Impact Acceleration Account, please do
If are interested in finding out more about UWE impact and the other initiatives we run, please do get in touch.