Media Communications and Cultural Policy Case Studies
Govan Young: raising local and international awareness of the Govan Stones
Local and international appreciation of the cultural significance of the heritage resource situated at Govan Old has been raised through Prof Stephen Driscoll’s collaboration with filmmaker and UofG researcher Dr David Archibald. The project, which followed a group of local Primary 4 children from Pirie Park Primary as they learned about the Govan Stones, produced the documentary film Govan Young. The film has been shown at over 25 international film festivals, viewed by ~9,000 people, including 3,000 in India and 2,120 digitally, following the film’s online release in November 2018. The film has won awards at the Seoul Guro International Kids’ Film Festival, the Arkhaios Cultural Heritage and Archaeology Film Festival and the Festival International du Film d’Archéolgie de Bordeaux Archaeological.
Academics: Prof Stephen Driscoll, Dr David Archibald
Partners: Pirie Park Primary
To learn more about this project or to discuss developing a partnership with the College of Arts please contact Dr Fraser Rowan the College of Arts Knowledge Exchange and Impact manager by email or phone (0141 330 3885).
Public Service Broadcasting Provision and Children’s Media
Based in the Children’s Department of BBC Scotland, this project (an AHRC-funded Collaborative Doctoral Award) investigated the production culture of that department through ethnographic research. In particular, the project focused on the idea of ‘public service broadcasting’ (PBS) and how that was articulated in the department’s ways of working.
The project confirmed the BBC’s willingness to engage with the academic community and to support an open research agenda. The resulting thesis documents the public service culture and ethos that existed in the department. This research can be used to inform the debates around plurality and quality in PSB provision and in children’s media generally.
Project Partner: BBC
Academic: Dr Lynn Whitaker
To learn more about this project or to discuss developing a partnership with the College of Arts please contact Dr Fraser Rowan the College of Arts Knowledge Exchange and Impact manager by email or phone (0141 330 3885).
Inside Ofcom: Influencing the Connections between the Regulator, Broadcasting, and the Public
Through his non-executive roles in the UK’s communications regulator, Ofcom, Philip Schlesinger, a leading expert in cultural policy, influenced its decision-making. His research helped Ofcom adapt to major changes in the sector. As Member for Scotland of the Content Board (2014–2018), he regulated UK-licensed broadcast and video on-demand content, in line with the Broadcasting Code. Countering London-centricity, he influenced policy on ‘Made Out of London’ content. Arguing at that time that Ofcom had underestimated the challenge to public service broadcasting of unregulated streamed content, he contributed to the regulator’s revised public position. He also influenced Scottish Government policy on the BBC during the BBC Charter Review, as well as Ofcom’s approach to BBC regulation.
Project Partner: Ofcom
Academic: Prof Philip Schlesinger
To learn more about this project or to discuss developing a partnership with the College of Arts please contact Dr Fraser Rowan the College of Arts Knowledge Exchange and Impact manager by email or phone (0141 330 3885).
Supporting Television Production: Liberalising International Trade Environment and Informing UK Policy
The dominance and commercial success of large US-based film and television suppliers in exporting audiovisual content, relative to European-based companies, is a major challenge for industry policy-making. Professor Gillian Doyle’s research on the changing environment for international trade of IPRs (intellectual property rights) in the audiovisual sector has informed and shaped the OECD’s design of a major policy-related initiative aimed at promoting international trade in audiovisual content. In the UK it has also informed organisations such as the BFI and Ofcom, helping to support the economic sustainability of indigenous content suppliers and ultimately helping strengthen the creative economy.
Academic: Prof Gillian Doyle
Partners: OECD, BFI, Ofcom
To learn more about this project or to discuss developing a partnership with the College of Arts please contact Dr Fraser Rowan the College of Arts Knowledge Exchange and Impact manager by email or phone (0141 330 3885).
Developing e-learning tools with UEFA
Prof Raymond Boyle, an academic in the College of Arts, has helped UEFA (Union of European Football Association) develop a successful professional development programme with the University of Lausanne. Working with the UEFA Academy Boyle leads the Communications, Public Relations and Media Operations module of the Certificate in Football Management (CFM) which is taught and assessed through workshops and e-learning. The CFM programme is aimed at managers working across the 55 member national football associations in Europe.
Boyle worked with a senior UEFA Media Officer to develop and deliver the content. A new version of the CFM programme aimed at former professional football players was launched in 2022, following on the success of the Open Edition of the CFM programme that invited participants from the sports industry beyond Europe.
Project Partner: UEFA
Academic: Prof Raymond Boyle
To learn more about this project or to discuss developing a partnership with the College of Arts please contact Dr Fraser Rowan the College of Arts Knowledge Exchange and Impact manager by email or phone (0141 330 3885).
Set Ready Safety: developing a Health & Safety platform for the Screen Industries
Two workshops, funded by the Royal Society of Edinburgh, brought together industry members and academics to discuss the future of Scottish film. As a Scottish film studio is under consideration by Creative Scotland, Dr Lisa Kelly and Dr Katherine Champion wanted to find out how Scotland’s film and broadcasting talent could be discovered and supported.
The workshops were an opportunity for networking as well as being interesting and informative. The result of these discussions is an online resource with the recordings of presentations given at the workshops and reports written by Lisa and Katherine. These workshops have helped to set a research agenda for future academic work as well as showing external organisations the benefits of working with academics.
The industry relationships established via the workshops led to a GKEF project with BECTU Vision (Scotland’s freelance training provider) exploring the use of digital technology to support training for new entrants to the screen industries. The result is Set Ready Safety, a digital Health & Safety training platform offering interactive and immersive content for freelance crew, which is currently in development following support from the Aspect Research Commercialisation (ARC) Accelerator.
Project Partners: BECTU Vision, Aspect
Academics: Dr Lisa Kelly, Dr Katherine Champion
To learn more about this project or to discuss developing a partnership with the College of Arts please contact Dr Fraser Rowan the College of Arts Knowledge Exchange and Impact manager by email or phone (0141 330 3885).
Making research accessible through radio
Dr Aonghas MacCoinnich has recorded a radio series for BBC Radio nan Gaidheal based on research he carried out for the project Sgeul na Gàidhlig aig Oilthigh Ghlaschu (The Gaelic story at the University of Glasgow). This explores the largely untold story of the continuous presence of a minority of Gaelic speakers at the University of Glasgow over the last five and a half centuries.
The radio programmes were a means of disseminating this research to the Gaelic speaking public. Around 58,000 people in Scotland can speak Gaelic while an additional 30,000 have some facility with the language according to the 2011 census. Positive feedback from the series suggests that many people have heard the programme who would not necessarily have engaged with the original research.
As a result of this experience Dr MacCoinnich hopes to be involved in further radio programmes including a series based on his forthcoming monograph.
The research that the programme was based on can be seen on a bilingual English/Gaelic website. All four episodes (recorded in Gaelic) are still available on BBC iPlayer.
Project Partner: BBC Radio nan Gaidheal
Academic: Dr Aonghas MacCoinnich
To learn more about this project or to discuss developing a partnership with the College of Arts please contact Dr Fraser Rowan the College of Arts Knowledge Exchange and Impact manager by email or phone (0141 330 3885).
Advising on and appearing in an exhibition documentary
Dr Deborah Lewer (History of Art) was closely involved in the making of a documentary, De l’Allemagne 1800-1939: Allemagne, l’Art et la Nation, which accompanied the exhibition of the same name (English title: German Thought and Painting from Friedrich to Beckmann) at the Louvre Museum in Paris.
Based on her research into the German avant-garde in the early 20th century, Dr Lewer appeared as a ‘talking head’ in four segments of this high quality production. This was the result of several hours of interviews and discussions with the director. She also provided visual material and other information to supplement the documentary, fulfilling the role of an academic consultant.
The 52-minute programme was broadcast on television by the European cultural channel ARTE and has been released on DVD in French, German and English. A trailer can be viewed here: http://boutique.arte.tv/f8380-allemagne_art_nation.
Project Partner: ARTE
Academic: Dr Deborah Lewer
To learn more about this project or to discuss developing a partnership with the College of Arts please contact Dr Fraser Rowan the College of Arts Knowledge Exchange and Impact manager by email or phone (0141 330 3885).
Blog Forever
BlogForever is building innovative preservation, management, and access strategies for blogs. The outcome of the project will be deployed as an exciting new information system for harvesting, preserving and managing blog content, facilitating the discovery of new insights through restructuring and reuse. The project involves 11 other partners from six countries across Europe, including diverse industrial partners such as Altec, Tero, Mokono/Populis, Cyberwatcher, Phaistos and SRDC, as well as major research partners such as CERN , TU Berlin, University of Warwick, University of London Computing Centre , Aristotle University of Thessaloniki. Funding for the project has come from the EU co-funded Framework Program 7.
Website: http://blogforever.eu/
Academic: Dr Yunhyong Kim
To learn more about this project or to discuss developing a partnership with the College of Arts please contact Dr Fraser Rowan the College of Arts Knowledge Exchange and Impact manager by email or phone (0141 330 3885).
How might we partner with your organisation?
Using the six themes below, explore a range of short case studies that will give you an insight as to how the College of Arts collaborates with partners outside of the university.
No time to explore? Use keywords to get to your area of interest in our case study database.
If you would like to discuss any aspect of developing a project (no matter how early stage or loosely developed) with the College of Arts please contact Fraser Rowan, details opposite.
Contact:
College of Arts Knowledge Exchange & Impact Manager
6 University Gardens, Room 202, Glasgow, G12 8QH
0141 330 3835