About the Programme

Place is an important focus for current and future government research and development strategy. Place is also a research topic at the heart of many arts and humanities disciplines, from archaeology and architecture to history and literature. The Place-Based Research Programme, funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC), is designed to:

  • Build a programme around new and existing investments in place-based research and knowledge exchange

  • Support partnership working to ensure that the arts and humanities is well represented throughout place-based policies and practices

  • Learn from and share best practices at local, national, and international levels

  • Foster, with partners, a people-centred, place-based approach

In Phase 1 (2021-2023), we worked with nine Knowledge Exchange projects across the UK, designed to improve access to arts and humanities research expertise with a view to informing and supporting local regeneration.

In Phase 2 (2023-2027), cross-sector Partnerships with national and international organisations and networks are helping us create the conditions for advancing people-centred approaches to place. 

PROGRAMME OUTPUTS

Programme Reports

The Programme Team has published two major outputs providing an evidence base to advocate for people-centred approaches in place-based work and a framework to embed this way of working in policy and practice.

Policy Brief Series

The Place Based Research Programme has launched a series of Policy Briefs during Spring 2024 from a range of our affiliated research projects. As part of Phase 1, links to briefs and webinars are below: 

 

Pride in Place Policy Brief

Roots and Future Policy Brief

Cross-pollination Project Policy Brief

Early Career Place Network

As part of the programme, we convene an online network for researchers, policymakers and practitioners interested in arts and humanities approaches to place-based practice, research and policy.

Click here to know more

Programme Team

Director: Professor Rebecca Madgin

Dr Rebecca Madgin is a Professor of Urban Studies, University of Glasgow and the Programme Director for the AHRC’s Place-Based Research Programme. Rebecca works broadly on the relationship between heritage and place-making and particularly on the emotional value of historic places. Central to this work is an examination of the meanings of place and the processes of place attachment. Rebecca has published  widely on these topics using historical and contemporary examples drawn from urban and rural places across the United Kingdom and internationally. 

Research Associate: Lucrezia Gigante

Lucrezia Gigante is a Museum Studies researcher with an interest in contemporary public culture and the politics of place-based cultural participation. Prior to this role, she was a Post-doctoral Research Associate with Culture Commons on the UK-wide open policy development programme ‘The Future of Local Cultural Decision Making’. Lucrezia earned her PhD from the University of Leicester’s School of Museum Studies in 2023, with a research focused on art organisations’ place-based public programmes as sites for cultural citizenship.

Lucrezia’s work experience spans academia, where she held teaching and research-focused roles, as well as public programming and communication in visual art and heritage contexts, including the UNESCO Global Network of Water Museums.

In her current role, Lucrezia convenes the Early Career Place Network.

Knowledge Exchange, Communications and Engagement Officer: Ieuan Rees

Ieuan is a knowledge exchange and communications professional as well as an inter-disciplinary scholar with an invested interest in place, identity, and heritage. Ieuan works with a wide range of partners, stakeholders, and projects to ensure impactful communications whilst developing excellent relationships. His PhD Heritage, Planning and Place: New Futures for Participatory, Creative Place-Making’ ( October 2022 - 2026), examines the relationship between heritage, place-making and the creative process.