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:

  • develop a programme around new and existing investments

  • demonstrate the effectiveness of arts and humanities research for addressing the needs of different locales

  • help to make the case for further investment.

The Programme works with nine AHRC-funded Knowledge Exchange Projects. These projects are designed to improve access to arts and humanities research expertise with a view to informing and supporting the development of plans for local regeneration. 

 

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

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. 

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.

Research Associate: Michael Howcroft

Michael Howcroft is a Cultural Geographer and Research Associate for the Place Programme. He held an ESRC Post-Doctoral Research Fellowship at the University of Southampton (2022-2023) and was Research Fellow at the Southampton Institute for Arts and Humanities (2021-2023), working on the AHRC funded Feeling Towns project. He was Research Associate at the University of Sheffield (2022), on the Spaces of Hope project and recently co-authored research for the British Council on Eurovision 2023 in Liverpool. With an earlier career as an actor and director, Michael is an experienced facilitator of focus groups and creative workshops, and his projects incorporate mixed methods, ethnographic, place-based approaches.

Twitter @mjhowcroft