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Resources


Ahead of the curve: approaching inclusive growth in collaboration with arts, humanities and social sciences.

Researchers at Manchester Metropolitan University’s Faculty of Arts and Humanities are at the forefront of this movement. Their multidisciplinary projects demonstrate how integrating diverse perspectives leads to more effective and equitable growth strategies.


MMU Arts & Humanities Researchers

Leads : Hannah Smithson and Deborah Jump, Department of Sociology, Manchester Centre for Youth Studies,

Unmasked and Exposed: The Impact of COVID-19 on the Youth Custodial Estate. A Compelling Case for Ideological Change Hannah Smithson* and Deborah Jump

Published in The British Journal of Criminology, 2024,


Lead : Professor Kate Pahl

The ‘Voices of the Future’ project aims to involve children and young people as co-researchers to explore the potential of future treescapes in mitigating climate change.


Lead : Professor Kristina Niedderer, Head of Manchester School of Art Research

MinD has developed a number of new design and research tools to aid the research and design process and to include people living with dementia actively within it to give them a voice.


Mother Tongue Other Tongue

Mother Tongue Other Tongue is a multi-lingual poetry project celebrating cultural diversity and the many languages spoken in schools in the UK. 

These videos feature poets talking about their own bi- and multi-lingual backgrounds and the impact that this has on their writing process. Each also shares a poem in their Mother Tongue and talks about why they have chosen to share this poem. You could select one, or play all of them, they are all quite different, suitable for all ages and will appeal to different audiences from any language background.

These, and the recorded poetry workshops that are also available on request, have been produced for Mother Tongue Other Tongue but would also be of general interest in any English or MFL class.


View the Finding Voices Brochure to see a selection of past Arts and Humanities Research case studies


Cultural & Social Policy and Manifestos


Creative Corridors: connecting clusters to unleash potential : October 2024

Despite a challenging national economic backdrop, the creative industries have bucked the trend with consistent growth over the last decade, albeit, this growth is not experienced equally across the UK. A collaboration between the RSACreative PEC and Arts Council England, Creative Corridors is an emerging policy idea that could harness the creative industries’ enormous potential to accelerate growth across places in the UK and contribute to the mission of economic growth.


The Northern Culture All Party Parliamentary Group (NC APPG) was established in 2021 to provide a strong and cohesive voice in Parliament. It brings Northern MPs and Peers – from all parties – together to advocate for for Northern Culture and heritage.


In 2019, the Greater Manchester Combined Authority Published its first ever culture strategy. In August 2024 the second strategy was launched expanding on the original document and demonstrating the impact of the the first 5 years.


OUR CREATIVE FUTURE The Manifesto by Creative UK

We have a vision for Our Creative Future – where the Cultural and Creative Industries can deliver their full potential, generating social and economic prosperity across our nation. The potential of the creative economy, and its ability to grow even in difficult circumstances, is proof that there is real value in innovation. It’s proof that we have the solutions. Now imagine what could be achieved if supporting culture and human creativity was perceived as an investment opportunity, not a cost.


A Ministry of Imagination Manifesto. 💡

In 2024, 49% of the world goes to the polls in 64 countries. As Time magazine puts it, “2024 is not just AN election year. It’s perhaps THE election year”. The outcomes of these elections will hugely shape the world and our future, most importantly of all is the US Presidential election which could see Donald Trump returned as President, which would unleash what The Economist recently described as “the biggest danger to the world”. In most cases, voters are being asked to choose between deeply unimaginative manifestos, all firmly wedded to a business-as-usual economic model that is clearly and dangerously failing around the world. 

Since 2020, the fortnightly ‘From What If to What Next’ podcast has invited two guests to time travel into the 2030 that resulted from our doing absolutely everything we could possibly have done, and to describe that world to the listeners. 


Convention of the North 2024 Policy Brief: People and Place.

This paper sets out a series of propositions drafted by a group of policy officers from across the North of England, drawing on the expertise of local authorities, combined authorities, and place-based partnerships.


Understanding the economic impact of UK Cities and Capitals of Culture By Emma McDowell  and Ava Podgorski, Centre for Cultural Value, Leeds


The Future of Cultural Devolution in the UK : 2024 Report

Findings and recommendations from a major four nations research and open policy development programme

Picture a renewed United Kingdom based on better relationships between governments, communities, and the public, and where culture, creativity and heritage are restored to their rightful place at the very heart of our local, regional and national life.

In 2023, Culture Commons set out to run a small policy project that would help us begin to get a sense of how devolution might play out in the coming years.


Creative Corridors: connecting clusters to unleash potential

Despite a challenging national economic backdrop, the creative industries have bucked the trend with consistent growth over the last decade, albeit, this growth is not experienced equally across the UK.

The central mission of UK Government is economic growth, with the ambition to achieve the fastest growth in the G7 in the coming years. Creative Corridors is an emerging policy idea that could harness the creative industries’ enormous potential to accelerate growth across places in the UK and contribute to this mission.


On the shelves


Digital Technologies, Smart Cities, and the Environment By Adi Kuntsman and Liu Xin

The concept of smart cities holds environmental promises: that digital technologies will reduce carbon emissions, air pollution and waste, and help address climate change.

Drawing on academic scholarship and two case studies from Manchester and Helsinki, this timely and accessible book examines what happens when these promises are broken, as they prioritise technological innovation rather than environmental care. The book reveals that smart cities’ vision of sustainable digital future obfuscates the environmental harms and social injustices that digitisation inflicts. The framework of “broken promises”, coined by the authors, centres environmental questions in analysing imaginaries and practices of smart cities.

This is a must read for anyone interested in the connections between digital technologies and environment justice.


This edited volume offers the first overview and reflective discussion of how design can contribute to people’s wellbeing and mental health in the context of dementia, mental illness and neurodiversity. 


https://www.mmu.ac.uk/news-and-events/news/story/all-roads-lead-rome-epic-and-witty-new-book-uncovers-hidden-past-roman

All roads lead to Rome: ‘Epic and witty’ new book uncovers hidden past of Roman roads

AHEAD Events Archive

Lead : Patrick Campbell, Senior Lecturer Art & Performance March 2024 : Cultural Action & The Performing Arts: Equitable Models of Economic Growth