23 August 2022

UH IAA Co-Production Heritage Awards:
Call for applications 2022

Are you a community group, charity, company, heritage organisation, or local authority? Do you need support and expert advice to work together to produce research about the heritage of your community or place?
The University of Hertfordshire Heritage Hub is seeking project partners in heritage who could benefit from funding for small projects, seedcorn pilot schemes, or supplementing larger grants (e.g. Heritage Lottery Fund projects).

Community Co-Production Awards

This is the first call for applications for the University of Hertfordshire Co-Production Heritage Awards. These are funded as part of a major UKRI Impact Acceleration Award, awarded to the University in 2022. They are available to external partners working in collaboration with University of Hertfordshire researchers connected to our Heritage Hub and its component elements, the Oral History Team and Heritage for Business.

Co-production in research is the process of conducting research with people and groups from outside the academic community. It may encompass identifying research questions, design and priority setting, governance, co-delivery of research activities, communication of key findings and involvement in knowledge exchange.

Examples of previous projects

The UH Heritage Hub has a well-established history of co-produced and match funded heritage projects with external partners. Previous examples of funded community projects include:

* Mill Green Museum for an exhibition on fashion design inspired by heritage;
* Friends of Fairlands Farm Community Interest Company for a book project to preserve and record the history of rural Stevenage;
* The Higgins Bedford (art gallery and museum) to work with the Oral History Team on a project documenting the history of refugees in Bedford;
* Mulmar, a Hatfield-based coffee equipment supplier, to produce a heritage video and new logo situating their business in the context of the speciality coffee revolution.

How to apply

First identify an appropriate academic partner within the University. If you need help to do this, consult the Heritage Hub webpages  or contact Dr Katrina Navickas, director of the Heritage Hub, uh.heritage@herts.ac.uk

Then work with your partner to design a project that will last between one to twelve months. Remember that these are awards for co-produced research projects, and not for consultancy, grants or subsidy towards existing activity. Costs may cover any relevant expense up to a total of £7,500, but cannot include staffing. Budgets will be held at and managed by the University.

Your academic partner should submit the application by 7th October 2022. Successful applications will be announced in early November and work should begin within 6 months of the award.