Welcome to the NCACE July Bulletin.
Check out our latest blogs. Four of these are reflections from contributors to the NCACE Festival of Cultural Knowledge Exchange, which took place in April: With a compass, dancing shoes, no map. Future-based Cultural Knowledge Exchange (Jonathan Edward Bradley, University of Sheffield), What happens when creative practice and policy contexts meet? (Astrid Breel, Simone Hesselberg, Natasha Kidd, Nicky Sim and Kim Townsend), Using Creativity to Tackle Climate and Racial Injustice: A Reflection (Dr Natalie Hyacinth - Composer / Academic) and Building the Bridge: The Human Work Behind Cultural Partnerships (Alys Kay and Paola Ricciardi). We have also published A whole table for independent researchers: reporting from the inaugural Mighty Mini Research Collective Unconference (Dr Fran Harkness and Dr Rowena Hay), which explores the inaugural Mighty Mini Research Collective Unconference.
With a compass, dancing shoes, no map. Future-based Cultural Knowledge Exchange
With a compass because when we orientate we find direction and balance. With our dancing shoes because Knowledge Exchange is expressive and fleet of foot and asks for all of our being in the choreography or improvisation of our work...
What happens when creative practice and policy contexts meet?
Artists often show up in civic contexts to animate spaces, lead creative projects or to engage the public. At Bath Spa University (BSU), we wanted to explore what happens when artists are placed at the strategic end of policy-making organisations, not as designers or artists in residence, but as creative practice researchers.
Using Creativity to Tackle Climate and Racial Injustice: A Reflection
A blog on the NCACE April 2026 Festival of Cultural Exchange roundtable on using creativity to tackle climate and racial justice and the Personal 2 Planetary Brigstow fellowship.
Building the Bridge: The Human Work Behind Cultural Partnerships
This blog brings together two perspectives on partnership working. Paola writes from her experience as Partnership Manager for a strategic collaboration between the University of Reading and the Natural History Museum. Alys writes as an NCACE Research Associate exploring collaboration, participation and partnership working across higher education and cultural contexts.
A whole table for independent researchers: reporting from the inaugural Mighty Mini Research Collective Unconference
Recent years have seen growing recognition of the presence and value of independent researchers in applied research. Conversations on the ground reveal a range of research and research-adjacent staff moving into self-employment after careers in research institutions, local and national government and the charity sector.
We are keen to hear about your collaborative projects or related works and invite you to contribute to our blog. You can read our current blog posts on our website and can access the NCACE Blog Guidelines here. For further information contact Noshin Sultan on noshin.sultan@sas.ac.uk.
Highlights from the Evidence Repository
With over 300 free resources related to knowledge exchange and collaborations between academia and the arts and cultural sectors, there is something for a range of different readers.
Report: Creative clusters, geography and university-industry links
AHRC large grants: outline stage
Closing date: 16 September 2026
Sector transition: UKRI policy fellowships 2026
Closing date: 10 September 2026
UKRI Translation: AHRC Proof of Concept (AHRC)
Closing date: Open - no closing date
