Young People’s Engagement with Heritage
Researchers at the Institute for Community Research and Development (ICRD) and Arts Connect at the University of Wolverhampton are carrying out research to explore young people’s engagement with their historic environment, working closely with colleagues at Historic England.
We would be extremely grateful to either hear about and/ or receive any relevant literature, evaluation reports, project examples or ongoing research that looks at young people’s engagement with heritage, or considers the outcomes of initiatives and programmes which seek to engage young people with heritage.
Deadline: Wednesday 8 December
Contact: Dr Joshua Blamire who is the project researcher by emailing him If you think you have something that might of interest but aren’t sure please do contact Joshua to ask – we are seeking as broad a range of evidence as we can find at this point.
About the Research
The research project is commissioned by Historic Engand and is in two parts: first, we will conduct a comprehensive review of existing evidence regarding how such programmes contribute to positive personal, social, health and/or learning outcomes for young people and, second, carry out on the ground fieldwork with established projects across the country to further explore these themes.
Aim of the research
This project will provide important insights into how the benefits of heritage-based and arts/cultural programmes with young people can be maximized, and will bring together this learning for organisations in a coherent and actionable way. Ultimately it will provide Historic England and the wider heritage and cultural sector with a resource to draw upon for planning, resourcing, funding proposals, and inspiration.
Examples of documents, research, reports we are seeking
To inform the literature review, we are looking for any material that might relate to the project brief. For instance, this might include relevant evaluation and/or individual programme reports, contextual documents and project exemplars as well as academic literature that addresses young people’s engagement with cultural heritage and the arts, as well as issues regarding (though not limited to) health and wellbeing, social inclusion/exclusion, place, identity and belonging.
Please note that we are happy to share the collated material with any interested parties, please contact either Dr Joshua Blamire or Dr James Rees about this, or if you have any other questions about the research project. Also feel free to contact Rob Elkington, Arts Connect or any further information.
