{"id":354,"date":"2017-08-23T16:07:06","date_gmt":"2017-08-23T15:07:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.ncl.ac.uk\/vitalnorth\/?p=354"},"modified":"2017-08-04T12:27:57","modified_gmt":"2017-08-04T11:27:57","slug":"northern-bridge-and-ecologies-of-knowledge","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.ncl.ac.uk\/vitalnorth\/northern-bridge-and-ecologies-of-knowledge\/","title":{"rendered":"Northern Bridge and Ecologies of Knowledge"},"content":{"rendered":"

Seven Stories: The National Centre for Children\u2019s Books<\/a> is a strategic partner to the Northern Bridge Doctoral Training Partnership,<\/a> funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council.<\/a> In May, I joined staff from Newcastle University,<\/a> Durham University<\/a> and Queen\u2019s University Belfast,<\/a> as well as colleagues from Northern Bridge\u2019s strategic partners,<\/a> for Ecologies of Knowledge, a seminar held at the Public Record Office of Northern Ireland<\/a> in Belfast.<\/strong><\/p>\n

The seminar was suggested by Sage Gateshead\u2019s<\/a> Dave Camlin.<\/a> It gave us the chance to reflect on our time working together on Northern Bridge so far, and \u201cto explore some of the tensions and opportunities inherent in collaborative approaches to the generation of new knowledge.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

\"Newcastle
Newcastle University’s Professor Mike Rossington addresses the Northern Bridge Ecologies of Knowledge seminar. Image courtesy of the Public Record Office of Northern Ireland.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Of course, there are tensions; when you bring together any group of academic institutions, or cultural organisations, there is competition \u2013 for students, for audiences, for funding. And although learning is at the heart of what both universities and cultural venues do, the processes through which we generate knowledge are quite different. We speak different languages. We have different drivers. Working in collaboration requires negotiating all of these factors.<\/p>\n

Another tension which formed a focus of conversation during the day was the inequality of engagement with the arts. The Warwick Commission\u2019s Enriching Britain, Culture, Creative and Growth Report<\/a> states that \u201cthe wealthiest, better educated and least ethnically diverse 8% of the population forms the most culturally active segment of all\u201d.<\/em> How\u00a0to reach those beyond that 8% is certainly a challenge.<\/p>\n

But democratising culture and knowledge is becoming increasingly important in both the higher education and cultural sectors. The Research Excellence Framework<\/a> emphasises the impact of research \u2018beyond academia\u2019; Arts Council England<\/a> encourages the organisations they fund to reach more demographically diverse audiences.<\/p>\n

\"Dave
Dave Camlin (Sage Gateshead) opens the seminar. Image courtesy of the Public Record Office of Northern Ireland.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

From my experience of working on the Vital North Partnership<\/a> between Newcastle University and Seven Stories, collaboration holds exciting opportunities. Partnership helps to make our activities more interesting and diverse. At the intersections between universities, cultural organisations and communities, we can draw on our collective expertise to create new kinds of shared knowledge. And with increasing pressure on arts budgets, we can pool our resources and become more efficient.<\/p>\n

I explored the Vital North Partnership\u2019s unique ecology at the seminar, giving a Pecha Kucha presentation:<\/p>\n