How can research in the arts and humanities make a greater contribution to the work of government?

A CSaP Policy Workshop organised in partnership with the Arts and Humanities Research Council.

The Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) is one of seven UK research councils. It provides funding, professional development and knowledge exchange opportunities to arts and humanities researchers at all stages of their career, from PhD level and upwards. One arm of AHRC’s strategy is to “deepen engagement with public, private and third sector partners to enlarge the contribution to the arts, public engagement and policy formation nationally and internationally”.

AHRC have commissioned CSaP to assist with its aim of enlarging the contribution of arts and humanities research to policy formation nationally. Led by CSaP Policy Intern Rebecca Lees, this three-month project has involved horizon-scanning the Government’s policy priorities over the next two to five years and one-to-one interviews with policy makers and academics in CSaP’s network. It culminates with this workshop that brings together stakeholders from government, think tanks, learned societies and academia to discuss how arts and humanities researchers can maximise their contribution to the work of government and how AHRC can support this.

Purpose of the workshop

The workshop will provide participants with the opportunity to share their experiences of what works well and what works less well in engagement between academia and government and to think about what the different arts and humanities disciplines have to offer. Discussions will also focus on how arts and humanities research can contribute specifically to the broad policy concern of reducing social inequalities.

• What are the most effective mechanisms for facilitating engagement between government and arts and humanities research and expertise?
• Are different mechanisms needed to support engagement from fields other than the “obvious” ones such as history, ethics and design?
• What can the AHRC do to support researchers who want to contribute to the work of government?
• What opportunities are there for arts and humanities research to inform the government’s ambitions to tackle social inequality?