Leeds Beckett University - City Campus,
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Funding boost lets northern arts network go national
Leila Jancovich and Professor Franco Bianchini set up the Knowledge Exchange Network in 2009 to bring together academics, policy makers and practitioners across the north of England to share their knowledge and experiences.
The project has received £10,000 to continue to share research and practice through seminars and an online resource, housing existing studies on arts participation and engagement, as well as supporting new research projects and allowing the network to reach people across the whole country.
Leila commented: "The funding will allow us to undertake new research into how arts and cultural participation can affect and link to wider public policy, including health and wellbeing, youth policy and community development, as well as research into identifying training needs for those working in the field. We hope that this will provide a legacy of the project and that it will contribute to the development of practice amongst individual artists, arts and community organisations."
The network runs a programme of seminars, which will include a conference at the Yorkshire Sculpture Park in Wakefield on Tuesday 26 June. The network currently has 100 members across the north of England, from higher education institutions, arts organisations, audience development agencies and the Arts Council regional offices.