Event Details

Lancaster University is excited to invite researchers and representatives of creative and cultural organisation to an event on March 25th focused on cultural innovation and place-making in the Morecambe Bay region.

This event, supported by the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) Impact Acceleration Account (IAA), will bring together researchers from Lancaster University (LU) and creative and cultural organisations (and their representatives) from the Morecambe Bay area to do culture innovation in place.

Culture Innovation applies creative and cultural methodologies to rethink challenges, foster collaboration, and drive problem-solving across disciplines. This event will explore how culture-led placemaking can serve as a catalyst for sustainability, digital transformation, and health and wellbeing in the Bay, shaping new ways of working across sectors.

The aim of the event is to strengthen partnerships, spark new ideas, and support projects that enhance the social, environmental, and economic resilience of Morecambe Bay—positioning it as a model for how place-based culture innovation that can drive meaningful and scalable change.

Event Details:

• Purpose: To identify and surface potential culture innovation projects that can be developed collaboratively between researchers and cultural organisations.
• Timings: The event will take place 9.30-14.00 on the 25^th March at the Lancaster University campus and include lunch and networking.
• Focus: The co-creation session will explore new opportunities for creative and cultural organisations to co-produce new projects with researchers. This may include developing collaborations to reach new audiences or diversify markets, produce exciting new experiences, and develop new services or products.
• Outcomes: Following from the event, attendees can seek funding of £2,000-£10,000 to test culture innovation ideas and deliver short-term projects between June and December 2025.

Why Attend?

• Collaborate: Connect with researchers and cultural representatives to explore innovative ideas that support cultural place-making in the Morecambe Bay region.
• Innovate: Identify potential projects that address cultural, social, and economic challenges in the area, and highlight the collective expertise, experience and value of cultural organisations in the Morecambe Bay area.
• Funding: Fund your collaborative project through the AHRC IAA (note: any emerging projects will have to align with the AHRC remit, for further details see here.

Who Should Attend?

• Researchers from Lancaster University interested in cultural innovation and place-making
• Representatives from creative and cultural organisations in the Morecambe Bay region (broadly coastal areas between Blackpool and Barrow) interested in cultural innovation.

How to Express Interest:

If you are an LU researcher or represent a cultural organisation and are interested in attending this event, please submit an expression of interest (EoI) by 17:00, Friday 28^th February via this online form. When selecting EoIs, we will prioritise:

• Cultural partners who have not undertaken substantial innovation and/or research collaborations with the University previously
• Cultural partners in the Morecambe Bay region (broadly coastal areas from Blackpool to Barrow)
• Researchers who have not had prior IAA funding (particularly early career researchers)
• Researchers with research outputs clearly aligned to the Arts and Humanities remit(s)

If there is high demand for this event, will we have to prioritise based on the criteria above. However, we would like to retain your contact details to follow up about future events and/or ongoing partnership development activity. The online form allows for you to leave your contact details. Invites for the event will be sent w/c 3^rd March.

For more information, see www.Lancaster.ac.uk/business/research/collaborative-research/impact-acceleration-account/arts-and-humanities-research-council/culture-innovation/

About the AHRC Impact Acceleration Account (IAA):

The AHRC IAA supports innovative projects that accelerate the impact of arts and humanities research. This event is part of Lancaster University’s commitment to fostering collaboration between academia and cultural organisations, driving forward cultural innovation and place-making in the Morecambe Bay region.

Join us in shaping the future of cultural innovation in Morecambe Bay!