North South Research Programme
CO-CREATE is one of four Shared Island projects to be funded as part of the North-South Research Programme
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NCAD, in partnership with Belfast School of Art at Ulster University, are thrilled to share the news that a consortium of staff at NCAD and Belfast School of the Art, working in partnership with staff and researchers at Atlantic Technological University and the University of Limerick have been awarded funding of just under €4million to launch CO-CREATE Ireland: Art and Design Research Network for Inclusive Futures.
CO-CREATE is one of four Shared Island projects to be funded as part of the North-South Research Programme (NSRP), which is administered by the Higher Education Authority (HEA) on behalf of the Department of Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation, and Sciences (DFHERIS). NSRP is central to the Government’s Shared Island Initiative.
Funded through the Partnerships of Scale strand (Strand III) of NSPR, CO-CREATE will enable staff at across the four partners higher education institutions to collaborate with a broad range of colleagues at public bodies, non-profit and community-based arts and design organisations, and industry partners across the island of Ireland.
The CO-CREATE project will enable researchers to work with a range of partners to establish all-island initiatives that advance the role of art and design in engaging the creativity of diverse communities in research that drives societal transformation through co-created approaches to public services, climate action, health, and inclusive heritages. CO-CREATE outcomes will include: designing community-led public services that increase inclusion and sustainable development; driving climate response, adaptation and behavioural change through arts-led environmental action; Shared Island curricula offering flexible, accessible micro-credentialed courses in applied creative research methods for societal transformation, and a multidisciplinary all-island doctoral network across art and design will focus specifically on engaged research.
Dr. Declan Long, Head of Doctoral Studies and Co-Director of MA/MFA Art in the Contemporary World is the Co-Principal Investigator at NCAD, while Dr. Brian Dixon, Head of Belfast School of Art is the Co-Principal Investigator at Belfast School of Art at Ulster University. CO-CREATE will engage multiple staff and researchers across the four partner institutions.
Speaking on behalf of NCAD, Prof. Sarah Glennie notes: “DFHERIS’s announcement of NSRP funding to support NCAD and Belfast School of Art in launching CO-CREATE marks a truly significant step towards crafting a more cohesive, all-island approach to leveraging the value of art and design practices and research methods. Through varied initiatives, CO-CREATE will uniquely platform the voices of public collaborators and develop their agency to address social, political and environmental challenges across the entire island of Ireland.”