The Past We Inherit, the Future We Shape: Investigating Sustainable and Creative Futures for Heritage Organisations with Social Purpose.

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Research question(s)/problem: In the face of economic austerity, with reduced sources of funding and available resources, SME heritage organisations have been under increased pressures to demonstrate value. Some have been exploring how they can re-orientate to fulfil a wider range of public and social benefit agendas in addition to economic value. Northlight is creatively experimenting in this area, and like other SME heritage organisations it faces challenges in implementation and sustainability at organisational, project and community levels.Recent research has addressed related questions, most notably around the value and benefits of arts and culture (e.g. Crossick & Kaszynska 2016). However, value is still approached in profoundly different ways in public policy, with its stress on economic measures, and academic research, which predominantly opposes 'reduction of cultural practices to financial proxies' (O'Brien 2014:79; also Belfiore & Upchurch 2013). Furthermore, there are significant gaps in understanding how heritage contributes to social, economic and environmental values (e.g. Bonacchi 2013; Burtenshaw 2017; Jones 2017, Resera & Bentrupperbaumer, 2005). There is therefore a pressing need for research focusing on how SME heritage organisations respond to rapidly changing economies, in dialogue with emerging theories of economic practice aimed at social purpose (Mazzucato 2018). How are SME heritage organisations framing ideas of mission, need and value? How are they navigating heritage and creative economies to implement their visions? How can heritage studies and public policy scholarship contribute to these developments?Research context, methods and sources, originality/innovation and contribution to knowledge:The objectives are to: 1. Map the political, policy and funding arenas in which SME heritage organisations are operating.2. Increase knowledge and understanding of changing organisational priorities and practices oriented towards public values. 3. Examine the risks, challenges and opportunities for creating sustainability at organisational, community and project levels.4. Investigate how heritage organisations can increase their sustainability through collaboration and integration with creative industries.5. Develop new working models for heritage SME's and improve policy and guidance produced by professional bodies (e.g. HES, MGS, Creative Scotland, CIfA, FAME, IHBC).Methodology and approachTo answer these questions, I will take the proposition of 'collaboration' as method seriously (Estalella and Criado 2018), within a broadly qualitative, ethnographic approach combined with survey-based quantitative analysis. I will be embedded in Northlight and participate in their projects, to understand the organisation's priorities, practices, challenges and opportunities. This explicitly interventionist methodology (Pink and Morgan 2013) is designed to facilitate research into, and support of, emergent practices and sustainable futures. Qualitative research methods, including critical approaches to evaluation (Seale et al. 2004) will be used to increase knowledge of the experiences and values associated with community heritage projects.