The HRC hosted an online event on 15th September, 10.30-12.00, as a culmination of its online Place and Community conference, which had seen c. 20 contributions in a variety of formats posted online from members of the University community and its partners.
There were fantastic discussions on the day, involving external partners and academics from across all career stages. Key themes included tensions between the virtual and the actual, the global and the local, the challenges of access and inclusion in a mixed digital and in person environment, the crisis in performing arts and their support industries, the need to engage with communities and community partners in ways that are inclusive and sensitive to ethics and power dynamics, how York as a city needs to think differently about itself, its history and its future, as well as some practical ideas about the need to build networks and engage in collaborative, creative projects. To hear more, read on…
The event was designed to bring together conference contributors, members of the Place and Community Advisory Board, and interested colleagues from the University and our partners for themed discussions on the issues being explored in the Place and Community initiative, using the conference contributions as starting points, and seeking to identify possible next steps for activity.
The event was split into four sections:
Opening discussion with a panel drawn from members of the advisory board (Richard Ogden, Keith Allen, Kate Giles, Lucia Aiello, Rachel Cowgill);
Breakout rooms 1, themed: Digital Culture and Communication; Arts & Community; Engaging Local Communities; Open Discussion
Breakout rooms 2: next steps
Closing plenary discussion
Around 40 people attended, with attendees from within the University ranging from the PVC for Research to PhD students; partner organisations represented included Locomotion (National Railway Museum) and the Rowntree Society as well as local freelancers from the creative sector.
Opening Discussion
The panel reflected on elements of the conference contributions that had struck them. A key theme to emerge was the reality that lockdown has enhanced, rather than curtailing, people’s need to connect with each other, and this includes a thirst for “real” not just “virtual” communication and activity. There was also considerable reflection on tensions that have emerged or been exposed by the crisis such as the future of the professional performing arts as opposed to mass participation in free digital music/performance; tensions between the global and the local; tensions between the virtual and the actual. Panelists reflected on threats and opportunities inherent in the current situation. Change has been forced on us and is inevitable; what will collaboration look like going forward in this changed world?
Breakout Room: Digital Culture and Communication
Discussions focused on both the benefits and the disbenefits of digital/online engagement with arts & culture as opposed to actual engagement. Digital brought a degree of democratisation and enhanced accessibility e.g because there was no longer a need to travel to a site; but this is limited by factors such as demographics, cost, technical literacy and venues’/organisations’ ability to engage, with many small charities, for example, lacking a digital strategy. The future may be a mixed economy of digital and in-person, and we need to come up with strategies for maximising access.
Breakout Room: Arts & Community
Most contributors had interests primarily focused in music or theatre. These industries are currently highly threatened, and there was discussion around the crisis in the “support industries” that are required for live performance as well as performing artists/companies themselves. For some, putting performances online had offered an opportunity to rethink content and enhance accessibility, which is positive. But imagining the future is currently difficult, and many performing artists, venues, companies and support industries are in dire crisis.
Breakout Room: Engaging Local Communities
Discussion centred on the need to build and expand networks and partnerships. Local organisations (especially smaller ones) could struggle to hear what is happening at the university, and network building can be difficult. The University needs to engage in different and creative ways, and to listen to partners not just talk to them.
Breakout Room: Open Discussion
Discussion started from the foundational question: What is community? We discussed the fact that communities come in lots of different shapes and sizes and exist on different ‘levels’ (e.g. from the informal to the formal, from the local to the regional to the national). We discussed difficulties in negotiating differences and conflicts between communities, bearing in mind that we all simultaneously belong to many different communities. We also noted that while ‘community’ is a ‘cosy’ word, we need to be sensitive to problems associated with it: communities are not necessarily always happy, conflict and tension often exists within them; and in building communities we need to be mindful of who we include and why, and remember that creating an ‘in-group’ necessarily creates an ‘out-group’.
Breakout Rooms: Next Steps
Themes discussed included:
the crucial need for ongoing fruitful communications between the University and partners - which might include more forums like this one, and many other ways in which conversations could take place. More could be done to reach out to smaller partners in the city e.g. in the Third/Charity sector.
Both Universities and partners might need to change the ways they engage with each other and their audiences, and the ways in which they do research. This could be positive e.g. placing knowledge exchange and partnership work more at the heart of University research.
York may need to think differently about itself - as a city with issues around poverty, environment etc., in its past and present, not just a cosy affluent place full of tourists. It also needs to consider inclusion much more seriously. How can the University help this?
The HRC has a role to play in bringing together the University and its partners, and also in bringing different academics/departments/faculties of the University together
The role of PhD training in fostering collaborative working with partners
The final discussion, in plenary, brought many of these themes back into wider discussion, with a particular attention to the need to consider ethical issues in how we engage with community partners, and there was discussion around the possibility of a wide collaborative project with the city focused around the Strays of York.