Places and Communities

The challenges of the pandemic have often demanded local and place-based responses that can speak directly to the needs of particular communities.  Through Arts and Humanities research, we now know more about the way in which local cultural ecologies and infrastructures function, including how these have been impacted by the crisis. Studies have emphasised the […]

Healthcare

Arts and Humanities researchers have highlighted the complex and difficult situations in which health and care staff have found themselves during the pandemic. Studies have developed tools to guide ethical and transparent decision-making and identify and assess risk in healthcare environments. Research and design skills have been applied to PPE, immunity passports and public-facing rapid […]

Guidance, Messaging and Behaviour Change

Arts and Humanities research during the pandemic has been vital in helping us understand how public health messages are received within different communities, how communication platforms affect interpretation and reach, and how effective messaging can combat misinformation and build public trust.  Researchers have investigated how rumours and conspiracy theories originate, how they spread and the […]

Governance: Ethics, Data and Procurement

During the pandemic, AHRC-funded research has examined questions relating to legal and ethical preparedness and responsiveness within health and social care and in government. Studies cover public sector procurement, COVID-19 related fraud, the use and management of data by the public sector, and vaccine development, uptake and delivery. They have identified a need for cross-departmental […]

Equality, Diversity and Inclusion

The pandemic has highlighted systemic inequalities across society. An interest in exploring and addressing these has been explicit in or threaded through many of the AHRC-funded COVID-19 studies.  Researchers have explored how public health messaging might better reach different communities. They have also shone a spotlight on experiences of racism for people working in the […]

Cultural and Creative Industries

Arts and Humanities research during the pandemic has shown how the crisis is galvanising practitioners and stakeholders in the cultural sector to find new models for producing work and for reaching audiences. However, it has also exposed structural inequalities and exclusions for audiences and for the sector’s workforce.   Technological innovations, including hybrid modes of digital and […]

Arts & Health and Wellbeing

Arts and humanities research during the COVID-19 pandemic has addressed issues of direct relevance for the support of individual, social and community health, mental health and wellbeing.  Findings show that during the pandemic, the social care sector and the NHS have been able to access, benefit and learn from community assets and resources, including those […]

Coping Creatively: Arts, Health and Wellbeing

Communities and Wellbeing This group of projects focuses on the impact of arts organisations and grassroots groups on supporting societal wellbeing, mental health and social support issues arising in the pandemic. Spaces and Places This group of projects identify and examine the spatial, geographical and developmental disparities experienced in the pandemic, but also how spaces […]

Ethics, Law, and Governance

An Urgent Review of Single Source Procurement During the Pandemic Recommendations for Best Practice and Reform Dr Luke Butler(University of Nottingham) Children, acceptable health risks and COVID-19 Ethical guidance for a fair policy response Dr Sapfo Lignou(University of Oxford) Combatting Gendered, Sexual and Online Harms and Risks During the COVID-19 Pandemic Developing Resources for Young […]

Knowing the Pandemic: Communication, Information and Experience

Communication & data analysis This group of projects focuses on tracking and understanding how information about the pandemic has been spread and understood by diverse communities. Design These projects have made strong interventions in understanding and improving design for healthcare settings and other public services. Experience These research projects have used creative methodologies to investigate […]