The CREATE PLACE Heritage & Digital Leadership Programme has been awarded £207,000 as part of the #HeritagePlaces investment. Made possible thanks to National Lottery players, the executive-style leadership programme will support talented leaders who will play an increasingly transformative role in the future of our places, our heritage sites, buildings and organisations.
There is a recognised need for leadership support at the mid- to senior level, made more urgent in North Staffordshire by the necessity of Heritage conservation for the post-industrial, historically valuable built fabric of the place, tightly connected to its surrounding communities. The importance and potential of Stoke-on-Trent’s heritage has been recognised by The National Lottery Heritage Fund, which is targeting investment into the city over the next 10 years to boost the local economy and inspire pride in place.
Focussing on heritage and digital, the CREATE PLACE Leadership programme will work with existing consortium networks, local authorities, higher education institutions and regional heritage and culture organisations to address the need for well-supported and trained cultural leaders for our historically rich places and communities.
CREATE PLACE Heritage & Digital is a place-oriented leadership development initiative focussing on advancing leadership. The programme will involve executive-leadership training, roundtable challenges and 1:1 coaching to develop knowledge and provide new skills. It will cover a range of topics, including intangible heritage at risk, working with heritage trusts, digital skills, 100-year planning, strategic partnership work, heritage business models, tools for participatory governance, inclusion and access, executive coaching and participation in shaping buildings, stories, and intangibles. The project also aligns closely to the cultural strategies of project partner Stoke-on-Trent City Council.
This new investment allows us to bring new content (heritage and digital) to a well-established framework based on the successful ACE-funded programme, where between 2019 and 2024, we welcomed 100+ fellows onto leadership residencies, with more than 12,666 hours of structured learning and self-directed study. Our leadership programmes offer a step-change in cultural transformation in the region. Our fellows have taken up leadership positions, adopted co-creation skills that demonstrably had more impact in the places they were situated in, and formed new powerful networks. In the following years of the 2019 – 2024 leadership programme, we saw the formation of a powerful Cultural Compact (established 2021), a vibrant Cultural Exchange forum (2023), a heritage trust steering group (established 2023), a heritage trust (2024), and the region has attracted more inward-facing investment than ever before, including a large-scale philanthropic giving initiative. Our Create Place fellows and consortium members helped establish long-lasting leadership skills and confidences, as well as stronger networks for our region.
We will continue this impactful growing network of leadership fellows, and in the next phase of the programme, we will support the regional heritage leadership talent in achieving a similar impact for our regional heritage assets. We are so delighted to partner up with The National Lottery Heritage Fund to achieve these aims.
The CREATE PLACE Heritage & Digital project partners are:
- The University of Staffordshire (lead)
- Stoke-on-Trent City Council
- Keele University
- Re-form Heritage
- Historic England
- Arts & Heritage
- Art UK
- The Audience Agency
- Wikimedia Foundation
- Stoke Creates
Applications are welcome. Details at https://blogs.staffs.ac.uk/createplace/
"The heritage sector is facing ever-challenging times, and our next generation of leaders needs camaraderie, connection and training to support them as they tackle those challenges. The Create Place initiative unites a strong and diverse team of collaborators, where we each bring specialisms that will combine to deliver a transformational programme. We love working this way, contributing our expertise and at the same time learning from partners and the participating leaders as we go, so can't wait to get started."
Anra Kennedy, Consultant Director The Audience Agency
“We are absolutely delighted to be awarded a grant from The National Lottery Heritage Fund, with many thanks to National Lottery players. We believe that the passion for our local heritage, and the leadership talent we have in the city region deserves to be supported by a challenging and exciting leadership programme. We have a fabulous consortium of 10 experienced cultural and heritage organisations, and we cannot wait to welcome the next generation of leaders to this partnership, driving the heritage-led regeneration in our creative city.”
Carola Boehm, Professor of Arts and Higher Education from the C3 Centre for Creative Industries and Creative Communities at the University of Staffordshire
"We are excited to support the Create Place project to develop leaders who are building a bright and inclusive future for Stoke-on-Trent’s culture and heritage. As one of our Heritage Places, we're helping to unlock the long-term possibilities of local heritage.”
Robyn Llewellyn, Area Director, England, Midlands & East at The National Lottery Heritage Fun
“It is important that heritage organisations can proactively contribute to online information, including sharing their knowledge and expertise with a global audience through the Wikimedia sites. Create Place is a great example of leading the way with digital heritage. At Wikimedia UK we're excited to be involved to lend our support to the heritage sector. Finding accurate information online is vital in a digital world.”
Daria Cybulska, Director of Programmes and Evaluation, Wikimedia UK
“Art UK is delighted to be involved in the Create Place programme and to be able to share our learning with the delegates around online and in-person engagement. As an organisation which supports art collections across the UK, we are keen to show people working in the arts and heritage sector how we encourage online volunteering and engage communities with the art around them.”
Katey Goodwin, Deputy Director, Art UK
For more information about CREATE PLACE, see https://blogs.staffs.ac.uk/createplace/ or contact at CreatePlace@staffs.ac.uk.
