Creative and Credible Evaluation for Arts, Health and Wellbeing – workshop, 10th March 2020, Turku
Creative & Credible Evaluation for Arts, Health and Wellbeing – workshop was held at Arts Academy, Turku University of Applied Sciences, 10th March 2020. The workshop was led by Professor Norma Daykin (New Social Research Institute, Tampere University) and Jane Willis, director of Willis Newson (UK). The workshop was organized by Taikusydän in collaboration with Arts Promotion Centre, CERADA/The University of Arts Helsinki and New Social Research Institute/Tampere University.
Watch the video recording of the lectures by Norma Daykin and Jane Willis:
About Creative & Credible
Creative and Credible is a web resource and a linked CPD programme that emerged from research with artists, health care professionals, practitioners, managers, researchers and policy makers in the UK. The research arose from a unique and extended partnership between leading UK researcher Professor Norma Daykin (currently based in the Institute of New Social Research, Tampere University, Finland) and Jane Willis, director of Willis Newson, an arts, health and wellbeing consultancy with a strong national profile in the UK and deep links with practice. The CPD programme was developed to address an identified need to support those engaging with evaluation in a rapidly changing landscape of arts, health and wellbeing. Both presenters who are recognised leaders in the field and who together successfully bridge research and practice fields.
The Creative and Credible CPD programme engages participants from a wide range of backgrounds and disciplines to explore shared territories and develop understanding of theories, methodologies and techniques for evaluation in arts for health and wellbeing. The programme has run successfully in the UK for the last ten years in collaboration with the University of the West of England, the University of Winchester and the Royal Society of Public Health. It was offered in Finland in March 2020 in collaboration with Taikusydän, the Arts Promotion Centre, The University of the Arts Helsinki/CERADA and the New Social Research Institute at Tampere University.
The one-day Creative & Credible workshop was open to researchers, policy makers, artists and arts managers who wish to develop evaluation methods and tools that are sensitive to practice contexts at the same time as capable of delivering convincing evidence. The workshop consisted of brief, interactive lectures, group discussion, plenary sessions and creative exercises. As well as reflecting on their own evaluation needs and strategies, participants were encouraged to consider the wider international context of research, policy and practice and had the opportunity to identify opportunities for future collaborative research and practice developments.
Workshop themes:
- Bridging the gap between research and practice by sharing learning and addressing knowledge challenges.
- Connecting evidence with policy, identifying information needs of policy makers and addressing communication challenges.
- Supporting researchers to understand the role of evaluation and developing evaluation best practice in arts contexts.
- Empowering artists to engage effectively in interdisciplinary dialogue and exchange with stakeholders.
- Strengthening capacity within the grass roots arts and health sector to support arts, health and wellbeing as a social movement in the Finnish context.
- Strengthening international links between UK and Finnish contexts, leading to further collaboration in research and practice.
Content of the workshop:
- Background: the changing landscape of arts, health and wellbeing, developments in research, policy and practice.
- The purpose of evaluation: evaluation and research, advocacy and practice development.
- The evaluation cycle: from developing the right questions to reporting, dissemination and impact.
- Current evaluation approaches: concepts, tools and methodologies in arts, health and wellbeing, using creative methods.
- Recent advances in methodology: from randomised control trials and evidence reviews to qualitative synthesis and case studies.
- Mapping your evaluation needs: strengths and challenges in your own context.
- Learning from international comparisons: The presenters share their knowledge about recent developments in the UK, including work on evidence and policy (through programmes such as What Works for Wellbeing, the All Party Parliamentary Inquiry into Arts, Health and Wellbeing) and on practice developments (such as the The National Alliance for Culture, Health and Wellbeing and the forthcoming 2021 International Conference for Culture, Health and Wellbeing). Participants share their knowledge and experience of the Finnish research, evidence and practice context. There will be an opportunity to identify future learning needs and possible collaboration.
For more info about Creative and Credible Evaluation for Arts, Health and Wellbeing, visit the Creative & Credible website.