Bringing communities and archives together using digital technology

The Audience Agency will be working with 10 to 15 action research projects for an exciting new opportunity funded by the National Lottery Heritage Fund’s Digital Skills for Heritage. It is offering funding and support for projects, that use digital technology in some way to engage communities with archiving or archive collections. Please note that applications for this opportunity have now closed.

Each successful project will receive:

  • A £1,000 to £5,000 grant to support a new activity or piece of work that uses digital technology to engage communities with archives or archiving.
  • Training and development to help get your idea off the ground and support to evaluate the outcomes of your project.
  • A mentor who will offer one-to-one guidance, expertise and support through individually tailored sessions.

What we’re looking for:

Successful applicants will demonstrate how digital technology can enrich and widen engagement with archive collections. Action-research means delivering a project or activity which is exploring an idea, taking a risk or experimenting with new approaches, the results of which are tracked, including understanding the unpredictable outcomes. The important thing is that an archive (or new archive) and a community collaborate to try out something new. We’ve included some example projects in our guidance notes to help you think about potential ideas.

We are particularly interested in projects that represent and include under-served communities.

For this opportunity, the applying organisation must be based in England.

Applications have now closed.

Key dates:

Deadline for applications: 13 August 2021, midnight

Successful projects announced: w/c 6 September 2021

Project dates: 13 September 2021 – 28 March 2022

Final showcase event: April 2022 (date TBC)



For more information,
contact liam.smyth@theaudienceagency.org

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