We are delighted to announce that the CREATE PLACE Heritage & Digital Leadership Programme has commissioned Dr. Cara Courage as its project evaluator.
CREATE PLACE Heritage & Digital is a £200k #HeritagePlaces project that provides executive-style leadership programme to support talented leaders that will play an increasingly transformative role in the future of our places, our heritage sites, buildings and organisations. Funded by The National Lottery Heritage Fund and led by the University of Staffordshire, it is delivered in partnership with Stoke-on-Trent City Council, Keele University, Re-form Heritage, Historic England, Arts&Heritage, Art UK, The Audience Agency, Wikimedia Foundation and Stoke Creates.
As part of the 3-year programme, a continual evaluation will allow the project to shape the provision to meet current, regional and emerging needs, and so we are delighted to be able to secure Dr Cara Courage, who not only has extensive experience in strategic cultural initiatives, but also has a passion for co-creation and placemaking. Cara, a Culture, Communities & Place Consultant, has over 30 years’ experience across the arts, culture and heritage sector. She brings a distinctive approach to evaluation that is embedded in place, led by people, and grounded in cultural practice. Her work spans contemporary visual arts, museums, public art, and community-led cultural initiatives, consistently centring local voices and artistic excellence.
As a recognised leader in creative and placemaking practice, Cara has worked across urban and rural settings to shape high street regeneration projects, artist-led collectives, museum strategies, and grassroots cultural programmes. She is frequently called upon as a Critical Friend, evaluator and reflective partner, designing frameworks that support reflection, accountability and meaningful change. Her participatory and strategic methods are tailored to help organisations build capacity, capture impact and sustain learning beyond the life of a single project.
Cara’s most recent project, ‘Trauma-Informed Placemaking’, a research platform and forthcoming textbook with Dr Anita McKeown, reflects her commitment to ethical and community-rooted cultural development. Her published works include Arts in Place, Creative Placemaking and Beyond, and The Routledge Handbook of Placemaking, which she edited and convened.
“Create Place embodies the values I’ve championed throughout my career – placing artists, communities and local knowledge at the heart of place and heritage. I’m excited to be working alongside such a visionary network to support reflection and learning that strengthens not only this initiative, but the wider field of cultural placemaking.” – Dr Cara Courage
“We are thrilled to have appointed Cara to evaluate the CREATE PLACE Heritage and Digital programme. Supported by National Lottery Heritage Fund, the programme builds on the success of our inaugural CREATE PLACE programme which supported over one hundred arts and cultural leaders in and around Stoke-on-Trent. The new programme will provide opportunities for heritage professionals to build their leadership skills through workshops, executive style coaching and action leaning projects, to better protect our heritage assets and continue to share the unique stories of our City. Cara’s wealth of knowledge in placemaking and experience in supporting reflexive learning will ensure we can share how the programme contributes to Stoke-on-Trent’s continued evolution.” – Zoe Papiernik-Bloor, The Audience Agency, Evaluation Steering Group & CREATE PLACE Partner
Further information
For more information about CREATE PLACE, see https://blogs.staffs.ac.uk/createplace/ or contact us at CreatePlace@staffs.ac.uk.
Notes to the editors
About the Create Place Heritage & Digital Leadership Programme
CREATE PLACE Heritage & Digital is a place-oriented leadership development initiative focussing on advancing cultural leadership with a focus on heritage and digital. The programme involves executive-leadership training, roundtable challenges and 1:1 coaching to develop knowledge and provide new skills. It covers 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. 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 and Stoke Creates. Details at https://blogs.staffs.ac.uk/createplace/
About the University of Staffordshire
University of Staffordshire (https://www.staffs.ac.uk/about) is an award-winning university with a long, proud heritage in the city Stoke-on-Trent. Being the catalyst for change has been in our DNA for over 100 years. We are here to act as a force for social good that transforms the lives of the people who will ultimately transform the way we live and work. Our journey began in 1914 as a college dedicated to educating workers in local industries. We evolved to become a polytechnic and then a university. Now we are evolving again to reflect our commitment to Staffordshire and beyond. In 2024, we have embarked on an exciting new chapter, changing our name from Staffordshire University to University of Staffordshire. This transformation is more than just a new logo and name. It is the embodiment of our commitment to be the place of possibility. A place that celebrates diversity, inclusion and opportunity. We are dynamic, forward-thinking and built for the changing way we live, work and study.
About The National Lottery Heritage Fund
Our vision is for heritage to be valued, cared for and sustained for everyone, now and in the future. That’s why as the largest funder for the UK’s heritage we are dedicated to supporting projects that connect people and communities to heritage, as set out in our strategic plan, Heritage 2033. Heritage can be anything from the past that people value and want to pass on to future generations. We believe in the power of heritage to ignite the imagination, offer joy and inspiration, and to build pride in place and connection to the past.
Over the next 10 years, we aim to invest £3.6billion raised for good causes by National Lottery players to make a decisive difference for people, places and communities.
Follow @HeritageFundUK on Twitter/X, Facebook and Instagram and use #NationalLottery #HeritageFund
