The impact of strategic agencies on university partnerships with cultural heritage organisations in England

This report is the result of a joint research project between Share Academy and the National Co-ordinating Centre for Public Engagement (NCCPE), funded by Arts Council England (ACE) with the objective of investigating current collaborative activities happening between universities and museums in England. This report comprises of one of the outputs from a wider portfolio of work undertaken in 2016 by Share Academy and the NCCPE under the umbrella of the Museum University Partnerships Initiative (MUPI).

This report is a synthesis of existing knowledge from Share Academy and the NCCPE and background research on five strategic organisations researching, facilitating or advocating for collaborative activities between universities and museums in England. The five organisations this report draws on are: Beyond the Creative Campus, the University Museums Group (UMG), The National Archives (TNA), The Cultural Capital Exchange (TCCE), and the AHRC’s Connected Communities programme. The findings laid out in this report are drawn from information publically available, grey literature published by the five organisations and a series of five interviews with representatives of the five organisations.