LESSONS REGARDING IMPACT FROM REF2014

Professor Mícheál Ó MainnínModern Languages, QUB

CASE STUDIES FROM SML

•3 in total:

•Cultural Identity in a Global Brand: Ibarra Real & Microsoft

•Theatre Translation & Cultural Encounter

•Shared Spaces & Names of Places

THEATRE TRANSLATION & CULTURAL ENCOUNTER

•new thinking on representation of the foreign in translation for the theatre

•maintenance of cultural essence in translation for the stage and guarding against excessive domesticisation

BENEFICIARIES

•theatre companies, audiences, publishing houses, authors

•corroboration: •playwright (work opened up to new audiences)

•publisher of translations•London Academy of Music & Dramatic Arts

IBARRA REAL & MICROSOFT

•fashioning a distinctive Spanish font for contemporary print & digital media

•creation of a typographic identity through revival of an 18th century typeface

BENEFICIARIES

•print and media producers & publishers; IT and graphic designers; museums & cultural organisations;

•corroboration: •curators•graphic designer•arts organisation

SHARED SPACES & NAMES OF PLACES•origins and meanings of local place-names (c.30,000 items)

•enhanced public understanding of aspects of language and history

•enrichment of cultural life: free online corpus and mapping

•civic society: linguistic diversity & shared space

BENEFICIARIES (1)

•government & cultural organisations; local history & community groups

•corroboration: •N. Ireland Assembly: shared future agenda

•Belfast City Council: cultural diversity

BENEFICIARIES (2)

•Land & Property Services (OS): community outreach

•Lough Neagh Partnership: development of the amenity, addition of strand to enrich cultural life

•Historic Monuments Council (DoE): identification of archaeological sites and provision of contextual information

NIPNP: LESSONS LEARNED

•project with key objective of public understanding

cultural diversity: shared spaceeconomic benefits: creative economy and the business of culture & tourism

VARIETY OF IMPACT

•cultural life, education, civic society and public discourse

•overlapping and unanticipated domains

•beneficiaries & audiences: government departments & agencies; NGOs, cultural & community organisations; creative industries & tourism; publishing & IT

SCALE OF IMPACT

•local, national and international•combination of these; benefits in various directions

•further unrealised potential

•implications for research and HEIs•implications for government, NGOs, etc: policy, strategy and funding

PATHWAYS TO IMPACT

•planned from the outset:•researchers & users in partnership (NIPNP)

•organic growth:•research within the academy; developed and exploited beyond the academy

CONCLUSIONS

•can/should humanities engage with impact?

•is it worth it? Yes!•takes our research beyond the academy

•increases visability for discipline•places it on the radar of other stakeholders with consequent political and other benefits

STRATEGY

•foster culture among staff, PDRAs, PGRs

•increase projects with impact component

•embed impact in management systems

•appraisal & mentoring•creation and allowance of time •support in financial terms

ENGAGEMENT WITH STAKEHOLDERS

•who are they?•how might they be involved?•have they access to results?•what has been transformed?•how might relationships be maintained/sustained/maximised?

CHALLENGES

•humanities research where there is much more by way of individual as opposed to team activity

•‘buy-in’: involving everybody in thinking about impact and sharing the load

•time involved and dangers of losing touch with/sight of underpinning research

EVIDENCE OF IMPACT

•adequate evidence and proof of impact?

•retracing steps not desirable•archive and mechanisms for collection of evidence at the time

•fair crediting of work outside HEI and ‘education’ of stakeholders

REFERENCES

•QUB Impact Case Studies:www.qub.ac.uk/home/ResearchandEnterprise/OurImpact/

•Northern Ireland Place-Name Project (NIPNP):

www.placenamesni.org