Lisa Rea Currie has been appointed AHRC Community Innovation Practitioner (CIP) on the Belonging, Heritage and Ecology in Ards and North Down: Community Co-Creation with Mount Stewart (BeHere) project at Queen’s. This community-led project will explore how heritage contributes to a sense of belonging.  

The AHRC Creative Communities programme examines the role of culture and devolution in unlocking cross-sector co-creation and place-based innovation across all four nations of the UK. Funding has been awarded to six new CIPs across a spectrum of projects, representing a total investment of nearly £500,000 to catalyse new approaches to research, development and innovation.  

About the BeHere Project 

The BeHere project is a collaboration between academic researchers from the Centre for Public History at Queen’s and the National Trust, ArtsEkta, Kilcooley Women’s Centre and the Link Family and Community Centre in Newtownards. The project will work in partnership with the community in Ards and North Down to co-create an exhibition inspired by the historic Mount Stewart estate, and to co-research how heritage can contribute to belonging, social cohesion and reconciliation. 

Dr Emma Reisz, BeHere Project Lead and a Co-Lead on the Historic Houses, Global Crossroads project, Centre for Public History at Queen’s said: “The BeHere project will support the local community to research how their creativity, inspired by the global connections of heritage at Mount Stewart, can contribute to an inclusive sense of what it is to ‘be here’. BeHere puts community expertise and perspectives at the centre of our research, working with local people as experts and stakeholders in research that matters to them.”   

About Lisa Rea Currie 

Lisa Rea Currie is a heritage practitioner with nearly two decades of experience using participatory approaches to engage communities with heritage, and she will bring this expertise to the BeHere project at Mount Stewart to explore together creativity, belonging, and place.  

Lisa Rea Currie, Community Innovation Practitioner, BeHere, Queen’s University Belfast commented: “I am privileged to live only a few miles from Mount Stewart which is an important local and national heritage asset. Over the next year I am looking forward to working with communities who may not be so familiar with it. Together we hope to uncover and make public the narratives that connect them to the site and to each other.” 

President and Vice-Chancellor of Queen’s, Professor Sir Ian Greer remarked: “I am delighted that Queen's University Belfast has been awarded a Community Innovation Practitioner (CIP) award from the AHRC. This award will support our esteemed colleagues at the Centre for Public History in their research into complex and contested histories. It will also help us work with our diverse local community partners, strengthening their connection with one of Northern Ireland's historic houses."   

Professor Olwen Purdue is the Director of the Centre for Public History, Queen’s and a Co-Lead on the Historic Houses, Global Crossroads project. She comments: “Northern Ireland's historic houses are often seen as particularly divisive spaces, yet their histories and the material and environmental cultures which they contain are deeply entangled in local and global identities. BeHere therefore represents a very significant intervention in terms of engaging diverse and often under-served public audiences in our shared heritage.”  

Jenny Ferguson, General Manager for Mount Stewart, The National Trust said: “At Mount Stewart, we care for a landscape rich in cultural and ecological heritage, and this project offers a unique opportunity to explore how that heritage can foster inclusion and belonging, helping us understand how creativity can build stronger, more meaningful connections between people and place. It marks an exciting step forward in how we work in partnership with communities, shaping a future where our heritage sites are welcoming, relevant, and rooted in local stories.”  

Through their work, the CIP awardees will generate vital new knowledge about co-creation and the unique role played by their communities and partnerships in growth through new research, development and innovation.  Each CIP will produce a case study, policy paper and an episode of the Creative Communities podcast series to share learning from their community and cultural partners.  Together, the CIPs will form a Community of Practice network with the aim of fostering new relationships and sharing innovative practice.   

BeHere Project Partners  

“ArtsEkta is all about celebrating the rich cultural tapestry that defines life in Northern Ireland—from its diverse traditions to its vibrant sights, sounds and tastes,” said Dr Nisha Tandon, OBE, founder and CEO of ArtsEkta. “Through the BeHere project, we aim to shine a light on Northern Ireland’s global cultural connections and ensure that rural communities have meaningful access to arts and heritage experiences.”  

Alison Blayney, BEM, the Executive Director of Kilcooley Women’s Centre (KWC), commented: “As a partner in this vital community-led heritage project, Kilcooley Women’s Centre is delighted to support the exploration of how Mount Stewart’s rich cultural and ecological legacy strengthens belonging in Ards and North Down. Women are the backbone of community storytelling, resilience, and connection—and we look forward to engaging local women and their voices, which are essential in shaping a sense of place that reflects our shared history and future. KWC works to ensure heritage is not just preserved, but lived, empowering local women to lead in celebrating and sustaining the identity of this special place.”  

Mark Houston, Director of The Link Family and Community Centre added: “The services and programmes we offer at The Link Family and Community Centre are designed to enable people to not just survive life but to have the opportunity to flourish. We look forward to participating in the BeHere programme which is aims to provide opportunities for creativity and a sense of connection to place and to heritage. We believe these things are essential in building flourishing, sustainable communities.” 

About AHRC Creative Communities  

AHRC Creative Communities is a £3.9m major research programme based at Northumbria University in Newcastle. It builds a new evidence base on how cultural devolution can enhance belonging, address regional inequality, deliver devolution and break down barriers to opportunity for communities in devolved settings across all four nations of the UK.      

For more information, please visit the Creative Communities website here: https://creativecommunities.uk/  

Media

Media enquiries to Zara McBrearty at Queen's Communications Office on email: z.mcbrearty@qub.ac.uk