Our Work

DIMENSIONS OF PLACE

QCAP currently has four individual research dimensions of place. Click on the image or text links below to find out more information on each dimension.

Social Economy and Community Wealth Building

In this dimension of place, QCAP has helped to regenerate communities and support social enterprises to create alternative approaches to economic inclusion and local development.

Growing Up in The Market

This dimension of place is following children, young people, and their families over three years to better understand the persistent challenges identified by our partner community.

Education, Skills, and Inclusive Innovation

Through this dimension of place, QCAP is collaborating with community stakeholders to explore place-based approaches for addressing educational inequality and the barriers that preclude their participation in a knowledge-based society.

Community Health and Wellbeing

QCAP works with the community to identify and prioritise challenge areas to improve health and wellbeing. Current examples are through innovative responses to prevalent community concerns linked to food insecurity, and engaging with relevant statutory agencies to co-ordinate rapid in-place responses to mitigate harm and substance use.

EXTERNALLY FUNDED PROGRAMMES

Centre for Collaboration in Community Connectedness

Queen’s Communities and Place (QCAP) is a regional partner in the £10 million UKRI Centre for Collaboration in Community Connectedness (C4), which will run from 2024 - 2029. Led by Sheffield Hallam University, the partnership brings together QCAP with other significant organisations, including Clackmannanshire Third Sector Interface, Darnall Wellbeing, Local Trust, London Metropolitan University, The Brixton Project, Market Development Association, University of Stirling, and The Young Foundation, creating a comprehensive network spanning research, community, policy and civil society sectors. C4 will research and scale up effective community action strategies across three core areas: community connections, meaningful social relationships that address poverty and isolation, and social capital development. The Centre aims to provide crucial evidence for local and national policymaking to create equal opportunities regardless of location. QCAP brings its research expertise to help analyse the diverse landscape of community activities, determine what approaches work most effectively, and contribute to establishing the robust evidence base needed to scale up and replicate successful community interventions.

Maximising the Value of the 2021 NI Census:

Adding Time to Place

The 2021 Northern Ireland Census introduced new output geographies that improve population representation but lack compatibility with previous data. This ESRC-funded project aims to address this issue by linking the 2021 Census to older geographies, enabling longitudinal analysis. The project's objectives include creating 2021 Census outputs for previous geographies, extending small-area statistics back to 1971, and developing a spatial framework to connect various data geographies.

Key deliverables will be a consistent dataset covering censuses from 1971 to 2021, a web resource for analysing area changes over time, and a resource for cross-census comparisons. The project builds upon existing investments in the NI Grid-Square Product, NISRA data portal, and community engagement approaches developed with QCAP. By addressing backward compatibility, this work enables temporal analysis and enhances the 2021 Census value for both researchers and non-expert users. The resulting tools and datasets will support further research with linked census data, comparisons with administrative sources, and practical applications for local community benefit.

Current Grant Information

Grant Funder: Economic & Social Research Council

Grant Award: £325,012.

Grant Team: Shuttleworth, I. (PI), Grounds, A. (CoI), Higgins, K. (CoI) & Lloyd, C. (CoI)

Grant Duration: 27/05/2024 – 30/04/2026

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AHRC Creative Communities

Community Innovation Practitioners

This programme sought to explore the use of co-creative methodologies to break cycles of silences and address stigma around health and social challenges in Belfast’s Market community. This historically working-class neighbourhood faces unemployment, poverty, health inequities, and political segregation; issues worsened by the legacy of Northern Ireland’s conflict and recent policy vacuum due to government suspension.

This study was funded by AHRC through their Creative Communities Community Innovation Practitioner (CIP) pilot programme. The research employed community based participatory research (CBPR), taking a trauma informed approach to explore how the Arts can effectively respond to community hauntology, breaking cycles of silence, to affect change in: attitudes to trauma and substance use, and related outcomes.

The CIP programme was an arts-based, community-led intervention emphasising equitable partnership and co-creation. It integrated community experience, academic knowledge, and cultural expertise to empower participants and address these challenges through a place-based approach aligned with regional strategies. Collaborating with the Market Development Association (MDA) and partners, the CIP project facilitated nine intergenerational workshops between November 2023 and March 2024. Seventeen participants, divided into two groups, engaged throughout, using creative methods such as drama, poetry, visual mapping, and photovoice. The methods allowed a safe space for participants to share their stories, explore issues like trauma, substance use, mental health, and civic identity, whilst building a collective narrative fostering community trust and resilience.

The project culminated in a co-created photographic exhibition, The Market: A People’s Tapestry, displayed at 2 Royal Avenue, Belfast, in April 2024. The exhibition drew 7,000 visitors and gained extensive media attention, including coverage on BBC Newsline, Radio Ulster, and social media platforms, with over 58,300 views. This visibility raised awareness of community challenges, helping to further helped destigmatise issues of trauma and substance use.

Key programme outcomes included participant empowerment, strengthened community bonds, and reduced stigma around trauma, mental health and substance use. Additionally, the project inspired: a community toolkit and funded follow-on initiatives; and highlighted the transformative potential of arts-based interventions in marginalised communities. It underscored the value of targeted funding in fostering innovative, cross-sector, cultural research and development.

The CIP project serves as a model for using arts and cultural approaches to address complex social and health issues, demonstrating the importance of collaboration, co-creation, and localised responses in driving meaningful community change.

Current Grant Information

Grant Funder: AHRC Community Innovation Practitioner (CIP) Programme

Grant Award: £58,000

Grant Team: McGuigan, K. (PI), Brady, Á. (CIP), Robinson, G. (CI), & Higgins, K. (CI)

Grant Duration: 02/10/2023 → 01/10/2024 (Completed)

Link to outputs

Brady, A. & McGuigan, K. (2024). A People’s Tapestry: Sharing Stories, Breaking Cycles, Building Connections. CIP Case Study: Creative Communities (AHRC): Newcastle. Available at: https://creativecommunities.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/Aine-Brady_CIP-Case-Study_AHRC-Creative-Communities.pdf
Brady, A. & McGuigan, K. (2024). Northern Ireland Health & Wellbeing: Policy Paper. CIP Creative Communities (AHRC): Newcastle. Available at: https://creativecommunities.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/Aine-Brady_CIP-Policy-Paper_AHRC-Creative-Communities.pdf
Brady, A. (2024). Transforming Trauma: Co-creating change through culture with Áine Brady in Belfast (NI). Creative Communities Podcast. Listen to the podcast: https://open.spotify.com/episode/2YiOoXfmOdgfeoJaa52ccf

CURRENT COMMUNITY ACTION PROJECTS (CAPs)

Click the links to find each project's home page and further details.

You're Home (East Belfast)

Managed by a local social enterprise called East Belfast Mission (EBM), the You’re Home project will address the current gap in provision for the homeless or other vulnerable populations looking to transition from hostels into private rented accommodation.

The Pantry Community Supermarket (North Belfast)

The Pantry is an example of a community supermarket that provides support for individuals and local North Belfast families experiencing food insecurity as well as other issues stemming from the cost-of-living crisis.

BUILD Shankill (West/North Belfast)

BUILD Shankill is a community-led partnership and social action project which is working to address issues around vacant and derelict land in the Greater Shankill area of Belfast.

Teacher Professional Development Programme

The Greater Shankill Partnership Board and Children and Young Persons’ Zone has been working with the primary and post-primary schools serving the Shankill community to identify areas for support, with proposed programmes co-designed by the schools, community and University.