CHANSE Networks for Transformational Change
Inspired by efforts to advance democratic innovation (Whittington 2022) and radical transitions (Loorbach 2022), and guided by design justice methodologies (e.g., Costanza Chock 2020), CHANSE Networks for Transformational Change brings together CHANSE project researchers, external participants and CHANSE itself to imaginatively explore and chart current and future scenarios for digital transformation.
Knowledge Exchange in CHANSE
Our programme begins with mapping the stakeholders and beneficiaries of the 26 CHANSE projects in order to develop a cross-CHANSE set of personas who represent intended, unintended and non-engaged audiences of CHANSE. These audience mapping and persona development activities will directly inform the development of at least two major Knowledge Exchange (KE) activities to be delivered across Years 2 and 3 of the programme, working translocally and cross-project.
Simultaneously, we will host three thematic workshops across each year (the first focused around CHANSE researchers, the second around external stakeholders, and the third including both internal and external audiences). Here we seek to identify common themes that emerge over time across CHANSE projects, centring the voices of Early Career Researchers and external stakeholders. Themes will be mapped onto those of other national and international agencies (UK examples: Nesta, Joseph Rowntree Foundation) in order to co-design the KE activities and a set of future scenarios for digital transformational change. These scenarios may then be used by CHANSE or other policy and research-setting agencies and practitioners to structure future calls and advocate for approaches with digital transformation at their core.
Our three-year plan will see us prioritising equity, imagination and democratic innovation, using playful hybrid and online spaces (Mozilla Hubs) and dynamic co-created audio and video content to deliver a CHANSE KE portal on web and social media, plus a webinar series, alongside our thematic workshops. For researchers and KE specialists, we will publish an edited Open Access volume on transformational KE methods, with an interest in shaping futures-related studies.
Knowledge Exchange Facilitators
Dr Sara Perry
Dr Sara Perry is Principal Investigator on the CHANSE KEF programme, as well as Project Leader on the CHANSE-funded Transforming Data Reuse in Archaeology (TETRARCHs), and Director of Research and Engagement at MOLA (Museum of London Archaeology) where she oversees a team of 120 specialists. Sara was previously Senior Lecturer in Cultural Heritage Management at the University of York, where she acted as a lead on the EU-funded EMOTIVE Project, and directed heritage interpretation programmes at archaeological sites around the world, including Çatalhöyük in Turkey, Memphis, the capital of Ancient Egypt, and Kilwa and Pangani in Tanzania. As an educator, Sara has been recognised as one of JISC’s 50 Most Influential Higher Education Professionals Using Social Media, and as runner up for the Times Higher Education Award for Most Innovative Teacher of the Year. Alongside leading TETRARCHs and CHANSE KEF, she is currently Co-Investigator (Co-I) on the AHRC/Towards a National Collection-funded project Unpath’d Waters: Marine and Maritime Collections in the UK, a lead on the DCMS/National Lottery-funded Archaeology Audience Network, as well as Principal Investigator on the AHRC-funded Accelerating Impact at MOLA, an initiative distributing £450,000 over three years to non-academic partners (citizens, SMEs, charities, communities) to increase KE and the public value of archaeology.
Dr Anna Simandiraki-Grimshaw is Co-I on the CHANSE KEF programme, as well as Research Associate on the CHANSE project Transforming Data Reuse in Archaeology (TETRARCHs) based at MOLA (Museum of London Archaeology). She is trained in Archaeology, Classics, History, Western History of Art, and in Education. She has extensive professional experience as an interdisciplinary researcher, educator and research facilitator, including on Impact and Knowledge Exchange (KE). She has been research-active for over 25 years, focusing on material culture studies, digital humanities and public interaction. She has lectured and designed learning materials (including on digital platforms) at 17 institutions, mostly in the UK. Her specialist and KE networks span multiple stakeholders and very varied audiences, mainly across Europe.
Dr Anna Simandiraki-Grimshaw
Dr Blen Taye
Dr Blen Taye is a Research Assistant on the CHANSE KEF programme based out of MOLA (Museum of London Archaeology) where her primary role is Research Partnerships Manager. Blen has a multidisciplinary educational background and has training in Architecture, Urban Planning and Heritage Science. Her research experience involved working on innovative heritage partnerships between academic and cultural institutions and translating academic research into practicable guidelines for heritage practitioners. She is interested in continuing to work across the heritage sector and particularly on how we can achieve societal benefit through research.