RIKE Alliance
The CHEAD Research Innovation and Knowledge Exchange Alliance brings together researchers and researcher leaders within CHEAD members institutions and holds regular events for members of the Alliance throughout the year.
The CHEAD RIKE Alliance is chaired by CHEAD Co-opted Trustee, Dr Sian Vaughan.
The RIKE Alliance Strategy Group, made up of senior art, design and media research leaders and REF Panellists, meets regularly to serve the wider CHEAD RIKE Alliance, see the CHEAD RIKE Alliance Terms of Reference.
RIKE Alliance Vision Statement
The CHEAD RIKE Alliance is a collaborative, entrepreneurial partner in the UK’s creative and cultural economy – demonstrating how our research creates impact by shaping practice, activating innovation and informing policy. The Alliance aspires to influence policy through research, practice and advocacy, keeping curiosity and exemplary arts processes at its core.
The RIKE Alliance engages with external organisations including other research partners, international institutions, local and national agencies, policy makers and our colleagues in member institutions to expand and enhance public understanding of arts, media and design key subject areas and their vital social, economic, political and cultural impact.
We are keen to nurture research leadership, research-curious staff and early career researchers to broaden the scope of research, innovation and knowledge exchange, to generate new insight and to inform teaching, research and professional practice.
We aim to be a vibrant, well-connected and confident community of practice for new ideas and methods, with no limiting boundaries, a reputation for boldness and a growing international profile.
The CHEAD RIKE Alliance welcomes new members from any CHEAD member institution. If you would like to join the mailing list, please contact: info@chead.ac.uk
A working paper arising from the event in April 2025: Civic and Place: Exploring the Role of the Civic in Art and Design which brought together researchers, educators, practitioners and community stakeholders to examine how art and design can shape, sustain, and animate civic life.
The paper is co-authored by: Dr Rowan Bailey, Director of the Centre for Cultural Ecologies in Art, Design and Architecture, University of Huddersfield; Evelyn Wilson, co-Director of National Centre for Academic and Cultural Exchange; Dr Rhiannon Jones, Associate Professor (Civic Practice). Head of Civic and Communities, University of Derby; Professor Steve Millington, Professor of Place Management, Manchester Metropolitan University; Adam Ellis Leach, Programme Director, National Civic Impact Accelerator (NCIA) and Head of Civic Strategy & National Initiatives, Sheffield Hallam University and Sandra Booth, Director of Policy and External Relations, CHEAD