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Gateshead

According to the Active People survey Gateshead is in the bottom 20% nationally for its levels of cultural participation. However, since the 1980s Gateshead has been the focus of very significant investment on culture and leisure facilities. Newcastle/ Gateshead has often been presented as an example of successful ‘culture-led regeneration’; however, in the context of research claiming to show low levels of cultural participation in Gateshead what does this mean for an analysis of the relevance, and perhaps more crucially, the potential utility of these newer cultural capital investments for local communities in Gateshead?

The research approach in Gateshead starts from the ‘ground up’ working first and foremost with communities (rather than arts or cultural organisations) to understand the everyday activities and forms of culture and leisure participation that different people interact with day to day. The work in Gateshead is due to commence in 2014.

Key contact: Dr Lisanne Gibson, School of Museum Studies, University of Leicester