New project aims to improve diversity in arts and humanities research

How universities and black and minority ethnic communities* work together will be the focus of a new UK-wide project. Common Cause is a new collaborative arts and humanities initiative will map routes to greater inclusion that enable the UK's diverse population to fully participate in research and collaborations. The project, involving the Universities of Bristol and Liverpool, the Centre for Research in Race and Rights at the University of Nottingham, the Runnymede Trust and Xtend, aims to share good practice and further develop research in the area. Common Cause will launch with a survey in January 2017 for academics and community organisations working within or originating from black and minority ethnic communities. This aims to map the landscape of current practice, its gaps and strengths. In the summer, the project will host a series of workshops bringing together both existing participants in research collaborations and those who might be interested in developing them in the future. In 2018, the project will work with funders, policy makers and key change makers to identify strategic and policy-level changes needed to ensure partnerships between and within universities and black and minority ethnic communities can flourish.