Short Abstract

Our participatory evaluation of Into the Light uses creative methods and systemic mapping to embed learning in cultural practice. This session explores how inclusive evaluation cultures can inform policy, challenge conventions, support regeneration, and inspire sector-wide change.

Description

This presentation shares insights from the evaluation of Into the Light, an ambitious, place-based cultural programme designed to support cultural regeneration, talent development, and inclusive participation across County Durham over three years. Grounded in Socio-Cultural Historical Activity Theory (SCHAT), the ongoing evaluation adopts a participatory, arts-based approach to embed learning and reflection within everyday cultural practice.

Work Package 1 focused on co-developing an inclusive evaluation framework and toolkit, shaped by a review of UK and European place-based programmes. This framework supports capability-building among cultural practitioners through co-designed tools, inclusive principles, and creative methods that embed evaluation into everyday cultural practice.

Work Packages 2 and 3 apply creative methods, including Photovoice, LEGO® Serious Play, philosophical dialogues, and community storytelling, to surface lived experience and identify contradictions within the programme. These tensions are reframed as opportunities for transformation, supporting iterative learning and collaborative sensemaking.

A key strand of the evaluation is the development of a Community of Practice across County Durham, bringing together freelance creative practitioners, cultural organisations, educators, and community partners. This network is designed to support peer learning, reflective practice, and shared inquiry, enabling practitioners to engage with evaluation not as a separate activity but as an embedded part of cultural development. Through co-created resources, thematic workshops, and collaborative storytelling, the Community of Practice fosters a culture of openness, experimentation, and mutual support. It also provides a platform for surfacing diverse perspectives and amplifying voices that are often underrepresented in formal evaluation and policy processes.

The evaluation challenges conventional hierarchies by positioning participants as co-researchers and valuing narrative, visual, and performative data alongside traditional evidence. It also demonstrates how creative inquiry and arts-based methods can deepen understanding in complex systems, offering cultural organisations, governing bodies, regional and national policy actors, cultural funders, and strategic decision-makers new ways to surface insight, foster collaboration, and amplify community voice.

Embedded within Durham University’s Policy Hub, the evaluation contributes to cultural policy by generating inclusive, context-sensitive insights. It informs strategies for regeneration, workforce development, and place-shaping, demonstrating how embedded evaluation cultures can support both practice and policy. The approach offers a transferable model for other regions and sectors seeking to embed evaluation in complex, creative, and community-led contexts.

This session offers an original contribution to the field by showcasing how evaluation can be rigorous, relational, and responsive, supporting transformation across complex systems through creative and participatory approaches. The session will also reflect on how this approach can be adapted for other regions and sectors, contributing to wider learning in cultural evaluation, public policy, and community-led development. It invites dialogue on how creative methods can support inclusive decision-making and long-term cultural change.