Project Description
The Creative Change Project is an Australian Research Council (ARC) Future Fellowship at the Creative Arts Research Institute, investigating the role community music can play in addressing social inequities in Australia.
Through our research and partnerships with communities that address social inequities and create music, we aim to map current approaches to community music in Australian contexts where social inequities exist, and create a detailed picture of how these locally-embedded approaches to music-making operate.
We are Investigating what kinds of social outcomes can be fostered by community music, exploring how they can help to improve the social consequences of inequity, and enhance the efficacy of place-based efforts seeking to mitigate these inequities.
Through our work we will develop conceptual work and an evidence-base that can inform a ‘creative turn’ in the development of place-based policies and approaches aimed at addressing social inequities in Australian communities.
Project Personnel and Beneficiaries
The Creative Change Project works hand-in-hand with communities, arts, and social sector organisations, to advance our understanding of the role that music can play in addressing entrenched social inequities, and bringing about positive social change in Australian communities.
Our work is underpinned by a human-rights ethic, social justice principles, and a commitment to upholding dignity, equity, and mutual respect in all aspects of our project’s work. As a team, we come to this research with a wide range lived experiences and perspectives. We see our differences and diversity as our greatest strength.
Outcomes to Date
The Creative Change Project is in its first of three years with data collection starting to roll out over the coming months. Watch this space!
Project Significance
Social inequity is on the rise, with the COVID-19 pandemic exacerbating problems of long-term disadvantage in communities across the country. Inequity occurs on a social gradient, often manifesting in locational disadvantage. As such, where a person lives, and their social positions, has profound implications on their wellbeing. There are growing calls for place-based approaches that bring together diverse stakeholders and sectors to work collectively on addressing these inequities. This research will advance our understanding of the role that community music can play in these tailored, community-based approaches. Building on a mounting evidence-base of research that documents the social, cultural, physiological, and economic benefits that can come from participating in music, we will to examine whether these positive outcomes can lead to the kinds of individual, community, and systemic changes needed for greater social equity to occur.