As part of the COVID-19 national research project, led by the Centre for Cultural Value in collaboration with the PEC and The Audience Agency, March 12th saw the delivery of the first webinar aimed at sharing some of the emerging findings from three workstrands of the research, focused on the impacts on the workforce, the audience and the local approaches to cultural post-pandemic recovery, through a case study analysis of Greater Mancester, respectively.

The online event, entitled “Covid-19: “The great unequaliser?”, was virtually attended by almost 200 people, who heard from project researchers Mark Taylor, Karen Gray, Ben Dunn, John Wright and Oliver Mantell, as well as from guest contributors, Lara Ratnaraja and Dr Roaa Ali, about the inequalities in the sector and the ways in which the pandemic has exacerbated some of the historical underlying issues.

As well as an introduction to the project; attendees heard about findings from the analysis on the impact of COVID-19 on the cultural sector’s workforce; particularly on freelancers, as well as on the main takeaways from the interviews and case studies’ analysis from organisations and cultural leaders all across the UK. Inequalities within the workforce and audience engagement were highlighted as a key area of concern, while innovative approaches to collaboration and the possibility of building a new, more inclusive and sustainable future for the cultural sector were discussed as some of the positive actions and outcomes on which to build back and better looking forward.

You can watch the webinar here and read the guest contributor’s after thoughts here.