Research and Innovation
Led by Dr Jim Ang and Professor Nicola Shaughnessy, our team connects creative industry professionals with cutting edge research to push new bounderies.
ICCI Research
iCCi acts as a bridge -
— a bridge between academic research on creativity and performance, and the realities of professional creative practice and industry.
We support practice-based and practice-led research that grows directly out of making work — in theatre, performance, film, music and creative technologies — and we value that research as a form of knowledge in its own right.
iCCi is uniquely positioned because it is genuinely multidisciplinary. We bring together theatre, performance, music, film, and creative technologies — alongside strong networks of artists, producers, clinicians, educators and industry professionals.
Crucially, we’re not tied to a single university department. That gives us flexibility and openness — we can respond quickly, collaborate widely, and support research that crosses boundaries between disciplines, sectors and communities.
That combination of creative expertise, research excellence and professional networks is what allows iCCi to do work that is both rigorous and impactful.
Project: Respond Framework
ICCI are trialling a new resource developed from research led by Professor Nicola Shaughnessy (Academic Co-Director) which is used to evaluate the impact of arts-based practices, particularly appropriate for working creatively with young people in educational and community contexts. The RESPOND Framework is a flexible seven stage approach that helps people engage more deeply with any form of art.
The RESPOND resource was initiated by Nicola Shaughnessy and has been co-produced with an interdisciplinary research team and young people in association with three UKRI funded projects using creative and participatory practices as tools for engaging with adolescent mental health: CREATE, ATTUNE and , Playing A/Part. RESPOND is a free resource that can be used in arts- based research, education, wellbeing with flexibility to be applied across a range of creative media. It positions the art work as a focus of attention, encouraging analysis of its characteristics from different perspectives and conversations that go beyond first impressions.
The resources include a full Facilitator Guide as well as a streamlined Flyer, so practitioners can choose whichever version suits their setting. Both resources include prompts, ideas and inspiration to support facilitators and participants in exploring artworks of all kinds, from movement and music to writing and collage.
To browse or download the resources, you can find them here:
👉 https://lnkd.in/eb-x4j87
RESPOND will be featured at the CREATE Conference in Leeds (May 28th) and at a Creative Health symposium in London (May 29th) .
The resources are being piloted so anyone using them is encouraged to provide feedback on how they are using RESPOND in their work.
Deputy Director - Performance & Arts
Professor Nicola Shaughnessy
A specialist in contemporary performance, autobiography, applied and socially engaged theatre, working with psychologists and neuroscientists to explore autism, dementia and mental health.
Deputy Director - Creative Technologies
Dr Jim Ang
Jim Ang is involved in multidisciplinary research in digital health, deploying digital technologies, such as virtual/augmented reality, to improve the quality of healthcare and ultimately to improve human wellbeing.
