Scottish Graduate School for Arts & Humanities

Host organisation: Artlink Central Limited

Project title: Positioning Cross-Sector Participatory Arts Practice for Regional Delivery in Forth Valley

Project description

Artlink Central is a 38-year-old participatory arts charity working across Forth Valley, with deep embedded relationships spanning arts in health and care, creative placemaking, cultural strategy coordination, and sector development. The sector landscape in Scotland is currently in significant flux: a new national community culture delivery model is being piloted regionally, NHS board structures are being reorganised, and Creative Scotland's funding priorities and leadership are in transition.

This project asks how an established multi-disciplinary arts organisation should position itself as connective infrastructure across a region — linking local authority areas, sectors, and delivery scales — rather than as a single-authority-anchored deliverer.

Artlink's regional footprint spans several distinct relationship types: placed coordination roles such as Scene Stirling; commissioned health and care partnerships with NHS Forth Valley, now facing reorganisation; positioning work in Falkirk including Creative Scotland-funded Place to Creative Space; and grassroots community delivery across Stirling neighbourhoods including Raploch, Borestone, Hillpark and Darnley Park. This sits within a wider portfolio including Culture Collective, and connects to sector networks including ITAC.

The researcher will map these relationship types, analyse how emerging national and regional structures are reshaping the operating environment, and develop a conceptual model of networked regional infrastructure that Artlink can use to strengthen its funding and strategic positioning.

Outputs

A conceptual model or framework paper setting out how Artlink can operate as networked regional infrastructure across Forth Valley — mapping current relationship types (placed coordination roles, commissioned health partnerships, grassroots delivery, sector network membership), analysing the impact of emerging regional and national structures, and producing recommendations Artlink can use directly in Multi-Year Funding positioning and board strategy.

In person/remote/hybrid

Hybrid.

Desk-based research and writing can be done remotely, but in-person time in Stirling (and ideally visits to Falkirk and relevant Stirling neighbourhood sites) would benefit the relationship-mapping and stakeholder engagement aspects of the work.

Benefits to the researcher

Applied experience in cultural policy analysis, regional sector mapping, and strategic evidence-building for a live funding and positioning process; exposure to arts-in-health, placemaking, and cultural strategy practice; and relationship-building across local authority, NHS, and third-sector partners.

Key relationships

Artlink staff and trustees; Stirling and Clackmannanshire Council officers; NHS Forth Valley contacts; Falkirk Delivers; Scene Stirling partners; community members and artists involved in grassroots placemaking programmes; sector networks including ITAC.

Subject areas

This opportunity would be relevant to the following subject areas:

Design; Visual Arts; Cultural Geography; Heritage Management; Policy, Arts Management and Creative Industries.

Person specification

A1. Knowledge Base

• Essential: Subject Knowledge; Research methods – theoretical knowledge; Research methods – Practical application; Information Seeking.
• Desirable: Information literacy and management.

A2. Cognitive Abilities

• Essential: Analysing; Synthesising; Critical thinking; Evaluating.
• Desirable: Problem Solving.

A3. Creativity

• Desirable: Inquiring minds; Intellectual insight; Argument construction.

B1. Personal qualities

• Essential: Integrity; Responsibility.
• Desirable: Enthusiasm; Self-confidence.

B2. Self management

• Essential: Preparation and prioritisation; Time management.
• Desirable: Responsiveness to change.

B3. Professional & career development

• Desirable: Networking.

C1. Professional conduct

• Essential: Respect and confidentiality.
• Desirable: Ethics, principles and sustainability.

C2. Research management

• Desirable: Project planning and delivery.

D1. Working with others

• Essential: Collegiality; Equality and diversity.
• Desirable: Collaboration.

D2. Communication & dissemination

• Essential: Communication methods.
• Desirable: Publication.

D3. Engagement & impact

• Desirable: Public engagement; Society and culture; Policy.

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First published: 28 September 2026