The AHRC Creative Communities programme is committed to tackling regional inequality, fostering skills innovation, and breaking down barriers to opportunity. These aims were at the heart of our recent visit to Blaenau Ffestiniog – a town whose layered history of resilience and collaboration mirrors the ambitions of this national initiative.
As part of the programme, Community Innovation Practitioner Shirish Kulkarni leads Newyddion i Bawb (News for All), a project based at Media Cymru at Cardiff University. This work exemplifies how devolution empowers local voices, enabling Welsh communities to shape their own narratives. Supported by S4C, Welsh Government (via Creative Wales), and grassroots organisations such as Y Dref Werdd and Inclusive Journalism Cymru, the project explores inclusive journalism and social cohesion in rural Wales.
At its core, Newyddion i Bawb addresses a democratic deficit: rural communities are often excluded from national conversations, their stories underrepresented or misrepresented. By reframing narratives through collaborative storytelling and theatre techniques developed by Common/Wealth, the project seeks to strengthen social cohesion and amplify voices that have historically been marginalised.
Our October 2025 visit coincided with an information evening for prospective community co-researchers. The itinerary reflected the programme’s ethos of place-based innovation, starting with a Community Garden Tour led by Wil Gritten of Y Dref Werdd. The garden space embodies sustainability and social connection, values central to Creative Communities. Meeting the S4C News Commissioner Sharen Griffith highlighted how the broadcaster’s involvement aligns with Welsh Government’s ambition to reach one million Welsh speakers by 2050 and we discussed how cultural policy and creative practice can support each other more effectively in devolution.
CellB Arts Centre, once a police station, is now a thriving hub for youth skills development. Staff demonstrated how creative enterprise can revitalize local economies and strengthens civic identity. The visit concluded with a descent into the former slate mine, now a visitor attraction. Here, we reflected on the cabans: informal spaces where miners once gathered to organise politically and educate each other. These historic practices of collective empowerment resonate strongly with the Creative Communities programme’s aim to enable communities to take ownership of their futures through creativity and collaboration.
The CIP research outputs – a podcast, case study, and policy paper – will inform recommendations to the Senedd, helping build the evidence base on how devolved governance can respond to local needs through cultural innovation.
Newyddion i Bawb is more than a journalism project; it is a blueprint for how creativity, policy, and community can converge to drive inclusive growth. In doing so, it exemplifies the AHRC Creative Communities programme’s mission to reimagine regional futures and democratise cultural participation across the UK.
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