Claire Tymon

Project Partners:

Devolved Context:

CIP Biography:

Founding Director of a creative placemaking practice, Local, Dr Claire Tymon has 25 years’ experience working in the culture and regeneration sectors, initiating and co-producing creative place-based projects, embedding co-design and participation at the heart of her practice. Claire worked as creative producer and advisor for Durham UK City of Culture 2025 bid and as former Director of FutureEverything, Claire was responsible for the direction and delivery of ‘this place [of mine], an online tool designed by and for young people to engage with their local high street. Claire is an advisor and critical friend to the Greater Manchester Combined Authority’s Culture team, founding member of the National Urban Room Network and is a Trustee of arts charity Mid Pennine Arts. Claire completed a PhD with Sheffield School of Architecture in 2025, demonstrating the role of the maker in placemaking and the impacts of community-driven, co-produced, creative approaches to place-policy-making.

Project Summary:

The Place-based Cultural Development and Delivery (2022–2027) project is a research initiative led by Dr Rowan Bailey, Director of the Centre for Cultural Ecologies in Art, Design and Architecture at the University of Huddersfield. The project is mobilised through a public realm programme, called Cultures of _ and the Community Innovation Practitioner will be working collaboratively with the research team, external partners and communities on Cultures of Film (Jan 2026-Dec 2026)

The project is co-developing place-based cultural programmes that address socio-economic challenges such as health inequalities, community inclusivity, skills gaps and capabilities. This work aligns to the development of Kirklees Cultural strategy and supports Mayoral pledges to ensure cultural access for all children and to establish West Yorkshire as a ‘region of learning’.

Central to Cultures of Film is the Culture Lab model, co-developed with Dr Claire Tymon (Local) and creating an evidence base that will demonstrate how culture drives economic growth, reduces inequality, and fosters inclusion. Six participatory filmmaking workshops will focus on:

1. Lifelong Learning on the High Street – transforming public spaces into cultural learning hubs.
2. Creative Health Provision – co-designing arts-based health interventions with communities and healthcare providers.
3. Inclusivity in Heritage Settings – amplifying underrepresented voices in local heritage narratives.

The Cultures of Film public realm programme will document and share these community-driven visions for cultural capabilities in Kirklees.