Today’s global challenges are protracted, volatile, and ambiguous such that traditional single-track solutions no longer work. Gone are the days when a transport or medical problem, for example, can be solved by engineering or medics alone, and there’s no quick fix, leaving us with uncertain outcomes. No one remains unaffected by the harsh realities of the 21st Century, as we struggle to make sense of what can and should be done.
Set against this backdrop, the arts, culture, and humanities sector plays a crucial role in discovering new pathways to 21st century living. How? By creating and fostering community resilience – a strength emphasised by the University of Birmingham-led Humanities for Resilience Project. The arts, culture, and humanities sector generates transformative perspectives and shared visions to policy makers and across sectors.
This innovative project brings together NGOs, activists, human rights defenders, academics and policy makers from Europe, Africa, Asia, and the Americas. It began with workshops held in Lebanon, Thailand, Zambia, and Ethiopia, where we kick started a network of resilience creators and continued through social media and WhatsApp. We decentred European and North American knowledge production - generating connections across the global South.
This innovative project brings together NGOs, activists, human rights defenders, academics and policy makers from Europe, Africa, Asia, and the Americas. It began with workshops held in Lebanon, Thailand, Zambia, and Ethiopia, where we kick started a network of resilience creators and continued through social media and WhatsApp.
Katherine Brown, Sara Fregonese, Shannon Oates, Ceri Chillier - University of Birmingham
In Lebanon we saw how cultural heritage, food security and urban infrastructures make possible ‘ways of living’ – especially among migrants and young people. In Zambia we experienced how art, dance, theatre and technology give young people living on the margins of society, and people facing social stigma, the chance to do more than exist.
In Thailand we observed how public art, art production, and women’s migrant community networks empower and embolden ordinary lives with meaning and incomes. Together in Ethiopia, we explored the importance of shared identity - layered with multiple pathways of resilience across communities. In this workshop we also saw how hybrid networks with dynamic relationships sustained resilience activities across our project members.
Resilience demonstrated by our network goes beyond survival, and realises the transformative capacity of communities to live sustainably. Resilience living is sustainable living, not confined to ‘post-disaster’ times, it happens every day, and is built into our communities.
We found resilience has four components:
- Creativity - essential for resilience creators within the sector to harness radical forms of creativity, such as in Thailand with Tiffany Singh’s Bangkok 1899 social practice hub exploring women's participation in art, emphasizing authenticity and upcycling.
- Civicity - fostering social affinity, political action, and shared identity, guarding against destructive behaviour – for example, in Lebanon with Food Blessed, where grassroots culinary diplomacy builds civic spaces and unity across diverse communities in Beirut.
- Criticality - continuously engaging in conversations, analysis, and the creation of a vision for a shared future, for example Circus Zambia and Barefeet Theatre – young people using their talents to engage their communities and leaders to call for positive change.
- Co-ownership - resilience communities need to articulate needs and leverage resources as they create plural, networked forms of resilience – for example, in Zambia - Afrotwist offers free dance classes, empowering young people to connect with their bodies and communities.
There are, of course challenges to sustaining resilience in the sector with people’s limited ability to instigate transformational change often leading to burnout. Short-term funding and NGO competition create barriers to sustaining impactful projects.
We found our own challenges during the Covid-19 pandemic and economic recessions. As members of the network became chronically ill and other members suffered loss of income, we collectively felt the challenge of sustaining resilience. We were forced to revise ambitions and goals as weakened health and funding streams affected activities.
Our project came up with several recommendations for policy action:
- Foster Long-Term Funding and Collaboration – by encouraging funding mechanisms that support sustained projects in the sector and encourage NGOs to harness collective expertise and resources.
- Promote Transformational Change - through incentives and support for initiatives that instigate meaningful and transformative changes, whilst sharing knowledge and best practice.
- Develop Resilience Indicators – working together to define and establish indicators of resiliency in the sector, measuring impact, assessing theories of change, and informing future policies.
- Emphasise Community-Centric Resilience - acknowledging and addressing the challenges associated with celebrating resilience where the state's failures are evident.
The Humanities for Resilience Project demonstrates that the arts, culture, and humanities sector embodies resilience. In an age of scarcity, isolation, and a politics of fear, the arts, culture, and humanities have never been needed more. Addressing challenges identified and implementing recommended policy actions will mean that policymakers can strengthen the sector's capacity to contribute to community resilience effectively and harness opportunities created by those global challenges.
Katherine Brown, Sara Fregonese, Shannon Oates, Ceri Chillier - University of Birmingham
