Environment submissions database

Arts University Bournemouth (AUB) was well advanced in its REF 2021 preparations when Covid-19 hit the UK in early 2020. Most staff, excepting those with circumstances, had already met the minimum requirement of one published output when the UK went into the first national lockdown. However, as a creative, practice-based institution, staff energy and focus were given to ensuring the quality of teaching was maintained as the university moved to blended or remote learning whilst striving to keep the campus open so students could realise their creative work. This impacted significantly on the time that staff could give to their preparation of contextual information for practice-based outputs, which comprise around a third of our outputs. The closure of arts venues and the cancellation of festivals also meant that outputs AUB expected to return were not realised. For example, Vallance’s film screenings and curated events at the Whitechapel Gallery, London and Whitworth Art Museum were cancelled; publication of Gough’s book Afterstorm was delayed by the extended lockdown and curfew in Australia, where the publication was being produced. Corroboration statements to support our impact case studies were hard to obtain, particularly in industries where many staff had been furloughed. (Wenham-Clarke, charity sector; Lambert, museums). And dissemination that might have realised greater reach did not take place. For example Wenham-Clarke’s second, larger exhibition of Our Human Condition planned for high profile sites in Scotland and London was cancelled or postponed indefinitely. Bowen’s programme of international residencies, which are related to her publication and exhibitions work has to be put on hold. Visits to the university museum, archives, and collections had to be suspended, with a significant impact on events, audience development and research. However, aside from the challenges, the pandemic has realised new opportunities that the university had not fully embraced before. For example, the move to online enabled Shercliff’s AHRC Stitching Together Network to engage with a wide audience internationally, enabling a global reach, not envisaged when the project was originally planned. Furthermore, under the new AUB Strategy, the university has also continued to accelerate its Research Plan, adopting video conferencing and other means of communication to maximise its national and international activities, seminar and conference activities.