Impact in the Arts and Humanities

In this episode Alix Brodie-Wray and Dr Matt Woodcock explore how exhibitions can serve as a pathway to research impact, hosting interviews with Professor David Higgins and Dr Joanne Williams. They discuss practical examples (including the Wordsworth Trust's Weather Words), the shift to digital exhibitions, and how exhibitions can function alongside workshops, catalogues and community activity.
Key takeaways include planning exhibitions from an early stage, building strong partnerships with museums and curators, resourcing evaluation properly, and thinking beyond visitor numbers to measure meaningful attitudinal, educational and organisational change relevant to REF impact case studies.
 
Explore further
For a broader perspective on arts practice and impact, see Isabella Streffen’s chapter: Beyond the ivory tower | 5 | Impact and the arts practitioner | Isabel.
Discover more about David Higgins’ work on literature, landscape and environmental change through British Romantic Writing and Environmental Catastrophe.
Read Joanne Williams’ work on museums, institutions and knowledge-making: Institutional Knowing // Knowing Institutions.
For practical guidance on working with communities and audiences, browse Arts Council England’s Communities and Engagement resources.
Explore toolkits and ideas for gallery, museum and heritage engagement via Engage: Resources and Toolkits.
 
University of Leeds colleagues can also find further support through LAHRI’s general impact resources.

Alix Brodie-Wray gives a concise update on the REF 2029 announcement and what it means for arts and humanities impact submissions. She outlines key changes: removal of the unit-level engagement and impact statement, stricter templates and evidence limits, clear timeframes for underpinning research, and the requirement that underpinning research be made available to panels.
The episode also flags implications for practice-based and diverse outputs, suggests preparing digital access or narrative context for non-CKU outputs, and notes the expected panel-level guidance in 2026. Practical tips are offered for case study authors and contributors as the sector adapts to the new rules.

This academic year and for the first time, we're creating a community of academics across our Arts, Humanities and Cultures Faculty who are working on REF Impact Case Studies for 2025/26.
This is a podcast version of our welcome session - it's an overview of our approach and a discussion of previous experiences from a 2021 case study author.
Join us as we navigate our way through the 'messy middle' of REF preparation!
Featuring myself, Prof Matthew Treherne and Dr Matt Woodcock
Views expressed in this podcast do not necessarily represent those of the University of Leeds.