There is a growing body of evidence which describes the social inclusion role of museums and the role that museums play in improving health and wellbeing, including previous research funded by the AHRC. This research has shown that engaging in museums provides: positive social experiences, leading to reduced social isolation; opportunities for learning and acquiring news skills; calming experiences, leading to decreased anxiety; increased positive emotions, such as optimism, hope and enjoyment; increased self-esteem and sense of identity; increased inspiration and opportunities for meaning making; positive distraction from clinical environments, including hospitals and care homes; and increased communication between families, carers and health professionals. Given the wide range of benefits it is not surprising that more and more museums and galleries are adapting their access programmes to consider the wider social, health and wellbeing benefits that museum encounters can bring about. From museum object handling to reminiscence sessions, through to interactive exhibitions, tours, talks and participatory arts and creative activities, museums offer a diverse range of opportunities for active engagement. With over 2500 museums in the UK alone, most of which are free, museums offer a largely untapped resource as places which can support public health. Museums, however, are very well placed to address issues such as social isolation, physical and mental ill-health and evidence suggests that museums can help to build social capital and resilience, and improve health and wellbeing. The Health and Social Care Act (2012) is bringing about considerable changes to the way health and social care services will be delivered in the future. A key part of these health reforms sees a shift towards 'prevention is better than cure', within a model which will require a multi-agency approach with an increased reliance on third sector organisations such as charities, voluntary and community organisations. Part of the reason for the health reforms is the realisation that individuals are living longer but with unhealthier lifestyles, with a significant increase in age- and lifestyle-related diseases, such as dementia and diabetes; this places added pressure on health services (including the NHS) and social services. It has also been shown that there is a 'social gradient' in relation to health, whereby individuals from poorer socio-economic backgrounds experience reduced health, wellbeing and social resilience. It is easy to see how museums could fit into this new era of health commissioning considering the benefits described above. One of the biggest challenges facing the museums sector is understanding how best to meet these needs; here lessons from arts-in-health could help inform the museums sector. Over the past few decades arts-in-health has gained considerable support, backed up by a robust evidence base. Many arts organisations have developed more formalised relationships with health and social care providers, offering schemes described as 'social prescribing'. Social prescribing links patients in primary care with local sources of support within the community. The proposed research seeks to test a novel 'Museums on Prescription' scheme (MoP). The research will link museums with health and social care providers, and third sector organisations such as AgeUK, and using lessons learnt from arts-based social prescribing schemes, will set up two MoPs, one in Central London and one regional MoP in Kent. By working closely with health/social care service users, and museum, health, social care and third sector professionals, the research will use a range of techniques, including quality of health measures, interviews and questionnaires, to develop a MoP model which can be adopted by the museums sector as a way to provide a novel public health intervention.

What is the problem? Current health communication and behaviour change programmes do not support UK Black and Asian populations in making healthier dietary and physical activity (PA) choices, and maintaining a healthier weight. We talked to Black Caribbean, Black African and South Asian women and men and to health practitioners to develop this project. In these conversations people shared that they are very motivated to improve their diet and PA behaviours to prevent serious health conditions such as type 2 diabetes. However, some also told us that worrying about or experiencing racism, and other barriers such as time and expense, stopped them from taking part in healthy lifestyle programmes. It was felt that existing services lacked relevance for Black and Asian people and were poorly communicated. When asked what ideal help with health behaviour change would look like to them, services with mental health support delivered by staff of the same ethnic group and similar lived experience were common opinions. The importance of being able to keep eating their traditional foods, and that dancing or walking were popular activities, was also emphasised. Weight loss, if needed, was seen as something that happened naturally, if healthy habits could be maintained. In terms of programme delivery, the need for low cost and flexible sessions, and a preference for community rather than medical settings, was stated. We also looked at existing published research and while there are some studies on what helps and hinders healthy behaviours among Black and South Asian ethnic groups, there has been very little research developing and testing interventions suitable for these groups. How will the problem be addressed? We have formed a group made up of researchers, members of the public, charities, health professionals, and policy makers. Together we aim to co-design 'Health Connections'- a new intervention tailored to the needs of Black Caribbean, Black African and South Asian men and women, based in communities and delivered by community educators supported by health professionals. We will look at how a culturally sensitive communication campaign and mental health support can be included in an intervention programme to improve diet and PA choices, and promote healthy weight. We will also examine how health professionals can be trained in cultural competency (being able to see things from the point of view of people from other cultures), so that partnerships between health professionals and community educators are improved. Throughout the project there will be meetings every two months and other activities such as questionnaires and a workshop, and support meetings for group members from the public, to make sure all views are represented. We will conduct interviews with men and women from diverse ethnic groups to understand their experiences, opinions and intervention needs, adding to our existing data. Findings will be summarised in a plain English report. We will also gather examples of existing intervention resources (such as culturally adapted recipes) and local practice. Based on the information gathered, we will make a list of potential programme sessions, their content, and how they will be delivered. The project group will complete questionnaires regarding the list, and discuss the results in a workshop to come to an agreement on the best ideas. Examples of session content (e.g. recipe cards and exercise videos) will be made and we will hold a community event in Leeds, UK, to see what the public think of the ideas and materials. The final stage will be to write a manual documenting the intervention and to share the project findings in publications, presentations, and an infographic. The findings will then be the basis of planning the next phase of research, which will be to carry out a trial to test whether the newly designed intervention can be carried out and is acceptable among Black and South Asian adults.

GBV touches virtually on all aspects of life. However, its relationship to food systems - the complex networks of people and activities involved in food, from production to consumption - is largely not understood. This is surprising given the importance of food in our daily lives and that the gendered nature of food systems is well established: women are disproportionately represented in informal and unpaid labour in food systems, and their labour is characterised by intense manual work, often combined with care and community work — including food provision — with low or no pay or protection, poor access to resources and limited decision-making authority. These issues are more pronounced when gender interacts with other intersectional characteristics. However, how these systemic issues link to the food system remains largely unrecognised by high-level decision makers such as the High-Level Panel for Food Security and Nutrition, and GBV prevention and support interventions. Experience in the sector informs us that this 'gap' in policy, research and practice is related to a lack of evidence of the relationship between GBV and food systems, in addition to the lack of appropriate, and trauma informed skills and methodologies within the food systems research community. Our vision is to facilitate a new policy, research and practice agenda to address GBV and contribute to building food systems that are safe, dignifying and empowering. We focus on women workers who occupy precarious positions within the food system, particularly, but not limited to, the Global South. Our project has three research objectives: Firstly, we will establish an arts-led international and transdisciplinary research partnership to co-create an innovative new methodology - 'body/story/environment' - to increase understanding and prevention of GBV in food systems from women's intersectional and embodied perspectives. This approach merges somatic practice and storywork in place (activities linked to an environment or context), and utilises team expertise in the Global South and North in arts (storywork, immersive experience, somatic practice), participatory action research methods from the social sciences, and practice-based expertise in GBV prevention/response, with women food system workers. Secondly, we will co-create new, context-specific methods in Colombia and Nigeria to produce new evidence on GBV in food systems. This will be achieved through the development of multi-modal and trauma-informed forms of inquiry across body/story/environment through the production of individual and collective narratives and artefacts that promote dignity of women workers and co-create solutions to GBV in food systems. Thirdly, we will establish a network for meaningful engagement of public health, legal and food system sectors (local to global; policy, research and practice), around new research evidence through immersive events, exhibitions and artefacts. Activities are expected to 'change hearts and minds' towards addressing GBV in food systems led by women's own narratives. We also expect improved valorisation of arts-led research, particularly in the context of the social sciences, and to further demonstrate the effectiveness in arts-based approaches in GBV research. 'Hitting the ground' will expand an existing arts-informed project in Colombia and Nigeria to understand GBV linked to two major food staples, rice and cassava, respectively. Our practice is centred on meaningful engagement with diverse women, considering intersectional differences, and the facilitation of equitable learning partnerships for exchange and immersion in women's stories in the Global South and North.

Feminist scholars have demonstrated the invisibility of women's reproductive labour (or social reproduction - SR), performed in bearing and raising children, maintaining households and socially sustaining and guaranteeing the daily reproduction of the labour-force. SR theories highlight that capitalist forms of production necessarily rely on devaluing reproductive activities through inequalities drawn along lines of gender, race, class and citizenship status. Without this un(der)paid labour there would be no production or accumulation. This argument extends beyond domestic labour, pointing to the large reservoir of unwaged labour and 'cheap natures' (i.e. low-cost food, energy and raw-material) that sustains the life process, whilst also generating value for capital. This conformation of labour and distinctions between what is productive and reproductive work, permeate in our current Food Systems which are increasingly commodified, are concentrated in the hands of a few powerful corporations, financialised and extractive. Academically and in policy-making, we still tend to study different aspects of food separately and often policies to improve food systems focus on a particular part of the problem, such as increasing yields or improving diets. Whilst this approach has led to major insights and development of expertise in specific fields, solutions rarely have an impact beyond their own discipline and carry the risk of worsening problems considered 'out of scope'. The main innovation presented by this research, is that by using a Social Reproduction lens, the body of knowledge and practice developed by the fellowship will incorporate what is beyond prevailing Food Systems literature and policy. Therefore, it contributes to design and implementation of transformative actions that tackle the underpinning causes of the triple burden of malnutrition - the coexistence of undernutrition, obesity and micro-nutrient deficiencies - and the socio-economic and environmental inequalities perpetuated by current food systems. Anchored in the notion of a continuum between socio-political-economic trends between Global South and Global North and located in the political economy contexts of SA, GH and the UK, the research carried out by the Observatory aims at unpacking the food systems-social reproduction nexus. Using a participatory, interdisciplinary and technology-based approach, the Observatory broadly conceptualises female, racialised and working-class reproductive labour to include un(der)paid reproductive work, but also abject forms of food labour performed outside of the institutional domain of the market, namely, subsistence farming or maintenance of homestead gardens, environmental stewardships, work in food solidarity networks. A SR lens is based on the idea that to understand how we sustain our lives from one generation to the next, we need to unpack how different parts of the economy and society relate to each other. Therefore, SR is well suited to help us develop a more holistic understanding of the ways we produce and consume food. In particular, this can highlight how unpaid work and the work performed in the informal sector, are fundamental to shaping the ways food is produced, distributed, sold and consumed. The Fellowship will study the production, supply and consumption of selected food sectors in SA and GH (high-end horticultural products destined the UK markets), the UK (food manufactured goods - confectionery, drinks and beverages- exported to SA and GH). Anchored in co-creation, the research will provide the case-studies that help to answer the following research questions: 1) What are the social reproductive costs of the current ways in which food is produced and consumed? 2) How do households, communities and states manage and care for food work and food consumption related health burdens? 3) What is the role of the private sector and the state in promoting or hindering better labour and food consumption

Despite efforts to raise awareness of the challenges of sustainable development and environmental issues, such as depleting oil reserves, toxic waste, climate change and water shortages, individual behaviour has been slow to change. The proposed study explores the efficacy of an innovative bottom-up social marketing approach to encourage pro-environmental behaviour (PEB) using hairdressers as 'catalytic individuals' to diffuse knowledge and practices relating to responsible chemical, energy and water use across their social networks. Hairdressers use a lot of energy, water and chemicals, but our research last year (Baden, 2010) indicated that, despite the increased concerns and public pronouncements on the importance of sustainability, little awareness has filtered into the hairdressing sector. This lack of attention to environmental issues by hairdressers then constitutes a social norm that is antagonistic to sustainability awareness, especially hair-washing, drying and colouring, which are activities that are also carried out at home. Thus the study aims to engage hairdressers, both in developing their own PEBs, and as 'catalytic individuals' to help perpetrate more pro-environmental social norms across their social networks. The proposed study will be in the form of action research: Action: Selected hairdressers will be interviewed to assess their current sustainability practices and extent to which they provide a model of PEBs (e.g. reduced toxicity of hair products, water conservation, low use of energy in terms of drying and style) either through their practices or through their conversations with customers. Our pilot research found zero examples of such environmental awareness, but a willingness to engage with the topic further. Twenty five hairdressers will then be invited to an event to raise awareness of environmental issues in their work and encouraged to come up with their own ideas to reduce environmental impacts. We plan to create positive attitudes towards the project by making the event fun, with good refreshments and inspirational speakers, and offering free samples of eco-friendly products. A follow up event will be held four months later to share what worked and what didn't and engage the hairdressers in developing best practice benchmarks for their industry, and to enable them to attain the Steps Towards Environmental Management (STEM) certification. We plan to hold two events and two follow-up events, with a total sample size of 50 hairdressers. The research part of the action research will look at how hairdressers can be used to disseminate information about PEBs to the general public. Social networking theory proposes that information is best disseminated by weak ties (Granovetter, 1973). Diffusion of Innovations theory explores social networks and their role in influencing the spread of new ideas and practices. Of all occupations, hairdressers spend the most time generally chatting to a wide variety of people and comprise a weak tie for many. The research plans to explore the extent to which hairdressers involved in the development of environmental benchmarks talk to their customers and other colleagues about sustainability and act as a diffuser of information and practice on PEBs in areas related to the use of water, electricity and chemicals. This is a cross disciplinary proposal which brings some of the theoretical insights from the disparate areas of network modeling (social network theory, diffusion theory); social psychology (e.g. self-determination theory, social learning theory, social norms) and marketing (word of mouth marketing, social marketing, catalytic individuals) and sustainability management together in one project that has real potential, both to transform a particular sector, and to test the efficacy of developing a more innovative and bottom-up approach to social marketing to address our urgent need for a transition to a low carbon economy.