New Trajectories in Curatorial Experience Design (NTiCED) brings together curators, designers and heritage specialists to explore innovative approaches to experiential storytelling and community engagement within the emerging experience economy. This cross-disciplinary research programme will include knowledge exchange workshops, public seminars and sector-specific guidance aimed at promoting and facilitating new forms of R&D and design work within the heritage sector. The partners for the project include large scale public institutions (the V&A and the National Trust), agile and innovative design practices (Nissen Richards, MET Studio) and service oriented commercial practices (Barker Langham). These partners represent different dimensions of the Creative Industries, bringing a range of perspectives to bear on the core research question: how can curators and other heritage professionals best engage with innovative methods of experience design to create new models of audience engagement, including truly collaborative forms of co-curation? The research responds to a growing trend in the heritage sector for more immersive, embodied and engaging forms of interpretation and exhibition design. Such projects demand cross-disciplinary working practices, and may include writers, artists, architects, designers and film-makers working alongside curators, archivists, and conservators to produce new content and activities. These initiatives move beyond the nostalgic infotainment model of earlier heritage experiences by tackling provocative issues in surprising ways. While there has been growing interest in new approaches to exhibition design within the museum sector, less critical attention has been paid to experiences that go beyond the museum walls and engage new audiences through evocative and theatrical heritage interpretation. This project will make a significant contribution to this emerging subject area and - through the production of a new curatorial experience - provide creative inspiration for further pioneering work in this vein. Furthermore, the project will look to examine the different ways in which small and medium sized private companies can work with large scale institutions in an agile and productive way, thus contributing towards new working practices and opportunities for commercial gain. Whilst many experience-led projects require a significant investment of time and money, smaller-scale interventions can also have a major impact on the way sites and collections are perceived and used by different audiences. This research will provide a foundation for such projects moving forward. The research programme includes extended periods of embedded 'fieldwork' with Project Partners, and will explore the development of curated heritage experiences from concept to realisation. In so doing the project seeks to address issues of working practices, skills development, the challenges of large scale bodies collaborating with agile creative practices, and the potential for experience-led projects to generate new forms of community engagement and co-curation. This experimental approach seeks to challenge the idea that innovation in immersive experiences depends on new technological advances. By understanding broader trends and future trajectories in theatrical design, co-curation and site-specific 'pop-up' interpretation, the research will provide new models of interpretation and curation for the wider heritage community. To this end, the research and associated activities will include significant opportunities for collaboration across the Creative Industries. An evaluation period is also built into the project to enable further reflection on the challenges and opportunities of experiential design. This will have a particular focus on the potential impact of such programmes on future heritage audiences.

With the Arts and Humanities as the driver, the KE Project will develop a mutual learning environment among universities, cultural institutions and digital design industry. This will benefit the UK economy, its unparalleled wealth in tangible, intangible and digital cultural heritage and advance the UK's position as the global leader of digital design-led, research-based Knowledge Exchange in the field of cultural heritage. Aims and Distinctiveness The KE Project Design with Heritage will challenge heritage disciplines to engage with digital design industries, thereby realising their potential to support the development and growth of the Creative Economy. It will promote the value of cultural heritage assets as a resource by utilising research to develop products and services, and to improve productivity. It will facilitate connections, communication and exchange between A&H research and Creative Industries and increase public engagement. Uniquely, the KE Project will address the digital design sector engaging with cultural heritage and will address barriers to effective business engagement such as fragmented company base, cultural issues in academia and resource issues in the business sector. The KE Project will be enriched by the success of the AHRC/EPSRC Science and Heritage Programme run by UCL. The activities will be extremely relevant to the RCUK Digital Economy Grand Challenge, the Care for the Future theme, and enhanced cultural tourism, all major AHRC priorities. Summary of key knowledge exchange activities and main partners involved Two Work Packages (WPs) will be used to deliver knowledge exchange activities across 2 themes: WP1: Design for Enhanced Exhibitions, and WP2: Design for Augmented Artifacts. A Jumpstart event at UCL will produce clear questions identifying gaps and needs in Knowledge Exchange. A Green Paper will detail the priorities for engaging digital design industries with cultural heritage. Two interactive Sandpits focussing on the KE questions will be organised. KE Feasibility projects will be funded to provide support for practical exploration of new ideas. Outputs from these projects will include exhibition, case study, teaching, and web-based materials (e.g. apps). A final showcase event will disseminate and communicate public information in the form of a Symposium organised at the V&A, and an Exhibition with enhanced web presence. Two mechanisms will support the engagement of digital design industries with the Project: (i) academic backfill programme enabling academics and researchers at UCL and V&A to be seconded to work on KE Feasibility projects on the basis of financial compensation for their time; (ii) KE Projects, emerging from Sandpits, supported by the KE Project and addressing barriers to effective engagement between academia, heritage institutions and digital design industries.