Coventry UK City of Culture 2021 is a year-long programme of cultural activities and participation. It is being delivered in a partnership between the City of Culture Trust, Coventry and Warwick Universities, and Coventry City Council. UK Cities of Culture are held every four years, the last one was Hull in 2017. What is argued as different about Coventry's year is how it is targeting its activity especially to, first, increase long-term cultural participation in the city and, second, in the belief that such cultural participation can deliver longer term social, economic and environmental benefits to the city. It is argued that the year is a 'city change model', through culture targeted at residents and citizens throughout the city. Activities are much more community-based around the city than the usual big city centre-based spectaculars. Residents are co-creating their ideas of culture and participating in all sorts of local activities in community centres, pubs, clubs, parks and streets - even a graveyard - as well the usual theatres, galleries and other venues. Given the scale, scope and nature of this 'mega-event', there is great interest as to whether Coventry's version of culture-led social and economic development will achieve the benefits and changes for the city it is seeking. Will it become a model of culture-led social and economic development? Led by the two universities, a very large range of research and evaluation studies and quantitative and qualitative data collection has been put in place to research what has happened. Much of this research is innovative in how it will collect evidence and the types of evidence it will use to see if Coventry City of Culture 2021 has made a (lasting) difference to the city. There is much interest across towns, cities and regions as to the experience of Coventry, its research and the evidence it has found - because many places are very interested in culture as a way of regenerating and/or growing their local places as places where residents and people can happily work, rest and play. One example is that twenty places across the UK have submitted Expressions of Interest to be the next City of Culture in 2025. This project will support all this research material on City of Culture 2021 to be engaged with, understood and discussed. A programme of engagement activity is targeted at those organisations and people who bid for and or spend public money on places. Both locally, like Coventry City Council and partners in the city interested in culture but, also, places around the country such as the City of Culture 2025 bidders. The aim is for them to use the new knowledge from the research on culture-led development in their plans and bids for spending on their places. These organisations have been involved in planning a range of knowledge exchange activities for the project which include activities like their own Knowledge Exchange Champions, Lightning Talks, Demonstration Events, Knowledge Cafes/Sandpits, and the facility to ask specific questions of researchers. Led by Coventry University in partnership with the University of Warwick, the project will employ a specialist Knowledge Exchange Officer for 2021 - 2022 with a budget to support this range of activities with local and regional partners such as Coventry City Council, Culture Change Coventry and the City of Culture Trust.