Creative Communities
Training and producing a podcast made by community researchers across all four UK nations – capturing how culture and collaboration drive real change.
- Client
AHRC Creative Communities Programme
- Service
Train, Launch, Learn
- Format
Training & Podcast Production
The Brief
Creative Communities is a research programme hosted by Northumbria University and funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC). It explores how co-created culture can strengthen communities, reduce inequality, and help level up the UK.
MIC was commissioned to support five Community Innovation Practitioners (CIPs) – researchers based in universities across all four UK nations – to co-create a podcast series that would reflect their research journeys, amplify local voices, and offer insight into collaborative community practice.
Each of the CIPs had limited podcasting experience. Our role was to guide and empower them to confidently tell their stories, and those of the communities they work with.
Listen here
What We Delivered
MIC provided our Train, Launch, Learn service, blending training, production, and support across a full year of collaboration. We:
- Delivered a bespoke, podcast training programme covering planning, scripting, interviewing and audio editing
- Designed a co-creation approach
- Guided the CIPs through every step of podcast development
- Built and produced six episodes using their audio recordings, with scripting support
- Edited, mixed, and mastered the full series
- Created audiograms, transcripts, and show notes
- Supported the launch strategy with Northumbria University’s comms team
The result was a series that stayed true to each CIP’s voice, while maintaining consistency across branding and storytelling.
The Impact
The series exceeded expectations. It:
- Supported CIPs to develop confidence and new skills
- Created a podcast that’s now used as a core programme resource
- Secured follow-on funding for future projects
- Increased engagement in the next phase of the programme
- Helped open up academic research to wider audiences
This project is a standout example of how podcasting can be used as an accessible, creative way to share research findings – directly from those leading the work.
MIC’s approach combined training, mentoring, and production expertise to help community researchers turn their insights into engaging audio, without losing authenticity or impact.
What They Said
“Working with MIC is a really good example of what collaboration can be. Their flexible, resilient leadership, professionalism, and skilful guidance were essential to the success of our podcast project.
They truly understood the unique nature of our work – grasping the complexities, empowering our CIPs, and helping us tell powerful, authentic stories.
The podcast has been celebrated by our funders, who were blown away by the quality of the production. That’s a testament to MIC’s skillset.”
— Dr Lauren Baker Mitchell, Senior Research Fellow, AHRC Creative Communities
“An amazing service. First-class support and a genuine commitment to positive outcomes.”
— Dr Alex Langlands, Community Innovation Practitioner
Delivered With
Commissioned by AHRC Creative Communities, hosted by Northumbria University and funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council (UKRI).
Learn and Launch... properly
We’ll teach you how to podcast and get you launched with quality audio, proper expert support, and zero nonsense.
Drop us a line to find out more.