Fund: Launchpad Immersive and Creative, Coventry and Warwickshire – Round 1 MFA

Award Offered: £100,00

Project Team: Dr Alex Boyd - Project Leader
Dr Ben Spatz - Creative Director
Peter Awosiyan - Full Stack Developer
Wendy van der Haagen-Boyd - Production, Finance & Admin
Maryam Safe - Creative Liaison Manager & Regenerative Design
Basma Darouich - PR, Digital Marketing, Promotion & Social Engagement Officer
Issias Yohannes - Volunteer Residency Co-Facilitator
Dr Joanne Scott - External Evaluator

The Opportunity

The EcoGPX® Launchpad Coventry and Warwickshire was a six-month, Innovate UK-funded project led by Intercultural Roots for Public Health (IR).

Coventry and Warwickshire being seen as having a successful ‘CreaTech Cluster’, meant Intercultural Roots facilitating a Coventry residency with local artists and creators was a perfect fit. This project focused on using creative arts and technology to foster deeper connections between communities and their local environments. Through artistic residencies, digital storytelling, and participatory engagement, it aimed to enhance place-based awareness and cultural appreciation.

Key Aims‍

• Strengthen community connections and celebrate local heritage.
• Encourage creative interaction with places for wellbeing and environmental awareness.
• Develop an ethical, place-based social media mobile application.
• Create a replicable model of community engagement.

EcoGPX® was structured as a multi-layered initiative, metaphorically designed as a tree;

1. The Roots – Deep community engagement through listening sessions, partnerships with local organizations, and outreach to artists and community leaders.
2. The Trunk – A series of eco-art residencies, co-created by local artists, to explore creative responses to significant places and environmental themes.
3. The Branches – Development of the 'Places' mobile application, allowing users to engage with geo-tagged artistic content and contribute their own media.

This ground breaking digital platform designed to bring local landscapes to life through immersive storytelling. This innovative app allows users to explore their surroundings by interacting with geo-tagged artistic content, including videos, music, poetry, and creative prompts. By embedding cultural narratives within physical locations, the app transforms everyday spaces into dynamic, interactive experiences, fostering a deeper connection between people and place

The Impact

• 450+ participants, 26 artists, 14 venues engaged.
• 53 contributors on the Places app; 183 videos& 103 scores uploaded.
• Fostered new artistic networks and deepened place-based storytelling.
• Developed new models for creative community engagement, using innovative technologies to deepen place-based storytelling.

Support & Resources

The project was made possible by a £100,000 grant from Innovate UK, which covered artist fees, residency expenses, technical development of the Places app, and marketing efforts. The project was supported through partnerships with many organisations, including Coventry Food Union, Coventry University, FarGo Village, Foleshill Creates, Historic Coventry Trust, Litten Tree Building, Positive Youth Foundation, Resource Centre for the Blind, Warwickshire Wildlife Trust, and numerous local artists and community groups.

Key Learnings & Future Applications

• The importance of deep listening and sustained engagement in community arts projects.
• The potential for place-based digital storytelling to enhance local cultural participation.
• The need for continued development of the Places app, including additional media capabilities and mapping features.
• The success of EcoGPX® suggests future applications in urban planning, healthcare, and community development, offering a scalable model for integrating arts and technology.

Further Developments

Since completion of the project, Intercultural Roots has gone on to:‍

• Apply for CR&D Launchpad Coventry and Warwickshire Round 2
• Making an Extending Nature application to Mindset-XR which has progressed to interview
• Collaborate with MakingCulture® e.V. in their participation in the Cultural Bridge 2025-2026 programme, a UK-German initiative driving cross-border collaboration through arts, technology, and community engagement (https://letstalk.coventry.gov.uk/community-stories/stories/bridging-cultures-digital-storytelling-creative-connections-for-community-empowerment-coventry-uk-coburg-germany)

*NB. All images included here owned and credited to Intercultural Roots for Public Heath.

Download the full project report below