Celebrating the value of all voices

Earlier this year, we announced that XR Stories had been awarded funding from Valuing Voices for Equitable and Responsible Research to lead a project entitled ‘Research to Action: Advancing team equity and inclusive research and project design in the immersive technology industry’.

The project aims to support researchers and individuals at the University of York with knowledge and skills to enable the equitable design of immersive technology research projects.

This blog reflects on the context in which the project is taking place, and provides an update on the different strands of activity being undertaken by the XR Stories team.

Reflections on EDI (equality, diversity and inclusion) 

The UK Government’s 2025 horizon scan on participation, diversity and inclusion in cultural and creative industries states that:

“the creative industries feature entrenched inequality and exclusion, and do not represent the diversity of the UK population.” (1)

The report goes on to state that despite efforts to improve diversity, little has changed. Whilst this is disheartening to read, it should not stall or undermine the work taking place across higher education and industry to widen access, address systemic barriers and foster inclusivity.

Examples of good practice are widespread and demonstrate an unwavering commitment to breaking down barriers and improving diversity in the creative sector.

The recent funding opportunity from Immersive Arts can be seen as an exemplar of good EDI practice. Every touch point of the advertising and selection process was centred around an accessible and supportive approach to increase submissions from diverse applicants. This good practice was reinforced in the eligibility requirements for project submissions, with applicants scored against their projects ‘proactive approach to access, diversity and inclusion’.

Research England, part of UKRI, has recently published a comprehensive EDI action plan that outlines a:

“strengthened commitment from the higher education, research and innovation sector to be world-leading by enabling equitable opportunities, celebrating diversity of background, mind and thought, and cultivating cultures of inclusion.” (2)

Creative UK’s Create Diversity resource provides ideas, learning and inspiration to encourage organisations across the creative and cultural sector to start or deepen their own EDI activities. 

Our contribution

As a former Creative Industries R&D Cluster, XR Stories developed and funded programmes and research to create opportunities for individuals who are underrepresented in the creative industries. 

Our former sister project, the Screen Industries Growth Network (SIGN), ran a comprehensive three year programme with EDI embedded across all project operations. The SIGN team undertook research, provided training and empowered and upskilled individuals and businesses to tackle talent and skills shortages and lack of diversity in the Yorkshire and Humber screen industries. 

The legacy of this work is the bedrock of XR Stories today as we support University of York researchers and small businesses and individuals working in the Yorkshire and Humber creative industries. It also informs our work leading XR Network+, a UK-wide initiative providing funding and support to researchers working in virtual production technologies.  

By continuing to take proactive steps to embed EDI interventions in our own ecosystem, we aim to bring about relatable change that will reverberate through our networks across higher education and the creative industries. 

We recognise that the scope of our work is limited but in the words of former XR Stories Creative Producer, Melodie Ash:

“If we look at our collective responsibility, and the potential power of individual proactive steps to address EDI challenges, that ripple effect will build momentum and pace.”  (3)

Research to Action

The Valuing Voices supported Research to Action project provides a timely opportunity to coordinate and consolidate our activities across three strands of activity. 

Each strand is focused on making progressive improvements in relation to embedding EDI good practice in our working culture, approach and project design.

1. Reviewing our own working practices

We’re working with external facilitators from Ida XR Studio and colleagues from the University of York EDI Research Centre to review how XR Stories’ internal team culture, processes and practices can be strengthened to foster a culture of inclusivity. 

Our focus for this strand of activity is XR Network+, a project led by XR Stories that delivers devolved programmes of funding to researchers at UK universities working in virtual production technologies. 

We’re carrying out an EDI audit of XR Network+ programme design, reviewing metrics such as applicant demographics to identify gaps, and mapping the applicant user journey to identify areas for improved accessibility. 

By scrutinising each element of the application, award and delivery phase of the programme, we’ve been able to make small but significant changes to an upcoming funding opportunity, including additional support materials to demystify the funding process for first-time applicants. 

We’re also planning long-term positive actions including diversifying our reviewer pool and considering EDI when assessing project submissions. 

In terms of monitoring and evaluation, we’re looking beyond diversity targets and forcing diversity into inflexible frameworks. Instead, we’re building regular mechanisms into our working practices to ensure accountability throughout the design of services.

Ultimately, we plan to create an EDI framework to guide decision-making and interventions for XR Network+ programmes. The framework will be built on the findings from our internal audit and informed by the positive actions of similar funding bodies and expertise from EDI practitioners. We hope that it will serve as a valuable tool for our team, and for others working in immersive – and related – technology research and development. 

2. Research into barriers to funding

In the second strand of activity, we’re undertaking research to understand the barriers that have been experienced by academics from marginalised groups applying (or considering applying) for R&D funding from XR Network+ and other similar programmes.

The research will examine the barriers and favoured equitable interventions reported by grant applicants compared to those identified by our team in the aforementioned audit.

We understand that to create effective and inclusive R&D practices, we will need to repeatedly navigate the space in which we operate and the research findings will feed into future iterations of programme designs and our EDI framework.  

3. Training in the equitable design of research projects

In this final strand of activity, we’ll draw on learnings from our audit to collaborate with Ida XR Studio to run training sessions to equip University of York colleagues working in immersive technologies with the knowledge and skills to design more inclusive R&D projects. 

As part of a continuous improvement approach, we’ll consider how the outcomes from the training influence participants’ working practices and affect funding design.

Looking ahead

Over the coming months, we’ll continue to scrutinise our internal approaches whilst gathering inspiration from other models of good practice. We’ll also continue to seek feedback, listen and adapt so that instead of simply leaving the door open for diverse voices, we’ll actively help them through. 

The University of York has recently announced plans to open up opportunity for all students to access quality education regardless of postcode, family income, background or status as a refugee. 

The programme will create opportunities to support students from disadvantaged backgrounds to not only succeed in their studies, but to thrive after they graduate. 

Through the activities of the Research to Action project, we’re opening up opportunities to more applicants which we hope will result in more diverse voices. Without doubt, that’s something to be celebrated.

References

(1) UK Parliament (2025) Horizon scan: Participation, diversity and inclusion in cultural and creative industries, available at https://post.parliament.uk/participation-diversity-and-inclusion-in-cultural-and-creative-industries/).

(2) UKRI (2025) Research England action plan for equality, diversity and inclusion, available at https://www.ukri.org/publications/research-england-edi-action-plan/research-england-action-plan-for-equality-diversity-and-inclusion/#section-introduction

(3) ‌Ash, M. (2023). The growing need for a unified diversity approach in the XR sector. BIMA. Available at: https://bima.co.uk/the-growing-need-for-a-unified-diversity-approach-in-the-xr-sector/