Culture/ Communities/ Place
Whether co-designing a trauma-informed placemaking framework, evaluating a national museum programme, or shaping a local cultural strategy, my work is always people-centred, impact-driven, and grounded in care.
I collaborate with artists, cultural institutions, local authorities and communities to turn vision into change — placing cultural transformation at the heart of civic and spatial justice. This means developing creative strategies, designing evaluations that enable learning and reflection, and building inclusive processes that honour local knowledge and lived experience.
This work is guided by deep values: collaboration, care, and a belief in the civic and social role of culture. I support organisations and communities not just to measure their impact – but to feel it, live it, and lead from it.
I’m Dr Cara Courage — a strategist, evaluator and facilitator working at the intersection of culture, place and civic life.
I help people and organisations harness the power of creative practice to shape more just, connected and imaginative futures. From museums to municipalities, grassroots groups to national agencies, I work across the cultural and public sectors to bring strategic clarity, participatory evaluation, and deeply embedded community collaboration.
What I Do
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Strategic Design
Co-creating place-based and cultural strategies with local authorities, institutions, funders, and communities.
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Evaluation & Impact
Leading sector-shaping evaluations, including Theory of Change development, citizen-led frameworks, and final impact reporting.
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Placemaking & Community Practice
Designing and delivering arts- and culture-led placemaking approaches that are trauma-informed, participatory, and community-driven.
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Advisory & Facilitation
Providing critical friendship, mentoring, and leadership support to public bodies, universities, and creative organisations.
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Speaking & Writing
Delivering keynotes, talks, and writing for global publications and platforms.
Key Publications
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Trauma Informed Placemaking
Co-developed with Dr Anita McKeown, Trauma-Informed Placemaking is a pioneering model that places healing, care, and lived experience at the centre of how we shape public spaces. Now a Routledge textbook (2024) and international research platform, it explores how placemaking can repair, not retraumatise, and champions inclusive creative practice rooted in place, memory, and community expertise.
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Placemaking Handbook
As Editor and Convenor, I brought together global voices to interrogate and expand the field of placemaking. The Routledge Handbook of Placemaking (2011) is a landmark publication - part reference, part provocation - spanning theory, methods, and critical reflections. It presents placemaking as a dynamic and contested practice, essential to the future of just, liveable places.
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Local and national cultural organisations
Universities and research partnerships
Funders and policy-makers
Local authorities and civic bodies
Community groups and artists' collectives
Museum and heritage institutions
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My work is grounded in a passionate belief in the transformative effect of the arts in society — and the sacrosanct role of artists and cultural practitioners within it. I work so individuals, organisations, and the wider ecosystem can flourish together, making a lasting, positive impact on how we live now and in the future.
I believe that:
The arts can speak across difference and activate change.
Communities hold expert knowledge of their places.
Cultural and learning institutions have a civic role.
Placemaking must be community-led to generate material, social, ecological and economic change.
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My practice is driven by a values-based commitment to:
Change-making – working with purpose and vision for impact.
Collaboration – fostering trust and co-creating with others.
Exploration – staying open to learning and the unknown.
Authenticity – leading with integrity and intention.
Care – prioritising wellbeing, equity, and relational work.
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I work in the service of communities—of place, practice, and shared cause—to advance creative, cultural and spatial justice.
I support:
Cultural and creative practitioners to thrive.
Institutions to serve people with relevance and care.
The bridging of research, theory, and real-world practice into a dynamic, generative space for change.
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I work to:
Put cultural institutions in the service of people.
Decentralise knowledge and amplify lived expertise.
Promote horizontal, equitable models of ‘expertism’.
Support communities to know their worth and act with power.
Enable cultural organisations to transform how, why and for whom they work.
Help individuals connect to the larger whole of community and culture.
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I am a thoughtful, integrated leader who centres care, inclusivity, and accountability.
People-First Culture
I model wellbeing, self-care, and compassionate leadership, creating spaces where people and ideas can flourish.
Getting It Right
I lead by asking the right questions, not by needing to be right. I support my teams to co-create, navigate complexity, and build consensus in uncertain times.
Living Our Values
Through a conative model of management, I value people for their inherent qualities and enable them to live their values in meaningful work.
Response over Reaction
Grounded in social practice, I resist action bias and instead favour thoughtful response—working comfortably within ambiguity to make informed, intentional decisions.