Coventry Cultural Challenge: Elden Kings

Does economic status have an impact on belonging?

The Coventry Cultural Challenge was a two-day event where teams were given access to the latest Coventry cultural data and asked to develop an idea/proposal that had the potential to ‘make life better in Coventry’. At the end of the weekend, each team presented their ideas to a jury of experts.

Idea/Proposal

The team examined feelings of belonging to both Coventry and residents’ local areas and cross-referenced it with stability of income levels.

Those with stable incomes were working, whereas non-stable incomes included those unemployed, long-term sick, retired, in education, volunteering or in caring roles.

Those people with unstable incomes had stronger levels of belonging to their local area than those with stable incomes. The gap was much smaller for the two groups’ sense of belonging to Coventry.

The sense of belonging was higher for those within the unstable income group that had participated in cultural events. Participation strengthened external contacts, increased confidence by reducing anxiety.

Team Members

• Jesse Chen
• Kexing Li
• Mengxin Wang
• Yuchen Liang
• Yurun Yang