BRAID, in partnership with the Edinburgh Festivals and working with Deaf Action (the organisation that produces Edinburgh Deaf Festival), is delighted to announce that it will soon open a new funding call for interdisciplinary teams to develop innovative, responsible AI solutions that improve the way cultural festivals support and enable deaf community participation.
Up to £200,000 will be available to develop, prototype and evaluate solutions to address accessibility challenges in an arts and cultural festival setting, including how the deaf community experiences and discovers shows. To ensure deaf engagement throughout, applications must include a named deaf-led organisation as a formal project partner.
Introducing the funding call at Edinburgh Deaf Festival’s Dinner Party Debate on AI, an event exploring the impact of AI on deaf lives, language and culture, Nicola Osborne, BRAID’s Creative Industries Lead said: “Working together with the deaf community is central to this challenge. The Edinburgh Festivals offer such a rich and diverse range of cultural experiences, and we are excited to explore how festivals can become more inclusive and accessible through responsible use of AI.”
Tomas Gerrard, Development Manager at Deaf Action said: “Deaf Action is thrilled to be working with BRAID to develop innovative and effective solutions across Edinburgh’s festivals, ensuring equitable access and opportunities for all audiences to participate in and enjoy the city’s rich tapestry of arts and culture”
Successful projects will combine academic research with practical R&D and look to present pilot projects at the Edinburgh Festivals in 2027 and 2028. To support this, project teams should look to bring together researcher(s) with a deaf-led organisation and the expertise to produce a practical demonstration or prototype. The projects must also explicitly address a number of guiding principles such as the protection of artistic freedom, human creativity and intellectual property; the need for ethical review and the monitoring of bias and fairness; and the need for quality assurance, human oversight and editorial control.
The full call will launch on Thursday 3 September. BRAID will be hosting a webinar on Monday 7 September with an opportunity to hear from Deaf Action, along with representatives from BRAID and the Edinburgh Festivals, to discover more about the call and ask questions to support the development of your application.
Commenting on the announcement Lori Anderson, Director, Festivals Edinburgh said: “We think that any good festival should be a laboratory of new thinking, trying to find new ways of doing things, and the BRAID programme sits perfectly within that idea. Focussing as it does on improving access and experimental practice – two key principles for all our festivals – we are delighted to be part of this programme and look forward to working with the teams at Deaf Action and BRAID, especially as we move towards the 80th anniversary of our world leading festival city in 2027.”
Register for the webinar now: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/information-session-edinburgh-festivals-responsible-ai-accessibility-tickets-1997690281408?aff=oddtdtcreator
The Edinburgh Festivals Responsible AI Accessibility Challenge is the first in a series of funding opportunities launching through BRAID in early September. Look out for further information about a new round of Creative Commissions and Fellowships.
The previous Creative Commissions round resulted in Tipping Point, an exhibition presented at Inspace during the Edinburgh Festival in 2025. Watch the video to find out more about the project: https://vimeo.com/1123604736
Image credit: Deaf Action/Amy Sinead Photography
Notes
About BRAID: BRAID (Bridging Responsible AI Divides) is a UK-wide programme dedicated to integrating Arts and Humanities research more fully into the Responsible AI ecosystem. With over £18 million in funding from the UKRI Arts and Humanities Research Council, BRAID brings together a network of interdisciplinary researchers and partner organisations and is delivered in partnership with the Ada Lovelace Institute and the BBC.
About the Edinburgh Festivals: The Edinburgh Festivals are Scotland’s world-leading cultural brands. Collectively they attract audiences of more than four million and are calculated to have a gross economic impact of £4.26 billion over the next five years in Scotland. Alongside such hard impacts, the festivals make a major contribution to the quality of life of the people of the city region and of Scotland as a whole – investing in the growth and development of individuals and communities through their active commitment to widening participation and access. During the BRAID project they will be working through the cross festivals Access Working Group established by Festivals Edinburgh, the company set up in 2007 to aid the festivals collaborative working.
