Over a five year period ArtWorks: Developing Practice in Participatory Settings will be partly delivered through action-based research. A small number of collaborative pathfinder partnerships have been created, each comprising a cluster of different sorts of organisations working together.
The partnerships comprise artists, arts organisations and training providers and will work together to develop innovative proposals addressing the training and continuous professional development needs of artists working in participatory settings.

Pathfinders are all required to:

- address the needs of artists at different stages of their careers

- embed participation and engagement into the design of the projects

- share and build on good practice

- work across art forms and different settings.

Each pathfinder has developed plans appropriate to their specific context and will be funded for their work over a three-year period.

Each pathfinder partnership is different - some are led artists, some by employers and some by training providers. All demonstrate a commitment to consultation and meeting the needs of participants.