Statement of intent
Photo credit: Photo by Stewart Turkington
We want culture to be:
- the catalyst for our borough to become a place where communities, creatives and artists, organisations, and businesses can come together to collaborate, celebrate, participate, create, and innovate
- placed at the heart of what makes our borough an attractive place to visit and live, work and invest in
- a conduit and a vehicle to addressing local needs and priorities
Cultural framework
The cultural framework sets out the ambitions and objectives for culture to be the catalyst for our borough to become a place where communities, creatives and artists, organisations and businesses can come together to collaborate, celebrate, participate, create, and innovate. The framework identifies three core themes that will act as guiding principles to place culture at the heart of what makes our borough an attractive place to visit and live, work and invest in.
Principle - Basingstoke and Deane is a place for experimentation and innovation
| Ambitions |
Objectives |
| Embrace technological change and digital creativity to provide an environment where people feel empowered to experiment |
1) Make digital arts and experiences a key part of the local cultural offer and ecology.
2) Maximise the opportunities presented by the 5G Living Lab in Basing View to support artist and film-maker development, the creation of new work and cross-fertilisation between creators and innovators.
3) Use digital technology to diversify how people can access and take in cultural experiences |
| Create a supportive ecosystem for creators to develop, trial and present new work |
1) Provide artists and creators with the opportunity to try new media and to forge new collaborations
2) Enable cross-sector working and facilitate the co-creation and co-design of new product
3) Ensure opportunities to present work to audiences are available locally |
| Use spaces creatively and differently to foster innovation, collaboration, and participation |
1) Explore how vacant buildings could be re-purposed to create more space for culture uses, collaboration and networking
2) Enable the use of spaces including for meanwhile uses to take culture out of its normal environment
3) Enable communities to use space to create and participate in cultural experiences |
Principle - Basingstoke and Deane is a place to enjoy and take part in diverse experiences
| Ambitions |
Objectives |
Diversify and amplify the range, types and locations of cultural experiences to always
achieve positive impact |
1) Establish a joined-up approach to creating journeys for visitors and residents that will enable them to have different memorable experiences while taking time out
2) Use data, insight and intelligence to shape local cultural experiences that meet needs and expectations
3) Ensure that through collaborative working there are always cultural experiences available in the borough |
| Enhance visibility and increase awareness of local experiences everyone can be a part of |
1) Foster cross-promotion and marketing of cultural experiences and plan and deliver effective marketing campaigns that will inform residents and visitors of what cultural experiences are taking place locally
2) Ensure culture is an integral part of the Basingstoke story and inward investment proposition
3) Develop the Love Basingstoke platform to become the “go to” for audiences and finding out what’s on |
| Strive for excellence in all cultural experiences and continuously adapt and change to respond to needs and behaviour change |
1) Implement effective performance and satisfaction monitoring to test relevance and quality of cultural experiences
2) Support the continuous improvement of cultural experiences to enhance the reputation of culture, increase participation and attract visitors from outside of the borough
3) Position the borough as a centre of cultural excellence to attract external investment and achieve multiple Arts Council England National Portfolio Status organisations |
Principle - Basingstoke and Deane is a place where creativity can evolve and flourish
| Ambitions |
Objectives |
| Support local organisations and communities to better meet local needs, fostering civic pride and enhancing the health and wellbeing and quality of life of residents |
1) Make Basingstoke and Deane a centre of excellence for culture-led and co-designed wellbeing interventions
2) Facilitate information sharing and establish strong connections between different sectors to ensure there is wide awareness of local needs, priorities and opportunities
3) Ensure cultural interventions have clear community and place outcomes to help inform and target investment and secure external funding |
| Build capacity and resilience in the creative sector to adapt and grow so that work created in the borough is recognised for its excellence locally, regionally, nationally and internationally |
1) Promote resilience and growth of the cultural sector through advice, guidance, and business support
2) Provide the tools for the cultural sector to learn from successes and failures to achieve continuous improvement
3) Develop projects and experiences that will support the health of the cultural sector and the prosperity of the town centre, and that will enhance the night-time economy |
| Create the environment and the opportunities for local people to explore and unleash their creativity through life-long learning from professional, semi-professional and amateur opportunities |
1) Ensure the cultural offer is accessible at all stages of life to promote life-long learning
2) Raise awareness of career paths in the cultural sector and provide work experience opportunities
3) Remove barriers to accessibility so that everyone has the opportunity to be creative
4) Explore how opportunities can be promoted through a central platform |
Delivering the Cultural Framework
To ensure effective delivery and ownership of the cultural framework, a cultural compact bringing together cross-sector representation will be established.
- A cultural compact
-
Cultural compacts are a way to realise the ambition of an area’s creative sector. The key to a successful compact is to bring together partners who will commit to working together to maximise the contribution that culture and creativity can make across an area – and, most importantly, are able to contribute resources and to take action. Effective compacts also have a close relationship to other local delivery bodies and strategies.
- The cultural compact’s role and purpose
-
Bringing together cross-sector representation, the cultural compact will be the voice of culture and through collaborative working, the compact will ensure there are strong linkages between culture and local agendas and priorities. Collectively, it will drive the delivery of the framework including joint investment in culture and shape how culture can best contribute to place making. The compact will foster change and best practice.
- Our cultural compact
-
Our compact will work to address the priorities and objectives of the economic recovery framework, strengthening communities strategy, health and wellbeing plan and town centre strategy.
It will:
- be made up of local leaders, known as members, who will work across sectors to make new connections and drive new partnerships. It will link the cultural sector to broader cultural, social, economic aspirations and priorities for the borough as recognised by its members
- act as a collective of stakeholders representing businesses, health and wellbeing, education, environment, community and cultural organisations. Members will be positively known for making an impact in their field and be passionate about supporting cultural activity to grow and develop
- create opportunities to connect existing projects and strategies and make better use of existing spaces and resources
- explore new investment opportunities and be focused on delivering the objectives of the framework working within the parameters of the cultural statement of intent.
A clear action plan will be developed by the cultural compact with the aim of delivering tangible outcomes. The compact will be informed by the three strategic themes: Experience, Experimentation and Enablement.
- The aims of our cultural compact
-
- Engage with national government and its agencies over strategic development of key initiatives
- Engage with wider local partners on where culture can make a major contribution to priorities and place
- Develop joint applications for external funding and deliver or commission programmes funded by external sources
- Support organisations to use culture as a catalyst for improvement
- Take action to support talent and local skills development
- Provide strategic thinking and leadership
- Support local innovation in culture
- Enable and guide cultural organisations with continuous improvement and organisational development
- Build connections and relationships with other places and key regional and national organisations
- Build long-term relationships with non-cultural sector organisations and businesses as well as those key to culture
- Work with other compacts to share learning and good practice