Creative People and Places: Governance and consortium working

Introduction (extract)

This paper sets out an overview of research into the consortia models of the Creative People and Places programme. It is written as a snapshot analysis of the development journey for consortia and it sets out some headline learning points and reflections. It is written at a specific moment in time, with consortia on a development journey and thus constantly changing. It is also shaped by the perspective of the consultees - mainly consortia members.

The Arts Council was looking to explore different approaches to local arts development and hoped that by bringing together organisations with diverse skills and perspectives, the consortium model would encourage new forms of audience engagement and give local communities real influence over and ownership of the design and delivery of CPP projects.

There is a strong emphasis on evaluation within the CPP programme and the Arts Council and the 21 CPP places are keen to learn as much as possible about how best to build new audiences for the arts in community contexts. Recognising that effective consortium working is key to the success of CPP projects – and that it can take considerable time, effort and skill to establish and manage a consortium – the CPP Network Steering Group commissioned Catherine Bunting and Tom Fleming to research experiences of consortium working across the CPP programme.

The aim of our research is to support and improve the practice of consortium working in CPP places by:

• understanding the formation, development and day-to-day running of CPP consortia
• mapping the governance and partnership models being used by CPP places, and exploring the strengths and weaknesses of different approaches
• identifying the key factors that enable CPP consortia to thrive – a checklist of effective governance for arts and community partnerships
• acting as learning partners for the CPP network – creating points of reflection and exchange and a neutral space in which research participants can talk through emergent issues, concerns and ideas

At a time of significant public sector cuts – and related challenges of social and economic inequality – we hope that this research will help to reveal the structures, relationships and commitments embedded within CPP consortia as valuable local assets, and to demonstrate how effective partnerships can enable culture and creativity to play a transformational role for local communities.

Catherine Bunting and Tom Fleming, October 2015

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Creative People and Places is an Arts Council England funding programme which focuses on parts of the country where involvement in creativity and culture is significantly below the national average. More.