Coming Together: NPO Workshop

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From shared priorities to collective action.

Join us for our second workshop focusing on shaping the future of art and culture through NPOs.

In July, Citizens for Culture brought together practitioners and organisations considering applications to Arts Council England’s next National Portfolio to explore a shared question:

How could future NPOs across the West of England contribute to delivering the Citizens’ Cultural Plan?

This session is particularly relevant to cultural organisations, artists and practitioners, freelancers, partnerships and networks considering the next National Portfolio round or interested in contributing to delivery of the Citizens’ Cultural Plan.

We’d now like to reconvene that original group – and welcome practitioners and organisations who weren’t able to join us the first time around – for the next stage of the conversation.

What happened in the first Workshop?

The July session introduced the Citizens’ Cultural Plan and the developing Share/Grow/Build approach: identifying what already exists across the region that we can share, what could be developed or connected to grow, and what doesn’t yet exist and may need to be built.

Participants then worked across the Plan’s 13 priorities, sharing existing work, ideas, resources and potential partnerships. The exercise generated 74 contributions, revealing a significant amount of activity and expertise already present across the region – as well as some clear opportunities for greater collaboration.

Ideas ranged from connecting existing cultural information and networks rather than creating new ones from scratch, to opening up public and heritage spaces; strengthening creative learning and school partnerships; sharing spaces, equipment and resources; addressing transport barriers; improving equity and transparency in funding; and creating stronger mechanisms for citizens to continue influencing cultural decisions.

You can find a more detailed summary of the first session here: 

https://docs.google.com/document/d/126kXr4ZlhDFzjxLGojvqTL_dz1gCYMhoqWLAbuzLNCQ/edit?tab=t.0

So what happens next?

The next workshop will build directly on that work.

We’ll share back what we heard in July, invite new participants to add their own perspectives and activity, and begin looking more closely at where organisations’ ambitions intersect.

In particular, we want to explore:

• what is already happening that the region could make more of
• where organisations might strengthen or connect existing work
• where there are gaps that may require new approaches or partnerships
• where two or more organisations are interested in the same Citizens’ Cultural Plan priorities
• how the NPO opportunity could contribute to a more connected, accessible and citizen-led cultural system across the West of England.

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You do not need to have attended the first workshop to take part.

We’ll begin with a concise recap so that everyone is working from the same starting point.

As with the first workshop, this is not an Arts Council England “how to apply” session. Citizens for Culture is not part of ACE’s assessment or decision-making process. It is an independent space for shared learning, connection and discussion around the Citizens’ Cultural Plan and what its citizen-generated priorities could mean for the future cultural ecology of the West of England.