NEWS
As we move towards the delivery of the Citizens’ Assembly for Culture in 2025, here’s a look back at what we achieved over the last six months
Outreach and Partnerships
Building strong connections has been central to our progress. Since the project’s launch, we’ve worked to establish a wide-reaching network of partners, supporters, and collaborators – from cultural organisations, to community groups, to political leaders.
Over the last six months, we’ve:
- Engaged with more than 100 organisations across the cultural sector, led by our Assembly Producer, who joined us in May.
- Hosted online information sessions in August to connect with cultural organisations and individuals interested in becoming Assembly Associates.
- Secured £100,000 in funding from the Paul Hamlyn Foundation, with additional funding prospects in development.
Designing the Assembly
Creating a representative and impactful Citizens’ Assembly remains central to our work. The Assembly’s design principles have been shaped through collaboration with citizens, community partners, and cultural organisations, with a focus on accessibility and inclusion.
Key steps in the design process include:
- Developing a detailed sortition process in partnership with the Sortition Foundation to recruit a diverse and representative group of Assembly participants.
- Complementing this recruitment process with targeted outreach to historically underrepresented groups, including working-class citizens, young people, and rural communities.
Adjusting the Timeline
The Assembly is now scheduled to take place in autumn 2025, a shift from the original spring timeline. This adjustment ensures we can brief the region’s incoming mayor on the initiative after the spring elections, securing their full support.
Meanwhile, we’ve begun public engagement through events like the Trinity AGM and Speak Out with Young People. These initial conversations have helped develop provocations that will shape the Assembly’s focus on accessibility and inclusion.
What’s Next?
As we move into the next phase of Citizens for Culture, we’re committed to building a representative Assembly and developing an actionable Cultural Delivery Plan. With strong regional collaboration and growing support from funders, the project is positioned to influence cultural planning and governance locally and nationally.
In the comings months, we’ll be:
- Launching a public awareness campaign to engage communities across the region.
- Hosting summer festival events to spark conversations around ‘what culture means to me.’
- Preparing for the Assembly’s delivery in autumn 2025.
We’re excited to set the stage for a more inclusive and democratic cultural future in the West of England.
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As we prepare for the upcoming Citizens’ Assembly for Culture, we’re speaking to leading voices in cultural engagement and democratic decision-making to inform and inspire the process.
In this interview, we hear from Maca Gomez-Gutierrez, an engagement professional and creative research producer. Maca has a decade of experience connecting research, culture, and community. From co-producing public engagement programs at We The Curious to supporting grassroots organizations in Colombia, her work highlights the transformative power of arts and culture.
Maca shares her insights on the challenges and opportunities in the cultural sector, the importance of diverse leadership, and how a Citizens’ Assembly can help amplify underrepresented voices.
Hi Maca! Tell us a bit about your work in the cultural sector and what drew you to this field.
As an engagement professional and creative research producer, I am interested in bringing research (in its broadest sense) into the cultural landscape, out of confinement into a space where everyone can be part of the conversation, and everyone’s experience, knowledge and expertise is recognised, welcomed and valued.
I have c. 10 years’ experience in both the UK and global south, most recently (2018-2023) producing We The Curious‘ public engagement with research programme of activities, workshops and participatory experiences, co-produced with research and community partners. Besides that, a personal favourite of mine (and close to my heart as I’m Colombian!) has been to produce Bringing Memories in from the Margins where I worked with grassroots organisations in Colombia and supported them to bring their creative projects to Bristol. Part of the MEMPAZ Project on inclusive transitional justice and creative memory processes for reconciliation in Colombia, Bringing Memories in from the Margins was a public programme of events including food, theatre, music and photography that took place over a week in March 2023 across multiple venues.
“The Assembly will provide a level of public participation with regional impact that could reframe the way we think about culture”
Personally, I like to mull over things, question, get angry, celebrate, explore alternatives; and I enjoy creating collective experiences and spaces where others might do so as well. There are so many important conversations and developments happening in the research world and we should all be participating in these. I think arts and culture have the potential to bring together all sorts of topics, practices, and experiences in ways that are innovative, surprising, engaging and that talk to and challenge our humanity; that’s what’s drawn me into this field.
What do you feel are some of the current challenges within the cultural sector and how would you suggest these could be addressed?
Beyond the obvious (lack of funding!), I feel there is a lack of diversity at leadership level. Specifically, a lack of diversity of ideas which of course arise from a lack of diversity of life experiences. I believe that a step towards solving this challenge is to recognise that leadership exists in different ways, and that many leaders sit outside the hierarchical structures of cultural organisations; implementing a collective approach to leadership can only be beneficial for the sector.
An additional challenge for me is how can we, as a sector, provide a cultural offer that reflects the ever evolving and changing nature of culture; particularly when we often experience a version of it that is static and monolithic. For me, once we recognise that culture is not only what has been labelled as so in museums, galleries etc. but an essential part of our everyday life- what we eat, how we eat, how we dress, the music we listen to, the very expression of our selves- then the cultural offer will increasingly reflect this and inhabit an ever growing diversity of spaces and experiences.
How do you think the regional cultural sector could benefit from a Citizens’ Assembly model or other democratic decision-making tools?
A Citizen’s Assembly model has the potential to bring into the conversation voices that are not usually present, have very low representation or might be completely excluded. For people participating in them, there can be a sense of ownership, of being able to have a say in what cultural offer their community and beyond might be able to engage with in the future.
This can only benefit the regional cultural sector since a sense of collective ownership and belonging can lead to more engagement with existing and future cultural offer. What’s more, the Assembly provides an opportunity for cultural organisations in the region to better understand people’s wants and needs, especially of those who are not regularly, if at all, coming through the doors.
What are your hopes for the future of Arts and Culture in the West of England?
I would like the arts and culture sector in the West of England (and everywhere else as a matter of fact!) to be a viable career option for young people of all backgrounds and not just for the ones who can afford it; and I would like the required infrastructure to support this to be in place e.g., strong arts programmes at schools, access to culture, paid training opportunities etc.
I would also like arts and culture to be truly recognised and valued as an important vehicle for civic engagement. Arts and culture permeate everything, it is the soil where an infinite number of wonderful things can grow on. We need a well-kept and healthy soil, one from where conversations, interactions, partnerships, friendships and action can sprout.
What are your thoughts on the upcoming Citizens’ Assembly for Culture in the West of England?
It’s very exciting! The Assembly will provide a level of public participation with regional impact that could reframe the way we think about culture- what is culture and who gets to decide it? what do people want to consume and where? etc.- as well as potentially catalyse a truly innovative cultural offer.
I also believe that it could be the beginning of a stronger relationship of trust and partnership between audiences and the cultural sector, rooted in that very sense of ownership and belonging, which makes the uptake of the Assembly recommendations even more crucial as there will be an expectation to see at least some of the outputs from the Assembly materialise in a future cultural offer.
Anything else you would like to add?
As I was typing these answers, a thought came to me: a Citizen’s Assembly model could allow the ones of us who cannot vote in any elections (not British, not Commonwealth, not European) an opportunity to participate in democratic processes; and this can only be a good thing.
We spoke with Cleo Lake, an artist, producer, and community leader with nearly 20 years’ experience in curating performances, cultural events, and engagement activities.
In this interview, Cleo highlights the importance of equitable funding, accessible spaces, and fresh, inclusive cultural experiences.
“We will all need to be prepared to be open to whatever is presented if we are truly to have something democratic.”
Tell us a bit about your work in the cultural sector and what drew you to this field.
I didn’t consciously enter the cultural sector, but went from an underground dance artist to doing a dance degree and then curating performances for myself and other artists. Over the last almost 20 years I have produced a number of cultural events spanning music, theatre, dance. I have also led community engagement activities and most of my work tends to relate to my African descent heritage.
What do you feel are some of the current challenges within the cultural sector and how would you suggest these could be addressed?
The challenge will almost always be funding and also spaces to create and deliver at free or low cost. Also, I think the distribution of funding is unequal because organisations with more staff and capacity will likely do better than those who don’t. I like the redistro model of funding.
How do you think the regional cultural sector could benefit from a Citizens’ Assembly model or other democratic decision-making tools?
It will open things up and get the views of ordinary people – not just middle class in-the-know artsy types. So we will all need to be prepared to be open to whatever is presented if we are truly to have something democratic! On the whole I also see it as an opportunity to lobby and/or put forward a collective view.
What are your hopes for the future of Arts and Culture in the West of England?
I hope we’ll have more opportunities for different people to be excited, moved, challenged and energised by totally new and fresh ideas and experiences. I also hope for high streets to be reignited with art, and funding to be more fairly distributed.
What are your thoughts on the upcoming Citizens’ Assembly for Culture in the West of England?
It will be interesting and I hope that there will be a broad mix of people from all backgrounds. The ballet go-ers to the ravers!
Anything else you would like to add?
Arts and culture can bring people together and keep people well. I hope this platform will further champion the necessity of arts and culture.
We’re pleased to share this dedicated website for the Citizens for Culture project. This platform marks an exciting next step towards the planned Assembly this year and it is designed to share news and updates on the project, including the latest events, blog posts and ways to get involved.
What you’ll find on the website
- Latest news – stay informed on the development of the Citizens’ Assembly for Culture, and hear from citizens in the region on community and cultural engagement
- What’s on – explore upcoming events, including information sessions and workshops
- The project so far – read up on the history of Citizens for Culture, from its beginnings in 2021 through to our current work
Alongside the website, we’ve set up a LinkedIn page – please do have a look, connect with us, and pass on to your networks.
Future plans and feedback
We will be adding new features to the website as the project develops, this will include a page for Associates as well as public access to free and open source resources. We are collaborating with Wecil who are providing expertise on the sites features and accessibility, we know this is always a journey so if you have any feedback about the site please do get in contact with us.
We look forward to sharing more of the Citizens for Culture journey with you and creating new ways for you to collaborate and contribute to the project.
During the summer of 2024, we hosted a series of Citizens for Culture Online Information Sessions as part of our ongoing journey toward the South Wests first regional Citizens’ Assembly for culture, set to take place in 2025.
The sessions, held via Zoom, provided an opportunity to learn about the Citizens’ Assembly, ask questions, and share ideas that would ultimately shape the assembly itself. Hosted by key project partners, including LaToyah McAllister-Jones from St Paul’s Carnival, David Jubb of Citizens in Power and Emma Harvey from Trinity, the sessions provided an open space to discuss and understand how democratic tools can shape and impact the cultural sector, and how they might address challenges that the sector faces.
Across three engaging sessions, participants explored the concept of Citizens’ Assemblies, the potential impact on cultural decision-making, and how individuals and organisations in the West of England can get involved.
Each session covered a different topic. LaToyah McAllister-Jones offered an in-depth look at the assembly’s design, addressing questions about its structure and objectives. David Jubb highlighted the strategic potential of the assembly to impact the region’s cultural ecosystem, emphasising the roles of key stakeholders. Emma Harvey led a discussion on potential questions the assembly might tackle. These discussions sparked conversations and provided a space to reflect on how different people can play a part in this project.
We want to extend a thank you to everyone who joined us for these sessions. Your contributions have shaped the next steps of Citizens for Culture.
We’re now looking for more individuals and organisations in the West of England to become associates with Citizens for Culture. Associates will play a key role in guiding the Assembly, ensuring it reflects the region’s diverse voices and that its outcomes shape the cultural sector for the better.
We’re also excited to announce the launch of our new Citizens for Culture website, where you’ll find more ways to get involved, including opportunities to submit evidence, participate in workshops, and stay updated on our progress.
Interested in finding out more?
