Arts, universities and local government: Collaborating for culture-fuelled growth

Post-election, we’re in a phase of noise, excitement, uncertainty and a discernible sense of hope. And leaders across the arts, higher education and local government are lobbying government about the value of their work and their needs and aspirations for the future. 

There’s a renewed energy with inspiring and largely constructive voices offering to support government in the many urgent tasks that lie ahead – not least the challenging issue of growth. 

I’m sensitive to these cross-sector atmospheres because our work at NCACE sits at these intersections. We support partnerships and collaborations between universities and the arts and the wider ecologies where they take place. We also evidence and showcase the impacts they generate. 

The role of interpretation

So how do leaders plan to juice more value from already-stretched resources? What are their thoughts and plans for playing enhanced civic roles that support both communities and social innovation as well as economic growth?

Claire Malcolm, Chief Executive of New Writing North says: "When arts organisations can align their ambitions with those of university partners, the offer to local and combined authorities around economic development can be very strong. 

“There is an act of interpretation that needs to happen between all three partners to completely understand how shared missions may need to be delivered slightly differently – or work done collectively to learn from each other how to engineer the real outcomes and impact."

She gets to the heart of some very knotty issues which everyone involved will have to grapple with. Shared missions not only require sharing but also listening and being tuned in to a panoply of need. As Claire says, the role of interpretation is important, yet sadly it’s often overlooked and underplayed.

Learning from the past

Joined-up working between the arts, universities and cultural and civic life – particularly local authorities – is not new. I can trace great examples back to the 90s, even before the much respected then Labour Minister for Culture, Chris Smith, coined the term ‘Creative Industries’. 

These include arts and media centres that supported a threefold ambition of cultural exhibition, production and skills and learning, ensuring circularity and talent growth for the sector. Such ambitions were often taken for granted, yet they hold valuable lessons as we face the urgency of how to maximise limited public resources for the widest benefit.  

The recognition of the importance of place and place-based relationships in the context of devolution, a renewed focus on the civic and communities, and on more inclusive innovation, is likely to drive collaboration further. It’s time more than ever to learn from the past.

Growing body of literature

There is a growing body of literature highlighting the value of these multi-sectoral partnerships, such as the newly published Kerslake Collection of essays, from the UPP Foundation. One essay, The role of universities in supporting arts and culture by ACE Chief Executive, Darren Henley and Professor Katy Shaw of Northumbria University focuses on place and devolution in relation to the potential for a more inclusive industrial strategy. 

It states: “Universities have a unique role to play in delivering devolution and in informing place-powered policymaking for culture and creative industries.” It also makes positive noises about a deepening sense of the value of a partnership between ACE and higher education: “ACE investment in partnership with Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) shows how we can work together to enhance the lives of everyone in our communities,” referencing investments in Derby, Middlesborough and Kent. 

At NCACE, we have also just published a series of essays on Universities, Local Authorities and Cultural-based Partnerships demonstrating the joint work on cultural projects, cultural strategy development and placemaking across the country. 

In it, Dr Idrees Rasouli (Anglia Ruskin University) and Matt Burman (Artistic Director, Cambridge Junction) outline the ambitions of Create Cambridge, a new Cultural Compact with higher education, local authority and cultural partners. Cat Rogers and Amanda Hanton (Leicestershire County Council) and Dr Daniel H Mutibwa (Nottingham University) explore how local authorities in multi stakeholder partnerships could be best supported to navigate constantly evolving cultural landscapes. 

Dr Rowan Bailey (University of Huddersfield) describes working with the Creative Development team at Kirklees Council to contribute to the cultural development of Huddersfield through public realm programming and ground-breaking initiatives such as Temporary Contemporary – a network of meanwhile spaces on the high street for creative communities to initiate and deliver cultural activities to different audiences.

And Andy Franzkowiak (Richmond Arts Service) highlights research collaborations supporting artists and cultural programming on the theme of climate emergency, while Nicola Wallis (The Fitzwilliam Museum) describes an innovative approach to cultural partnership development between Cambridge University and the local authority mediated by the museum, resulting in For the Love of Learning, a project transforming the experiences of young children and families. 

Partnership narrative

Often missing from the partnership narrative is the hidden labour and other invisible entanglements. Rebecca Di Corpo’s reflection on her and others’ work at Bath Spa University brings the overlooked aspects of the collaborative process to light. 

As part of NCACE’s work on the Research Exercise Framework, the REF, Dr Federica Rossi investigates the roles local authorities play in cultural knowledge exchange between HEIs and other societal actors, highlighting four areas: their role as collaborators in bid development, as research commissioners, as access facilitators, and as collaborators in implementing research outcomes.

Particularly striking is Anna Kime (Centre for Cultural Value) and Pam Johnson’s (Leeds City Council) paper exploring how evaluation-focused research is helping to bridge the gap between academia, policy and practice in Leeds. 

It also highlights the development of the strategic relationship between the university and the local authority and how they have worked together to establish Areas of Research Interest. This is a powerful method and framework that other institutions hoping to build their collaborative capacities might usefully adopt.

So far, so good?  

It’s inspiring to hear about what’s going well. But that’s not the full picture. As Professor David Amigoni (Keele University) warns in his foreword, these achievements are not straightforward. Looking forward, we need to be ever mindful of the challenges of growing funding gaps across higher education, the arts and local authorities.

“The ability of [local authorities] to keep focused, while severely financially challenged (including the threat of bankruptcy) offers lessons in service resilience that we, from the HE sector, have to confront …  [We should never] devalue arts and humanities disciplines: they are the essential glue binding research- and education-driven creative partnerships. It cannot be repeated often enough: these are presently at severe risk. The health humanities is a superb field – but arts and humanities are ailing.”

It’s important to celebrate the myriad collaborative initiatives taking place, many of which are just about quietly getting on with good work in challenging conditions. Together with the louder, more urgent clarion calls, they signal the strong potential for future innovation. 

We just need to be mindful that the journey to get there will require resourcing, understanding what’s already happening on the ground and, perhaps most importantly, deft and nuanced navigation.

Evelyn Wilson is Co-Director of NCACE and TCCE.  
 ncace.ac.uk/
@evelyntcce | @CultureImpacts

This article from National Centre for Academic and Cultural Exchange (NCACE) is one of a series of articles and case studies shining a light on knowledge exchange and cultural partnerships between Higher Education and the arts and cultural sector.