Arts & Culture Co Delivery Group 2023

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Mayor’s Address We are now 4 years into a Co Delivery process for the DCSDC Arts & Culture Strategy. When this strategy was first presented to Council for adoption none of us could have foreseen the challenges ahead for the arts and culture sector in the northwest. After battling our way through the Covid pandemic we have been faced with a cost-of-living crisis which is stretching our cultural organisations and artistic community to breaking point. Council is not immune to the financial challenges within the wider economy, and this has impacted on our ability to increase investment in our cultural grant aid programmes. However, Councils investment in Arts & Culture has, in the main, been retained despite the financial pressures that we face. We are aware that inflation and escalating energy cost mean that this investment does not go as far as in previous years. Alongside this, other funders upon which the sector rely have reduced their levels of grant support. Despite these coalescing pressures there is growth within the sector which is exciting for the City and District, but which will inevitably add further pressure to existing resources. In these difficult times the Co Delivery process has proven invaluable as a means of planning and delivery certainly, but also as a space for open and honest conversation between the sector and statutory partners including Council, both Members and Officers. Over the past 4 years a true partnership has been established and forged in the face of adversity. From this I believe that we have better developed our willingness and capacity for collaborative working. For sure, this brings potential efficiencies, but it also creates new opportunities for those committed to real and meaningful collaboration. Amidst the challenges there have been many notable successes. The cultural offering here is a primary attraction in the destination marketing of the City and District contributing, in no small part, to the significant and ongoing growth of visitors to the region. This success will be further built upon with the roll out of the new cultural brand for the City and District, a brand that has been developed in close consultation with the cultural sector. Working across borders has been established practice for the cultural sector over many years. Audiences, practitioners, and cultural programming move back and forth between Donegal and our own Council area. The respective Councils have worked closely over many years on a number of cultural related projects including the NW Audience Development programme. Designed simply to encourage audiences to participate in arts and culture the project has established a standardised audience impact methodology with over 70 cultural organisations across the NW participating in this data collection and analysis element. This data allows us all to see who the audiences are, what they want and how to ensure that this is sustained and grown through strategic targeted investment in programmes. One of the emerging trends from the audience impact tracking relates to participation of the pan disability community in arts and culture. The evidence clearly suggests that Councils Access and Inclusion Programme has had a marked impact on the engagement of this segment. The result of many years of investment in the reduction of barriers to access across the sector and testament to the dedication of our cultural partners in pursuing accessibility as a key priority within their respective organisations. 4
A significant amount of groundwork has been undertaken over the past number of years in terms of research and engagement. A robust understanding of need and opportunity is essential when seeking investment. It provides the evidence required when seeking additional resources to build upon these foundations and explore new partnership projects including those relating to audiences, screen and digital. The Collaborative Resilience Programme, involving 26 DCSDC based cultural organisations, has established a standardised impact assessment model alongside a Strategic Investment Plan for the sector. This Investment Plan identifies those priorities for the sector which will be critical in the coming years. It will be for the Co Delivery Group to present the Investment Strategy to Council in the Autumn for adoption. The essence of the Investment Strategy is one of collaboration, one that recognises the power of partnerships in realising a truly ambitious vision. Already, there are examples of organisations combining their energies for mutual benefit. The Built Heritage Consortium is an example of a cluster headed by the Foyle Civic Trust and involving a number of cultural organisations who are custodians of built heritage assets within the City. This initiative is designed to secure economies of scale in the maintenance of built heritage assets, a worthwhile objective in its own right, with regards to the bottom line of the participating organisations. But there also exists the potential for shared learning and strategic capital development within the same cluster. And, quite rightly, the model is one upon which external funders are positively disposed. cultural sector generally and the Co Delivery partners, in particular. Challenging conversations have been embraced in a spirit of openness and mutual respect. I note the recent symposium regarding the legacy impact 10 years on from the UK City of Culture designation award. This was a conversation designed and led by the Co Delivery cultural partners. The learning from this engagement has been incredibly valuable. It can be viewed as part of the long-term discussion relating to the equitable share of investment in the arts, this having become a key focus for the Co Delivery Group over its tenure. The Co Delivery structure lends itself to deal with emerging needs, a vital flexibility in turbulent times. Over the next 2-year term the Co Delivery Group will deliver a new strategy, one that will build upon the knowledge gained through the Audience Development work, the Collaborative Resilience Programme, the symposium events and engagement activities. It will be one fit for purpose for where we are at now yet retain the flexibility to adjust as circumstances dictate. I would like to give a heartfelt thankyou to those cultural partners who gave of their time these past 2 years. Your efforts have been very much appreciated and I trust that you have found the experience worthwhile. And to the Co Delivery Group incoming, I wish you all the best of luck and I look forward to working with you over the coming months. The 4-year term of Strategy delivery to date has required a significant investment of time and effort from the 5
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