Regional Strategies
The Regional Cultural Strategy
The regional cultural strategy [Deep Roots, Real Achievements, Lofty Ambitions] was launched in 2001 and sets out a vision for the creative and cultural sector across the region.
The strategy has been updated through the regional Cultural Strategy Action Plan drawn up by Yorkshire Culture covering the period 2004–6.
This action plan focuses on joint working to address the following themes as they relate to culture in the region—
- access
- cultural tourism and profile
- cultural industry development
- education and young people
- health and well-being
- intelligence/data
- advocacy and leadership
Yorkshire Culture lead on the recently established Regional Events Strategy Group.
An example of collaborative working across the region is the Urban Cultural Programme – an events and activity programme celebrating and raising the profile of Yorkshire Culture across the five hub cities of Bradford, Leeds, York, Sheffield and Hull. The Urban Cultural Programme runs until October 2006. [www.illuminatefestival.com]
Culture is recognised as being vital to the region’s economy and Yorkshire Culture has a memorandum of understanding with the RDA, Yorkshire Forward, where it will assess all cultural projects applying for Yorkshire Forward funding. Yorkshire Forward led the regions in supporting the bid for the 2012 Olympics and major cities across the region with cultural agency partners and is now working to use the region's cultural and sporting strengths for economic benefit and to attract events, tourists and host training camps in the run up to 2012.
On the sub-regional front Yorkshire Culture, in partnership with the five West Yorkshire Authorities, have commissioned a West Yorkshire Cultural Prospectus to identify key themes upon which the partnership will base future cultural and creative developments. The five West Yorkshire local authorities are working on the development of a West Yorkshire Tourism Partnership, which fits into Yorkshire Forward’s SRIP process.
Finding timely, credible and relevant data about culture is a perennial issue. The Yorkshire and Humber response to this problem has been to develop the Yorkshire Cultural Observatory. The Observatory will provide the central intelligence base on all elements of culture in the region.
Yorkshire Cultural Observatory
At the District level is [Only Connect : A Cultural Strategy for Bradford District]
Published 2003 by the Department of Arts, Heritage and Leisure, the Bradford Cultural Strategy builds upon the energy put into the city's bid to be European Capital of Culture in 2008. It sets out a Cultural Vision for Bradford 2020 as the Cultural Sector Contribution to the overarching Bradford Vision. |
