We’re an independent ‘think & do tank’ dedicated to the UK’s creative, cultural & heritage ecosystem…
We are supported with direct and indirect grant and core funding from:
Our Work
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We conduct rigorous research that helps our sectors - and the policymakers who support them - make informed, evidence-based policy decisions.
Our work doesn’t sit on shelves: it moves agendas forward and empowers organisations to act with more confidence.
From incisive policy reviews and insight-driven discussion papers to detailed evaluations and peer-reviewed academic research, our work sparks debate and leads to real-world impact.
Example Project: ‘Culture in Crisis’ - the largest study in the world examining the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on the cultural and heritage sectors in the four UK nations.
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We don’t just react to change - we help shape it.
Our policy design work is grounded in evidence and tailored to the fast-moving realities that our sectors face.
We blend sector expertise with rigorous analysis and political insight to ensure arguments land credibly with the decision makers who implement them.
We monitor legislative developments in all four UK parliaments and are increasingly working in regional contexts with mayors as devolution extends and in international contexts too.
Example Project: ‘The Future of Cultural Devolution in the UK’ - a major multi-partner open policy development programme exploring the potential impact of the devolution revolution on our sectors.
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We help our sectors and partners to make their voices heard.
By convening roundtables, running policy labs, hosting public events and producing accessible thought leadership, we connect creative and cultural stakeholders with key decision-makers at a range of scales.
Our advocacy builds shared understanding, raises visibility, and secures the recognition and resources that the sectors need to thrive.
Example Project: ‘English Civic Museums Network Policy Review’ - setting a new policy direction and securing investment for more than 100 local museums across England.
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We help organisations understand and communicate their individual and collective impact.
Using mixed-method approaches, we combine quantitative data with lived experience to explore what’s working, what’s not, and what can be improved.
Our evaluations go beyond measurement - they support reflection, sharpen strategy, and provide a credible evidence base for future funding and policy decisions.
Project Example: ‘Chatham High Street Heritage Action Zone Evaluation’ - a detailed assessment of a course at University of Kent designed to involve students in a major Historic England backed development project.
We collaborate with organisations and leaders across the creative, cultural and heritage sectors to help them demonstrate the value of their work - showing how culture enriches lives, strengthens communities and supports national prosperity.
Our work helps the sector understand and evidence its impact, communicate its story more effectively, and secure the policy support and investment it needs to flourish. As a purpose-driven organisation, we combine the mission of a sector support body with the strategic insight of a consultancy.
Together with partners across the UK, we address some of the defining policy challenges of our time - from widening access and tackling regional inequality to building a more sustainable future. Our aim is to ensure that everyone, everywhere can benefit from the power of creativity, culture and heritage.
£21 million
Funding secured for clients
300+
Organisations supported
25
Projects successfully delivered
Who we work with
We initiate and lead projects our own projects and also work in partnership with others to drive towards shared policy priorities. In addition, we provide a range of consultancy services to clients.
We work with a wide range of stakeholders, including creative firms, cultural institutions, local authorities, universities, trade unions, funders, parliaments and national governments.
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We help creative firms, cultural institutions and others think about their position within the ecosystem, measure their impacts and articulate how they support policy priorities at a range of spatial scales.
We also help our sectors to get their work recognised by decision makers and put compelling cases for investment together to secure their long-term future.
Our ecosystem focus means that we are able to develop work that benefits everyone - not just those with the time and resources to commission work from us.
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We work with national governments across all four UK nations, briefing Ministers, Cabinet members, and Secretaries of State and their teams on key policy developments.
Collaborating closely with civil servants, we also help develop practical solutions based on our findings.
We influence policy through evidence submissions to committees and all-party parliamentary groups, while uniting the creative, cultural, and heritage sectors to make sure their priorities reach senior parliamentarians.
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We work with senior leaders, elected politicians and civil servants across the country to boost creative, cultural, and heritage outcomes locally and regionally.
We increasingly partner with elected mayors and the combined authority teams they lead to maximise the opportunities that devolution presents.
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We work with researchers and higher education institutions on research projects and help them translate findings into actionable policy recommendations.
We help researchers get their work in front of key decision-makers across a range of government departments to inform live policymaking processes.
Our work supports universities in achieving their goals under the Research Excellence Framework and Knowledge Exchange Framework.
Just some of our clients & partners include…
Live Projects
Culture Commons is leading up a national open policy development programme exploring the risks and opportunities that the ‘devolution revolution’ presents to our sectors. A coalition of 30 partners from across the UK have come together to co-commission new research and developing policies that could help us make the most of this period of considerable national change.
The Future of Cultural Devolution in the UK
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Developing a Blueprint for a new National Cultural Data Observatory
We’re working with the Centre for Cultural Value, The Audience Agency and My Cake to scope a blueprint for a new national body that will help people, places and organisations to collect, collate and communicate data better.
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Updating UK Government investment priciples through the Measuring Culture & Heritage Capitals project
We’re working with Historic England, the Department for Culture, Media and Sport and others to help develop a new framework to measure Culture and Heritage Capitals that will inform an update HM Treasury's ‘Green Book’ approach to investment.
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Setting a new policy direction for the English Civic Museums Network
We’re working with a network of nearly 100 museums across England to identify a new set of policy objectives based on a fast-moving political landscape, develop a new Statement of Purpose and secured investment from the UK Government.
Professor Ben Walmsley, Dean at the University of Leeds
“Culture Commons have affected a step change in the traction that our research is getting with key policy stakeholders at all levels. I really can't recommend them highly enough.”
Find out about our services
Rosie McPherson, Artistic Director of Stand and Be Counted Theatre
“As an arts organisation, we’ve wanted to have more influence on policy making for years. Culture Commons have opened that door. We've now put across our views to the Home Office and had a meaningful response - that’s just major for us.”
Latest News
Professor Pascale Aebisher MBE, Lead Researcher on ‘Pandemic & Beyond’
“Culture Commons have had a truly transformative impact on our project. They radically shifted the ways we engage with policymakers in Westminster, devolved governments and regional leaders through their ready-made networks.”
Featured Publications
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Strengthening the English Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill
Submission of Amendments
Author
Trevor MacFarlane
Description
This detailed policy submission sets out a series of proposed amendments to the English Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill, designed to embed culture, creativity and heritage within England’s emerging framework for devolved governance. The paper argues that high-quality devolution depends not only on shifting powers but on building the civic and cultural capabilities that make places thrive. It proposes statutory recognition of culture as a devolved competence, new duties for Strategic Authorities to produce Cultural Ecosystem Plans, establishing Culture Forums and appointing Culture Commissioners, alongside measures for cultural data, infrastructure, community rights and investment. Together, these amendments would ensure culture sits alongside transport, housing and skills as a core pillar of place-based leadership — turning devolution into a living expression of local identity, trust and pride in place.
Published as part of The Future of Cultural Devolution in the UK.
October 2025
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Culture-led capital projects: catalysing local decision making in place
Discussion Paper
Partners
University of Kent
Author
Dr Cara Courage, Dr Lucrezia Gigante (Culture Commons), Professor Catherine Richardson (University of Kent).
Editor
Trevor MacFarlane
Description
This paper examines how culture-led capital development projects are creating new opportunities for local cultural decision making in the UK. Through an analysis of two live case studies – Docking Station (Medway, Kent) and Harmony Works (Sheffield, South Yorkshire) – we examine how capital development projects function as important nodes within creative, cultural and heritage ecosystems, as well as their potential to enhance the voice of local people within them. We make several tentative recommendations for future policy support mechanisms that could ensure the flourishing of such projects in future.
Published as part of The Future of Cultural Devolution in the UK .
April 2025
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A review of devolution and the UK's creative, cultural, and heritage ecosystem
Discussion Paper
Author
Eliza Easton (Erskine Analysis), Trevor MacFarlane (Culture Commons), Jack Shaw (Labour Together).
Description
This discussion paper examines the evolving relationship between the UK’s creative, cultural and heritage sectors and the process of devolution across all four nations. Drawing on detailed analysis of policy, funding and governance trends since the late 1990s, it explores how local authorities, combined authorities and devolved administrations have engaged with the creative economy, highlighting uneven investment, the effects of austerity, and the rising influence of regional mayors. The paper identifies key challenges and opportunities for embedding culture more deeply within devolved systems of governance and proposes ways the sector can better position itself to shape and benefit from future waves of devolution.
Published as part of The Future of Cultural Devolution in the UK.
November 2024