In a new Discussion Paper by Culture Commons and the University of Leeds, Professor Leila Jancovich (University of Leeds), Dr Lucrezia Gigante (Culture Commons) and Dr Claire Burnill-Maier (Culture Commons) unpack some of the main models that have supported people to participate in decision making about the cultural life of their local area.
The UK government has committed to further wave of devolution that will likely see local leaders taking on more powers and responsibilities for the creative, cultural and heritage ecosystem. At the same time, we know that some local authorities, funders and cultural organisations in each of the four UK nations, funders and have already been experimenting with more participatory approaches and bringing the people they represent into decision making moments.
The paper draws together findings from several historical and live case studies to illuminate how different models have led to different outcomes in different areas. The paper hopes to help local leaders to avoid ‘best practice’ and ‘one size fits all’ approaches to future public engagement by taking a more granular look at how the models are structured and operate in practice.
Involving the public in effective decision making processes can lead to more horizontal power structures and policy design processes. However, as the authors emphasise, effective public engagement in cultural decision making requires clarity of purpose, equal access opportunities for all, accountability structures, openness to dissent and a long-term commitment to learning alongside stakeholders.
It is equally important to understand the limitations and potential drawbacks of any chosen approach to cultural decision making with the public, based on learning from what has not worked in the past. It is this nuanced understanding of participatory decision making approaches that the paper seeks to offer.
The paper draws on theories of participation, co-production and deliberative democracy and data from qualitative interviews conducted by the Culture Commons team to explore the risks and opportunities, levers and barriers of approaches including:
Public value
Co-production
Citizens’ assemblies
Participatory budgeting
Community asset transfers
Place-based funding.
The Discussion Paper forms part of a major four-nations open policy development programme led by Culture Commons and a coalition of 30 organizations from across the UK investigating how devolution and increased local decision making might impact on our creative, cultural and heritage ecosystem.
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