Citizens for Culture is ground-breaking initiative bringing together people from across the region to meet with creative practitioners, cultural providers and decision-makers to create a Cultural Plan for the region.

Delivered in with St Pauls Carnival, Citizens In Power and the West of England Combined Authority, the project will host the first region wide Citizens’ Assembly for Culture in 2025.

We caught up with Producer, Anjali Prashar-Savoie and  Project Manager, David Jubb, to ask some key questions about the project - what is it, why we’re running it and what we hope to achieve.

David and Anjali - what is a Citizens Assembly for Culture all about?

A Citizens' Assembly brings people together to learn about and deliberate issues and together, reach conclusions about what they think should happen.

Our project, Citizens for Culture, will invite citizens from areas in the West of England to create a set recommendations for a Cultural Plan for the West of England Combined Authority Region.

Taking place across multiple sessions citizens will explore how creative opportunities can be inclusive, accessible and representative of the many people living across the region. They will immerse themselves in creative and cultural activities, hear from experts who will share their knowledge about creativity and culture and then, working together, develop recommendations for a Cultural Plan to be delivered across three regions in the West of England.

Following the Assembly, citizens will oversee the implementation of the Cultural Plan with support from funders, local authorities, organisations and individuals, all working together to deliver these citizen-led recommendations.

What is the story so far?

"By using this democratic approach we will hope to inform future cultural policies and priorities for the West of England, creating a legacy that will serve as a model for the UK's continually evolving arts and cultural landscape."

The project was created in response to the partners wanting to explore how using a Citizens Assembly model - a deliberative, democratic and people-centred approach - could reimagine what a cultural offer could look like in the South West.

Each partner brings their own skills to the project - St Pauls' Carnival CEO, LaToyah Mcallister-Jones brings her wealth of expertise and experience in leading and facilitating Assemblies.

Using their expertise in citizen-led decision making, Citizens In Power have been securing support for each stage of the project, from the initial research phase in 2022 to the delivery of the final Assembly in 2025 and Trinity's CEO, Emma Harvey, brings over 20yrs of expertise of using arts and culture as a tool for civic participation.

Together, we delivered a research phase for the Assembly, where the principles for the design were shaped by a group of people from across the region, chosen through a random selection process.

Based on these design principles, the Assembly was further developed by people working in the cultural sector. The research phase provided the building blocks for the framework for the planned 2025 Assembly.

Why are you running Citizens for Culture?

The Assembly aims to help shape a regional cultural offer that is relevant, accessible and reflective of diverse voices and perspectives. By co-creating cultural leadership and decision-making with the people who live, work and stay in our region, we hope to build a more democratic approach that will help shape the future direction of culture in the West of England.

What do you mean by “citizens” and “culture”?

When we say citizens, we simply mean the people who live, work or stay in a place.

We feel that the Assembly is best placed to arrive at its practical definition of culture - one that best serves the creation of the regional Cultural Plans.  We want to ensure the people taking part can participate fully and that thoughtful conversations happen that aid in guiding this. By allowing the Assembly process to refine this definition, we hope to ensure that the Cultural Plan has a clear focus and achievable goals, while still acknowledging the richness of cultural diversity across the regions.

"By using this (a Citizens' Assembly model) democratic approach we hope to inform future cultural policies and priorities for the West of England, creating a legacy that will serve as a model for the UK's continually evolving arts and cultural landscape."

How do people get involved?

Citizens will be invited to participate in the Assembly through a sortition process, or democratic lottery, rather than by election or appointment. This ensures that the selection is impartial and includes a wide representation of community voices from across the region.

We're continuing to invite people and organisations working in the cultural sector to help shape plans for the 2025 Assembly.

If this sounds like you, we’d love to hear from you - feel free to get in touch with the Citizens’ Assembly producer, Anjali Prashar-Savoie, at anjali@trinitybristol.org.uk to arrange a chat.

Find out more about Citizens for Culture:

• Read LaToyah McAllister-Jones opinion piece on her experiences of facilitating democratic decision-making in the second part of this series about civic participation

• Read Edson Burton’s opinion piece of why voting matters in the second part of this series about civic participation

• Email Imogen@trinitybristol.org.uk to join our Citizens For Culture mailing list

Citizens for Culture is an initiative from St Paul Carnival CIC, Trinity Community Arts, Citizens in Power and West of England Combined Authority and is supported through funding by Arts Council England, Paul Hamlyn Foundation and Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation (UK Branch).

As we prepare for the upcoming Citizens’ Assembly for Culture, we’re speaking to leading voices in cultural engagement and democratic decision-making to inform and inspire the process. The Assembly will bring together citizens - people living, working or staying in the West of England - to shape a regional cultural offer that is inclusive and accessible.

In this interview, we hear from Maca Gomez-Gutierrez, an engagement professional and creative research producer. Maca has a decade of experience connecting research, culture, and community. From co-producing public engagement programs at We The Curious to supporting grassroots organizations in Colombia, her work highlights the transformative power of arts and culture.

Maca shares her insights on the challenges and opportunities in the cultural sector, the importance of diverse leadership, and how a Citizens’ Assembly can help amplify underrepresented voices.

“The Assembly will provide a level of public participation with regional impact that could reframe the way we think about culture”

Hi Maca! Tell us a bit about your work in the cultural sector and what drew you to this field.

As an engagement professional and creative research producer, I am interested in bringing research (in its broadest sense) into the cultural landscape, out of confinement into a space where everyone can be part of the conversation, and everyone’s experience, knowledge and expertise is recognised, welcomed and valued.

I have c. 10 years’ experience in both the UK and global south, most recently (2018-2023) producing We The Curious' public engagement with research programme of activities, workshops and participatory experiences, co-produced with research and community partners. Besides that, a personal favourite of mine (and close to my heart as I’m Colombian!) has been to produce Bringing Memories in from the Margins where I worked with grassroots organisations in Colombia and supported them to bring their creative projects to Bristol. Part of the MEMPAZ Project on inclusive transitional justice and creative memory processes for reconciliation in Colombia, Bringing Memories in from the Margins was a public programme of events including food, theatre, music and photography that took place over a week in March 2023 across multiple venues.

Personally, I like to mull over things, question, get angry, celebrate, explore alternatives; and I enjoy creating collective experiences and spaces where others might do so as well. There are so many important conversations and developments happening in the research world and we should all be participating in these. I think arts and culture have the potential to bring together all sorts of topics, practices, and experiences in ways that are innovative, surprising, engaging and that talk to and challenge our humanity; that’s what’s drawn me into this field.

What do you feel are some of the current challenges within the cultural sector and how would you suggest these could be addressed?

Beyond the obvious (lack of funding!), I feel there is a lack of diversity at leadership level. Specifically, a lack of diversity of ideas which of course arise from a lack of diversity of life experiences. I believe that a step towards solving this challenge is to recognise that leadership exists in different ways, and that many leaders sit outside the hierarchical structures of cultural organisations; implementing a collective approach to leadership can only be beneficial for the sector.

An additional challenge for me is how can we, as a sector, provide a cultural offer that reflects the ever evolving and changing nature of culture; particularly when we often experience a version of it that is static and monolithic. For me, once we recognise that culture is not only what has been labelled as so in museums, galleries etc. but an essential part of our everyday life- what we eat, how we eat, how we dress, the music we listen to, the very expression of our selves- then the cultural offer will increasingly reflect this and inhabit an ever growing diversity of spaces and experiences.

How do you think the regional cultural sector could benefit from a Citizens’ Assembly model or other democratic decision-making tools?

A Citizen’s Assembly model has the potential to bring into the conversation voices that are not usually present, have very low representation or might be completely excluded. For people participating in them, there can be a sense of ownership, of being able to have a say in what cultural offer their community and beyond might be able to engage with in the future.

This can only benefit the regional cultural sector since a sense of collective ownership and belonging can lead to more engagement with existing and future cultural offer. What’s more, the Assembly provides an opportunity for cultural organisations in the region to better understand people’s wants and needs, especially of those who are not regularly, if at all, coming through the doors.

What are your hopes for the future of Arts and Culture in the West of England?

I would like the arts and culture sector in the West of England (and everywhere else as a matter of fact!) to be a viable career option for young people of all backgrounds and not just for the ones who can afford it; and I would like the required infrastructure to support this to be in place e.g., strong arts programmes at schools, access to culture, paid training opportunities etc.

I would also like arts and culture to be truly recognised and valued as an important vehicle for civic engagement. Arts and culture permeate everything, it is the soil where an infinite number of wonderful things can grow on. We need a well-kept and healthy soil, one from where conversations, interactions, partnerships, friendships and action can sprout.

What are your thoughts on the upcoming Citizens' Assembly for Culture in the West of England?

It’s very exciting! The Assembly will provide a level of public participation with regional impact that could reframe the way we think about culture- what is culture and who gets to decide it? what do people want to consume and where? etc.- as well as potentially catalyse a truly innovative cultural offer.

I also believe that it could be the beginning of a stronger relationship of trust and partnership between audiences and the cultural sector, rooted in that very sense of ownership and belonging, which makes the uptake of the Assembly recommendations even more crucial as there will be an expectation to see at least some of the outputs from the Assembly materialise in a future cultural offer.

Anything else you would like to add?

As I was typing these answers, a thought came to me: a Citizen’s Assembly model could allow the ones of us who cannot vote in any elections (not British, not Commonwealth, not European) an opportunity to participate in democratic processes; and this can only be a good thing.

Interested in finding out more?

About Citizens for Culture

Citizens for Culture is an initiative from St Paul Carnival CIC, Trinity Community Arts, Citizens in Power and West of England Combined Authority and is supported through funding by Arts Council England, Paul Hamlyn Foundation and Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation (UK Branch).

Image Credit: Alastair Brookes

In partnership with St Pauls Carnival, Citizens In Power and West of England Combined Authority we are delivering a Citizens’ Assembly for Culture in 2025.

This ground-breaking initiative will bring together people from across the region, to meet with creative practitioners, cultural providers and decision-makers to shape the future of a cultural delivery plan for the region.

We are currently recruiting for a Producer to help with the successful delivery of the Assembly. We caught up with David Jubb, Co-Director of Citizens In Power, to find out more about the role, the Citizens for Culture project and the plans for the 2025 Assembly.

Hi David! Tell us more about the role and what they'll be working on.

This is a role that I wish had been around when I was developing my practice as a producer. I would have jumped at it. The role will oversee the entire citizens’ assembly process over the coming 12 months. This will include all the current development stages, procuring key partners and laying the groundwork for the UK’s first citizens’ assembly to create a cultural plan for an entire region. The role will work closely with assembly members, supporting their needs and ensuring that each one has a positive and inspiring experience. They will also establish the framework for the assembly’s recommendations to be carried forward. I think one of the many exciting things about the role is that citizen-led decision-making, such as citizens’ juries, citizens’ assemblies and panels, are growing in the creative and cultural sector. So the successful candidate will put themselves in an interesting position in terms of the future opportunities in the sector.

The ideal candidate would be someone who believes in the idea of citizens’ assemblies and cultural democracy, is committed to equity and inclusion in their practice, excels in complex projects with multiple partners, and has an interest in the strategic side of producing. What I mean by this is not just a desire to nail the deliverables each day, but on how those deliverables link to a wider set of strategic aims and partners. This project is a lot about inviting people to work together to lead change – so if they have a passion for supporting change then the role would suit them very well.

Who would the Citizens’ Assembly Producer get to work with?

They would work closely with all the project partners: LaToyah McAllister-Jones, Executive Director of St Pauls Carnival; Emma Harvey, CEO of Trinity; Sarah James, Creative and Cultural Programme Lead at the West of England Combined Authority. Each partner brings different experiences to the project. LaToyah works with Involve to facilitate assemblies as well as her extensive professional experience in and out of the cultural sector. Emma has been a driving force for how cultural buildings can use creativity as a tool for civic participation. Sarah is leading Culture West, a regional programme which brings practitioners together to create a transformational shift to co-created models of practice. The producer would also work with me. My background is in the cultural sector. I was artistic director and CEO of Battersea Arts Centre from 2004-19, before becoming more interested in citizen-led decision-making. Last year I co-founded Citizens In Power as a not-for-profit organisation, with the purpose to co-design ways for citizens to lead decision-making.

In addition to the project partners, the producer would work with the assembly’s Oversight Panel and Advisory Panel, independent groups who will advise on equity and inclusion, and select evidence for the assembly to consider. They will also collaborate with the Lead Facilitator, the Combined Authority and four Unitary Authorities, the assembly’s funding partners, Arts Council England and Gulbenkian Foundation, and everyone involved in the production and logistics of the assembly itself. It’s a big team!

What does success look like for you within this project?

By having a citizens’ assembly for creativity and culture, the project aims to democratise decision-making in the cultural sector. The assembly will empower citizens to co-create a vibrant, inclusive cultural delivery plan for the West of England. It’s important to know that when we say “citizens” we mean people who live, work or stay in a place – i.e. everyone! Success will be a project that constantly challenges itself on issues of equity and inclusion.

Essential success measures are inclusive participation, constructive deliberation and actionable recommendations. We are involving both citizens and practitioners from the sector in the design of the assembly to help us achieve this. Of course, the real test of success for Citizens for Culture will be the delivery of the assembly’s outcomes. This will require the collaboration of lots of different partners: from councils, sector organisations, communities, funders to individuals, all working together to make change happen. We need to grow many of these partnerships in advance of the assembly happening in 2025. We also hope Citizens For Culture provides inspiration for other councils and funders which are seeking to create future delivery plans by putting citizens at the heart of the process.

Anything else you would like to add?

I think this promises to be an inspiring project. I can guarantee that the successful candidate, whether coming with a cultural sector background, or a background in deliberative democracy, will learn lots and widen the kinds of opportunities they can pursue in the future. Come and work with us! Deadline for application is Tuesday 9th April at 5pm and application information is here.

In partnership with St Pauls Carnival, Citizens In Power and West of England Combined Authority we are delivering a Citizens’ Assembly for Culture in 2025.

This ground-breaking initiative will bring together people from across the region, to meet with creative practitioners, cultural providers and decision-makers to shape the future of a cultural delivery plan for the region.

We have recently recruited Anjali Prashar-Savoie as the Citizens’ Assembly Producer to help with the successful delivery of the Assembly. We caught up with her to find out more about the project that will take place in 2025.

Q: Hello Anjali! Can you tell us a bit about yourself and how you’ve come to be the producer of the Citizens’ Assembly.

A: I've been working in the cultural sector and in nightlife with a focus on grassroots culture, community organising, and creating spaces that prioritise people, equity, and access. I'm really passionate about how culture can drive new forms of social and civic participation, especially given the current political, environmental, and social challenges that we collectively face.

This experience led me to the Citizens’ Assembly Producer role. I'm grateful to contribute to something that represents the kind of systemic change we need in both culture and society as a whole. Often, we know what challenges we face in culture and beyond, but practical moves towards solutions can be difficult to organise at scale. The Citizens’ Assembly stood out to me because it offered a practical model for doing culture differently.

Q: What has your experience been of the job so far?

So far, I've been connecting with cultural workers, organisations, and grassroots organisers to get people involved in the project and understand how Citizens' Assemblies can be useful. I'm also working on expanding a wider Citizens for Culture network to make sure that the Assembly is shaped by the people it serves.

Q: You’re currently working on connecting with other cultural organisations and individuals in the region over Citizens For Culture. Why would you encourage people in the cultural sector to get involved with the project?

The sector is filled with incredible talent and group efforts that make for an exciting and diverse culture. However, sometimes the work on the ground doesn't trickle upwards into decision-making and policy. On top of that, a lot of the cultural sector is made up of freelancers who work somewhat disconnected from each other, meaning we work in silos.

Engaging with Citizens for Culture will connect people interested in citizen or community-led culture. This means you can expand your network, share information, skills, and resources, participate in upcoming workshops, and contribute to collective advocacy efforts to influence policies and secure better support for culture in the region. It provides an opportunity to build meaningful relationships with citizens and other cultural workers, creating a collaborative community with shared goals of doing things differently.

Citizens for Culture also connects you with the Citizens’ Assembly set to happen early next year. We are looking for people in the cultural sector to become associates of the assembly and help guide what happens next. By engaging with this project, together, we can make sure your voice is amplified to shape the Assembly, and that the outcomes of the assembly are supported. Overall, this is a region-wide collaborative project that is worth being a part of because the process and outcomes will be determined by the people who join.

Q: Anything else you would like to add?

We are offering online information sessions over the summer to learn more. The sessions will cover what a citizens’ assembly is and how you can get involved. In these sessions, we will also be seeking your input into our upcoming workshop series that will run throughout the Autumn.

Additionally, I love to chat. If you are a creative, cultural worker, venue, organisation or community organiser in the region, I would love to hear from you. Please feel free to reach out to me directly to chat about all things culture, community and citizens' assembly.

Find out more about the Citizens' Assembly for Culture project:

• Sign up to an online information session with the Citizens' Assembly team

• Email Imogen@trinitybristol.org.uk to join our Citizens For Culture mailing list

• Read Edson Burton’s opinion piece of why voting matters in this series about civic participation

• Read our blogs to find out more about the Citizens' Assembly project

In partnership with St Paul’s Carnival/Trinity and Citizens In Power, we are exploring how to co-create a cultural strategy for the West of England region with citizens.

During this research phase, funded by Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation (UK Branch), we invited a range of collaborators from the sector who place participation at the heart of their practice to hear from some of the best speakers working in democratic decision making right now.

Part 5: Deliberative Workshops

In January and February 2023 we organised three deliberative workshops with the aim of devising a long-term, citizen-led process that will shape a cultural plan for the area.

In our first session, we heard from Sarah James, the Creative and Cultural Programme Lead at West of England Combined Authority. She spoke about the Combined Authority’s Cultural Compact – a group consisting of representatives from four Unitary Authorities (Bath and North-East Somerset, Bristol, North Somerset, South Gloucestershire) that aims to focus and amplify the role of culture in the region as a driver for economic success, placemaking, community cohesion and personal wellbeing. Sarah talked us through the evolving Cultural Plan for the region and how this connects with other active cultural conversations in the area.

The group then briefly discussed the application process for previous rounds of the government’s City Of Culture competition, from the initial expression of interest through to the judges’ panel visit and interviews. It was agreed that it would be up to the Citizens’ Assembly for Culture as to whether an application for future competitions would be relevant or not.

The group then moved on to discuss the idea of Deliberation – a key methodology used in Citizens’ Assemblies. We heard from Professor Alan Renwick (Deputy Director at UCL’s Constitution Unit) who described the key components which lead to deliberative and consensus decision-making and how this differs from a more conventional debating approach.

Following this first session, we felt that it would be good to bring some of the principles Alan Renwick discussed to life with a couple of stories from inside a Citizen’s Assembly. Therefore, to start our second deliberative workshop, Executive Director of St Pauls Carnival and regular Citizens’ Assembly facilitator LaToyah McAllister-Jones shared some stories that helped immerse us back into the world of assemblies, understand more about their conduct, and remind us that there is expertise around these kinds of participatory processes in our teams and region for us to draw on.

Following this, we spent some time delving more deeply into the way Citizens’ Assemblies are organised and delivered. Sarah Allan, one of the UK’s leading experts in Citizens’ Assemblies, who is Director of Capacity Building and Standards at Involve, joined us to explore the way assemlies are designed along with some of the perceived strengths and weaknesses of the assembly model. She delved into the governance of Citizens’ Assemblies, and how the different stages of assemblies work. After considering the core components of a Citizens’ Assembly, we deliberated together to create a list of other exercises or approaches that we thought could add value to the assembly model.

In the final session, we came together to explore our ideas for a citizen-led process for the west of England region. We set out to create a long-term and affordable and citizen-led process that could create a Cultural Plan for the region. Our main questions and themes were: How can the process itself be creative & cultural? How can the process be inclusive and diverse at every stage? Who are the stakeholders in the process and how can we bring them on the journey? Could the assembly have a federal structure with sub-groups to reflect the different areas across the region? Based on the experience and discussions from all three of the deliberative workshops, we outlined a process as a basic prototype, to be tested with citizens and the wider sector in autumn 2023.

Find out more about the project

Community Paint Day, credit Khali Ackford

During the summer, Trinity and other members of Bristol's DIY Arts Network teamed up with Radix Big Tent Ideas Festival to shine a light on the city's cultural offer.

Cultural leaders from across the city came together to share their experiences of how culture can drive change in the city. Leaders such as Carolyn Hassan, Director of Knowle West Media Centre, who talked about the importance of investment in arts and culture (see above). Watch the full series of provocations about how culture can drive change here.

As a community arts organisation Trinity are committed to creating pathways for people to take part in civic life, to have the right for freedom of expression and to celebrate both the heritage we share and the differences we may have.

From our Art of Resistance project exploring the human stories behind activist movements in Bristol to supporting residents to programme activities in their neighbourhoods and celebrate local successes, Trinity supports access to culture to give people a voice and the freedom to make positives changes about the things that matter to them.

In partnership with Eastside Community trust and Somali Kitchen, we are collaborating with local residents to create opportunities to learn more about taking part in civic life. From Night Clubs for the over 55’s, to supporting local artists to develop their ideas, to celebrating the places people live.

Through funding from the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation (UK Branch) we are collaborating with St Pauls Carnival and David Jubb of Citizens In Power to explore if a Citizens Assembly model could be used to co-create a cultural strategy for the city and surrounding area. This model of participatory democracy brings people together from all walks of life together to collectively tackle issues and has been used successfully during Coventry's City of Culture.

Over the next year we are going to be pulling all these strands of work together to further explore how co-creating with communities and creating the space for democratic decision-making can enable people to use culture and creativity as a vehicle to empower, amplify and respond to the issues they hold true.

Interested in finding out more?

• Follow #67MillionVoices on socials and join in the conversation about what culture means to you.
• Sign up to our mailing list to find out how you can take part and get up-to-date
• Read $ Identity Capital $

Community Painting Day part of the Wish List. Photo credit Khali Ackford

We have joined forces with St Paul’s Carnival to launch an ambitious project that aims to pilot a new people-led model for culture. Together, we want to support people to take decisions, make change and create culture that matters to them.

St Paul’s Carnival and Trinity are both grassroots, independent organisations based in East Bristol. Alongside delivering citywide events, we both work with local communities to design and deliver creative and cultural provision throughout the year.

The Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation (UK Branch) has committed funding for this research and development project, to test a process in which citizens could lead the creation and design of a cultural strategy for Bristol and the surrounding region.

Trinity and St Pauls Carnival will collaborate with the Gulbenkian Foundation, David Jubb of Citizens In Power and others to develop a bottom-up approach within the city that speaks of the collective experiences of diverse communities in order to better shape future decision making.

“We want to explore a different approach - one in which the very people who make and enjoy culture have a voice to express what this means for our city.” LaToyah McAllister-Jones Executive Director of St Pauls Carnival

Over the next year, the pilot will explore tested models such as Citizens’ Assemblies - used in Bristol in 2021 as part of the city’s post-COVID19 recovery planning - to input and shape democratic decision making in Bristol; a city known for its arts and culture.

This research phase will run until Summer 2023 and will involve a series of targeted workshops and open sessions, that will explore different ways of co-creating with communities.

If you would like to get involved, or for more information, please contact esther@trinitybristol.org.uk or sign up to Trinity’s Mailing list.

Image credit: St Paul's Carnival

In partnership with St Paul’s Carnival/Trinity and David Jubb of Citizens In Power, we are exploring how to co-create a cultural strategy for the city and surrounding region with citizens.

During this research phase, funded by Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation (UK Branch), we invited a range of collaborators from the sector who place participation at the heart of their practice to hear from some of the best speakers working in democratic decision making right now.

Part 3: Becoming A City Of Culture

In our third blog we reflect on the thoughts and experiences of Bradford 2025 team members, May McQuade and Jack Lynch who used the Citizens’ Assembly model as part of Bradford’s successful UK City of Culture 2025 bid.

May McQuade was the Programme and Community Coordinator for Bradford 2025. It was her role to explore what they would do if they were to win, and what programming could happen during the bidding period. This involved lots of consultation work, spreading the word around the bidding and getting people on board. 

Jack Lynch worked on creating the campaign and brand for Bradford 2025. His role looked at how the City of Culture bid looked and felt, and the story they wanted it to tell. Jack spoke about being particularly keen to make something that felt truly original in Bradford, particularly with regards to how people normally spoke about the area.

The group were interested to explore what the catalyst was for this groundswell of positive engagement with the Bradford 2025 campaign. Jack shared that there was a focus on taking public opinion and universal truths about Bradford, and working them into the campaign. They found this was a way that everyone – from people in the arts sector to people in the street – could understand the aim of winning a City of Culture bid, and that this helped create a high level of engagement. The group discussed that ‘finding the city’s universal truths’ could be an important part of a City of Culture bid for Bristol.

Delving into the local authority’s involvement in Bradford 2025, May shared how the council had set up and invested in the trust then fully supported the bidding process. The decision for the bid to be separate from the council gave the team creative freedom.

There was a question posed from the group about the high number of people of Pakistani heritage living in Bradford, and how the bid was representative of this community. May spoke about several staff and steering group members being of South Asian heritage and the broad consultation events taking place in every ward of the district. May also shared that part of the bid’s focus was around improving representation in decision making roles within the arts, and supporting growth of the South Asian arts offer in Bradford. She went on to say that there are also many other Global Majority groups living in the area, and they wanted to make sure everyone was involved - which was admittedly difficult. The group spoke about Bristol’s arts sector not being fully representative of the diverse population of the city, and how there would need to be careful thought put into that during the bidding process. 

When asked what the biggest takeaways were from the process, Jack spoke about understanding that from a marketing perspective this is essentially a political campaign. May shared that, on a personal level, she felt it was important to start with a pace that makes sense with the communities you’re working with and not push too hard from the beginning – it’s a fast paced process and can easily become overwhelming.

Interested in finding out more?

• Read the blogs so far: Part 1 What is a Citizen's Assembly? and Part 2 Art, for, with, by the people
• Keep up-to-date about the project by joining our mailing list
• Read Freddie Wulf's article: Identity Capital
• Watch Trinity's take over of the Radix Big Tent
• Join in the conversation using #67MillionVoices

'Citizens for Culture' is bringing together citizens - people living, working or staying across the West of England - to explore how creative opportunities can be inclusive and accessible for everyone in the region.

Taking place in 2025 this ambitious project aims to co-create a Cultural Plan for the three areas in the West of England Combined Authority.

As part of the successful delivery of the assembly, we are calling out for freelancers, artists, individuals, cultural workers and organisations to sign up to be ‘Assembly Associates’.

Associates will be advocates for citizens-led culture and will support the campaign by:

• Shaping the design of the assembly and associated activities

• Sharing Citizens for Culture opportunities within their networks and communication channels

• Submitting evidence to be presented to citizens in the assembly

• Publicly advocating for the outcomes of the assembly in their own practice, work or organisation

Why sign up?

Becoming an associate of Citizens for Culture offers an opportunity to actively shape the future of citizen-led culture for the region.

By joining Citizens for Culture, you can connect with audiences and others in the sector from across the region more directly. By signing up as an Associate you will have the opportunity to influence cultural policy, expand your networks and advocate for meaningful change in your own communities and sectors.

Find out more:

If you are interested in becoming an associate of Citizens for Culture and would like out find out more please get in touch with Citizens for Culture Producer Anjali at anjali@trinitybristol.org.uk

St Pauls Carnival

In partnership with St Paul’s Carnival and David Jubb of Citizens In Power, Trinity are exploring how Bristol can co-create a cultural strategy for the city and surrounding region.

During this research phase, funded by Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation (UK Branch), we invited a range of collaborators from the sector who place participation at the heart of their practice to hear from some of the best speakers working in democratic decision making right now.

These focus groups have been a chance to share ideas, experiences, knowledge and expertise on co-creation, participatory democracy and how we can do things differently in the culture sector.

In a series of blogs we are documenting and sharing what we are uncovering this journey. For our first focus groups we welcomed Brett Henning, co-founder of the Sortition Foundation and Janet Vaughan, designer and co-artistic director of Talking Birds to share their experiences of creating Citizens' Assemblies.

Part 2: Art, for, with, by the people

Janet Vaughan is the co-artistic director of Talking Birds Theatre Company who hosted the UK’s first Citizens’ Assembly on Arts, Culture & Creativity as part of the 2021 Coventry City of Culture. The Assembly took place over six weeks and produced recommendations that were incorporated in the city's Cultural Strategy. We invited Janet to share their experience of using this model and what they learned during the process.

Joining us on Zoom, Janet first shared how their interest in participatory democracy came from the early day of the pandemic where a large proportion of people in the UK suddenly had time 'to do things'. During this time, Janet shared that they took part in online conferences and events by organisations including Civic Square and that this initial engagement was the spark that led to their hosting of a Citizens' Assembly.

The initial barrier to programming the Citizens' Assembly in Coventry was engaging with stakeholders to invest in the process - as Citizens' Assemblies are very expensive. However, Talking Birds, in collaboration with stakeholders, felt it was important for people, outside the cultural sector, to have a voice in creating a cultural offer.

Through David Jubb, Janet connected with the Sortition Foundation and they acted as the independent organisation who would administer, engage and select participants for the Assembly. The Sortition Foundation worked to ‘crunch’ the numbers to ensure participants reflected the demographic data that has been specified.

As with other UK Assemblies, Talking Birds paid for participants to take part and supplied people with the tech they may have needed for engaging in the process during a pandemic. They also offered 1-2-1 tech support to ensure engagement was equitable.

The group were interested in whether the Citizens' Assembly ‘made a difference’ and if the process enabled learnings that were 'surprising or unexpected'. Janet shared that, yes, firstly because conversations were had that otherwise would not have been able to happen and, secondly, because the people who took part would not normally have been able to engage with each other. Then finally, that because the Citizens' Assembly approach is tried and tested, it created real spaces for conversation, questions and ideas.

The group were then interested in how to go about choosing the provocation for discussion during the Assemblies'. Janet shared that Talking Birds set up an oversight committee to explore what their provocation would be. At the time there was a drive to ‘build back better’ and the committee, through discussions, came to an agreement that they wanted to explore the role of art and artists in this.

The final part of Janet’s talk looked at data and numbers. The Coventry project ran over six weeks, 50 people took part in the Assembly itself across six learning sessions with evidence from around 12 expert witnesses. The cost to run and engage participants was around £120k.

Janet reflected that it was brilliant to watch the participants build confidence over the project and felt the approach enabled people to feel autonomy, listened to and that their questions were valid. From these, recommendations were drafted and put to vote at the Assembly and then went through a process of refining the recommendations which where eventually submitted to the Council for consideration.

We will continue to share our findings from the research stage of our project alongside programming further focus groups and action-learning sessions.

Interested in finding out more?

• Read part 1: What is a Citizen's Assembly?
• Keep up-to-date about the project by joining our mailing list
• Read Freddie Wulf's article: Identity Capital
• Watch Trinity's take over of the Radix Big Tent
• Join in the conversation using #67MillionVoices

Image credit: Amy Fern

As we move towards the Assembly’s delivery in 2025, here’s a look back at what we achieved in the second half of 2024.

Outreach and Partnerships

Building strong connections has been central to our progress. Since the project’s launch, we’ve worked to establish a wide-reaching network of partners, supporters, and collaborators - from cultural organisations, to community groups, to political leaders.

Over the last six months, we’ve:

• Engaged with more than 100 organisations across the cultural sector, led by our Assembly Producer, who joined us in May.
• Hosted online information sessions in August to connect with cultural organisations and individuals interested in becoming Assembly Associates.
• Secured £100,000 in funding from the Paul Hamlyn Foundation, with additional funding prospects in development.

Designing the Assembly

Creating a representative and impactful Citizens’ Assembly remains central to our work. The Assembly’s design principles have been shaped through collaboration with citizens, community partners, and cultural organisations, with a focus on accessibility and inclusion.

Key steps in the design process include:

• Developing a detailed sortition process in partnership with the Sortition Foundation to recruit a diverse and representative group of Assembly participants.
• Complementing this recruitment process with targeted outreach to historically underrepresented groups, including working-class citizens, young people, and rural communities.

Adjusting the Timeline

The Assembly is now scheduled to take place in autumn 2025, a shift from the original spring timeline. This adjustment ensures we can brief the region’s incoming mayor on the initiative after the spring elections, securing their full support.

Meanwhile, we’ve begun public engagement through events like the Trinity AGM and Speak Out with Young People. These initial conversations have helped develop provocations that will shape the Assembly’s focus on accessibility and inclusion.

What’s Next?

As we move into the next phase of Citizens for Culture, we’re committed to building a representative Assembly and developing an actionable Cultural Delivery Plan. With strong regional collaboration and growing support from funders, the project is positioned to influence cultural planning and governance locally and nationally.

In the comings months, we’ll be:

• Launching a public awareness campaign to engage communities across the region.
• Hosting summer festival events to spark conversations around ‘what culture means to me.’
• Preparing for the Assembly’s delivery in autumn 2025.

We’re excited to set the stage for a more inclusive and democratic cultural future in the West of England.

Interested in finding out more?

• Explore the Citizens for Culture website
• Read Martha King's thoughts on redesigning leadership for a more equitable future

About Citizens for Culture

Citizens for Culture is an initiative from St Paul Carnival CIC, Trinity Community Arts, Citizens in Power and West of England Combined Authority and is supported through funding by Arts Council England, Paul Hamlyn Foundation and Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation (UK Branch).