Workshop on Partnership and Networks and Cultural Progression for Young People

These are the combined thoughts of 21 people written pretty much as if it is one person thinking. These 21 people engaged in a journey through their concerns, fears, ambitions and visions, sharing existing networks and partnerships, talking about what they can bring to a partnership or network and what holds them back. The group then discussed and shared some new thinking or aspirations, thought about what might need to be done to realise a way forward, were honest about their levels of commitment and determination and shared a few places where we might go for further learning and support. This was a process that could have taken at least a day and has at times taken a week, but they did it in an hour! Apart from verbal feedback and discussion this was what they generated in that time: So to get things moving I thought I would start by writing about some things that concern me: I’m concerned by all the projects which run on a shoestring – all the partners have less funding and the people we work with have less money to buy….I mean do we actually have time to network. On the other hand we really may have to network to survive. So many organisations seem to want to compete rather than collaborate. I get concerned about duplication, there is already a lot of networks out there…but in other ways there may be a sense of there being no one there to network with. Yes reflecting I think there are too many networks…we all have to ask what are the outcomes…what are the final aims of the relevant ones. What if I represent a particular art form? We want a meaningful discovery of our particular art form…this requires a meaningful relationship with partners surely? There are so many concerns to be met at times – personal, organisational, what the government does, funding…balancing these!! How do I find real partners who share the same vision? So often it seems that there is no time to talk if we’re actually going to do it…who wants a talking shop? Who really wants a lot of talk and no action? Can I really manage a new network within my time and resources? Would other partners in my locality really agree to an arts education network free of

competition? I mean it all comes down to funding and where we can find it…we have to ask, are potential partners in competition for work and funding? We have to be mindful that one size doesn’t fit all. What, why, when, how, at what level…is this still networking and partnerships? When you start to think about it there are so many concerns – missing out, things being diluted, too many cooks…being a lost voice! There are all sorts of issues around inclusion and development…the dominance of some people or organisations but also the freedom for new partnerships and issues around funding to develop new partnerships. That would be something to aim for. I think about the individual practitioner…what sources of funding are there? Who do you speak to within the current and new commissioning landscape? Who are my partners? Partnerships and collaborations can be fabulous but they can also be stifling. Blimey! Time for networking…how do we make it possible for young people to have a real say and also all of those other agencies and other organisations with real in depth experience of working with children and young people. I ask myself if openness and generosity between partners is really there? Can freelance artists afford to network? Can they afford not to? So many questions…I mean how are new opportunities encouraged and accessed in an arts world that is becoming heavily monitored and where funding is so specific? We have to be so careful. Building the hopes of young people that then lead to disappointment…organisations are vulnerable too. There is too much judgement about what a young person’s future might be when we really have no idea. But we have to keep up the belief…keep setting up opportunities, the invitations…young people may engage or not…but we need to ask, how do very vulnerable young people access opportunities without very personal support? I still have such nagging concerns about networks being outcome focussed and that we work to provide clear opportunities. We need to think more about including families…more opportunities for the wider network to be involved. Where is the forum for this partnership network? I get concerned about having the time to include and deliver (in) networks. I get concerned with activity that just feeds into what young people already know and not challenging them enough to think more creatively or to make that more sustained effort to develop a deeper ‘craft’ skill. It’s not all about ‘an hour and

then the bell rings’ education. Young people like adults can concentrate on things for weeks and months to the exclusion of other things when given the opportunity…and I don’t just mean computer games! I think there are circumstances where artists explicitly need to make money but it seems if you aren’t a charity or similar and if you partner with schools or charities it is perceived negatively if the commercial entity ‘profits’. From all this I can see some very negative scenarios but also it gives me the impetus to think about what I would really like to see happen: My fear would be that as an organisation specialising in a particular art form we don’t find people who want to engage with our work…but then we can work to reach young people through partnerships. I am so concerned about being out of touch…it’s that need to network…but what a nightmare to get bogged down in minutes, meetings without any outcomes…and then, will I end up doing all the work? My dream is that all children and young people in my area are engaged in creative arts activities delivered by a network of arts organisations and practitioners where there is little or no duplication or over competitiveness. I have some specific concerns that commercial – education partnerships are perceived in too negative a light and won’t continue…I really would like to see funding embrace such partnerships. I could make more commitment to being a part of developing networks…and encouraging others…but again I think it would be a nightmare to be involved with networks or partnerships with no clear aim or goals/outcomes. Equally bad for there to be a network with no young people or their voice. My vision would be of a network of arts organisations, schools, school champions, young people and the arts sector as whole progressing local agendas. I really worry that we will lose the good networks that we have in place already. People not valuing the benefits of networks and that they break apart. I fear the ongoing consequences of repetitive strain injury…constantly trying to respond to changes, things falling apart and always having to re-group to new agendas…partners crumpled by this constant change and re-grouping. In a way I would like to see less change…work to longer term agendas/objectives and beliefs. I really am concerned to see a loss of passion and creativity due to high demands upon individuals and organisations. This would help my specific art form vision…of young people wanting to discover that what we do is a rewarding, satisfying, creative method to express themselves…seize that opportunity to enter that journey into the art form.

When it comes down to it though there are still some fundamentals – I fear not being able to earn a living, being irrelevant, losing touch and not being able to speak the same language. I want to see my art form advance and a growing engagement. There has to be hope and I hope that future changes in funding and structures will bring new opportunities and new communities forward. I fear uniformity and I celebrate individuality that is celebrated together! What if we work towards a dynamic, purposeful, connected, progressive sense of communities…it’s not owned by the sector or by young people. Let’s avoid the useless network at all costs and focus on clear, regular, useful activity. It’s also essential to have clarity on partnerships. We need to create opportunities for new and exciting partnerships with innovation and creativity given high priority. There’s too much tilting at windmills when there are giants to be slain…we need to wake up and talk about the windmill tilting we are doing as a reality. It’s all good practice for when we get the proper resources to do the job properly. Sometimes my worst fear is that in a privatised commissioning model it just becomes every man and woman for themselves. I have this real worry that Arts Council NPOs will be expected to give all their time for ‘free’ and support non-NPOs and artists when they themselves are so stretched – nevertheless networking is important. We do need to work positively towards the sharing of ideas leading to better practice and provision for, with and by young people. I don’t want to end up drowning in a sea of date collection that at times seems to become more the emphasis than actually doing things. I want to see practical activities for the many to enjoy when it comes to young people and not a handful or an elite. I can sum up three critical concerns – too much talk and jargon before the work can begin, young people not stretched or challenged enough and how do we lever in the funds and find a focus to deliver? The more I think about it the more I would like to see networks that include families alongside the children…these relationships are key societal elements. The youth arts industry is one thing but young people live in society with many different types of relationships not just their own peers. Maybe we put far too much emphasis on them being separate.

A quick snapshot of the networks and partnerships I’m already involved with at different levels: Co-ordination of a programme of community and education events at a localised level in Buxton and High Peak. Informal contact with local people. Vision Buxton (companies) Family Centre Project Festivities (not so much an education focus – more about marketing). There was a time when I was part of none. East Midlands Participatory Art Forum. Specialist networks for vulnerable children and young people. The local youth work forum. Task and finish groups at a district level dealing with youth offending and anti-social behaviour. The East Midlands Participatory Arts Forum – Federation and Network. Professional association. Art form specific communities – formal and informal (including on-line) AD:UK Performing Arts Leicester Leicester Visual Arts Group Creative Industries Support Organisations 95% of project work undertaken in partnerships with groups/groupings of individuals, local authorities, statutory agencies, voluntary sector, schools, community groups etc. Individual practitioners with strong networks…local dancers, visual artists, musicians.

International Community Arts Network. National Dance and Disability FCDM Equity Derbyshire/Derby Dancers Other regional community/participatory arts forums Dance 4 International Dance Improvisation Community International Contact Improvisation Community Poetry Society Facebook Groups Twitter Poets NAWE Arts and Health Network (Nottingham) Beyond Borders/Refugee Umbrella Organisation (Notts) Engage Various Arts, Education and Heritage networks. Cultural Leadership Group East Midlands The Royal Society of Arts Cultural Learning Alliance Bridge Network Linked In TMC

NSA Creative and Cultural Regional Development Agency Local Authority Association Arts Development UK Workforce Development National Council for Voluntary Youth Services Training Partnership National Portfolio Organisations Voluntary Arts Network E-mail network Local arts forum Arts and Industry Creative Greenhouse Local Town Transitions Group Voluntary Arts Development Group Health Creation APAC PTUK Network for supporting access and inclusion for deaf and disabled artists in mainstream settings. Young People Theatre Networks TYP Action for Children’s Art National Association for Teaching Drama

Northants Film Network Creative Northants Creative Leicestershire Arts and Business/Business in the Community Arts News Informal ex – CA social gatherings East Midlands Visual Arts Network Lasting Partnerships Craft network Leicester Cultural Partnership Board Charnwood Arts The above links were made by people who described themselves, their work or their organisation as: An art form specific (fine art printmaking) organisation that delivers through partnership The Chief Executive of a Community Arts and Media charity A creative producer, project and development manager Managing director of a private company and freelancer Arts organisation TMC Co-ordination of a programme of community education and events in North-West Derbyshire Partnership programme within a local authority. Individual practitioner with strong networks. Co-director of regional network for participatory arts

Self-employed sole practitioner linked in to County Council developments NPO – new organisation – small scale touring Individual practitioner Freelance practitioner – consultant in arts and heritage Community programmer at Nottingham Contemporary Individual freelancer Company manager and practitioner for a company funded by ACE and trusts What is it that I can bring to networks and partnerships and what is it that holds me back? I bring experience of wide ranging areas of work. Organisation, information, experience, maturity, a diversity of skills. Access to and ideas about developing relationships with other organisations and people….but I get held back by issues around time, money, lack of confidence and being very honest there is a little bit of competitiveness there too. Be positive – I have varied skills and experience of working with young people, providing training and mentoring opportunities and project management..but yes time is often an issue, that old cookie about confidence in sharing thoughts…some networks are just dominated by the ‘usual suspects’. I have such experience of development and my understanding and views of the sector are important...but really where do I get the time to attend? Sometimes the distance needed to travel and the cost is just too great. There are things to value…experience, knowledge, links, contacts, facilities and space…but I cannot commit time to a network which is badly led…I cannot afford to waste time. I can bring skills in professional and personal development and a relationship…but what use is this if a network has poor access or if I don’t know if it even exists. I get concerned about the politics of networks, poor leadership…a lack of focus or too much focus on getting business and not enough vision for growth and collaboration. So I bring knowledge, skills, ideas, resources, management, leadership, energy and commitment…but get held back by time, energy/capacity, people who are not on the same wavelength, talking shops that don’t lead to action, bad organisation and communication.

I can also bring my arts skills as a dancer, printmaker, photographer…skilled in communication including non verbal, good inter-personal skills…I can bring fun, I’m outward looking with a sense of humour, a straight talker but with a sense of fairness (I think!). Time holds me back for sure…I can get shy and I fear losing myself…I can’t maintain a lot of ‘relationships’ and I don’t like the ‘political’ struggles between networks. Of course I bring patience and positive approaches and our organisation brings art form expertise too and I always deliver on pledges….but I do find it so difficult when a network or partnership is too dominated by and individual or an organisation…it’s difficult too when it’s not relevant and where there is no focus. As a larger organisation in our area we can bring something, I bring ideas and creativity and could bring facilitation (but I don’t really want to do this!?!). Though the whole business about time, competitiveness, the talking shop fear, things that just keep re-appearing that put me off. I know that there is something really positive in the access opportunity…intellectually and creatively…I can bring my experience of high quality arts and learning and I bring goodwill and compassion…some grounding and a people orientation. I may be stopped by time constraints but we could organise better to discuss less and achieve consensus better when time is short…it requires research and a purpose to network. If there is no clear leadership I wonder how it can work but we may need to understand clearly how ‘leadership’ differs in a network context… What about no networks? We all have networks of some sort… We can bring the skills to properly enable young peoples’ decision making, governance and creation of opportunities…can bring ‘sector’ knowledge and current research to share. We can all bring questions…we give our time and participation…we can connect digitally too and share our digital expertise. I know I can bring support and encouragement to networks and partnerships, organisation, knowledge and passion but apart from the hold backs of time and money I also need to ask whether or not I get a benefit. I have extensive experience of brokering and developing partnerships, cross sector, public bodies and communities to deliver people led projects. On the downside we have this emphasis away from doing practice towards data collection that is holding the creative process back. Consultancy and research are big business! What can I do differently? How to transform my thinking on the things that concern me or hold me back and shift the reality towards something that I would like to see? Well…to start I think it’s plain that networks need to have clear and collective outcomes and objectives if they are going to set out to achieve anything. One

way is to do this at a sufficiently local level to connect up with local agendas and with organisations and individuals with the same interests. We need to make sure that networks are open to all of the types of people who might benefit from the knowledge pool…art connects with retail, education and other commercial types of organisation. I can see from this thinking so far that I have come on a bit of a journey and I can see the value of engaging further in networks. I want to encourage, and I think we should all encourage other artists, organisations and young people to attend. In partnerships we need to be more up front with the practical ways to effect change…networks may be a bit harder. I can begin to see a whole range of new agendas and the importance now of refocusing this as a positive. It’s good to look up and make your work more current and check it has value (for others). Yet also, it’s important to be anchored and clear about my own place so that changing agendas don’t affect me in ways I don’t want. We need to work with the perceptions that people have of networks…we’ve had organisational directories perhaps we need a central network directory…contact points, a register. I can see a need now, a possibility to reconnect with both past and present partners and proactively engage with new partners to create and continue to inspire and motivate. The one thing I can really do differently is to get out there more!! It’s important for me to find a balance between the network benefit and my own work…I have to carefully evaluate which networks are valuable for me and when they are too. I will take a step back and review existing networks for their value and actually how valuable I am to them. Yes…finding the right balance of devising and delivering art versus partnership development. A balance between actual work and engaging in things that develop the sector and maintain opportunities for everyone. We must always ask ourselves if the network actually benefits us and/or our organisation. I must definitely review relationships to address my concerns. Uuuuummm! Transformation! The self facilitated independent…the network of 2 “Your network is my network” – knowledge and trust. Structural solutions and/or power and critical mass. Yep! The network of 2 can be a more productive use of time…sharing each other’s networks. The democracy of selecting your own informal partnerships…partnerships that come out of knowledge and trust. People knowing that they can be the change – just needing to know how! Yes! New ideas and ways of working!

Getting beyond time, ownership and fear of it not working issues…we need to meet to start the conversation – it is about taking responsibility…but do we already have the network we are simply not accessing? At a base level I just need to keep aware, strong, keep believing and keep breathing! There are four key points I have for thinking differently right now – the things I think are most critical to moving forward • inclusion, recognising everyone’s benefit • contingency - funding transitions between agendas • transparency – to be able to address and talk to ‘control’ • the network is purposeful, clear mission - mission driven, outcome focused, know why we are meeting. Is it a sector or movement? What is driving us? We need to feed back within our organisations, beyond the gatekeepers to the wider organisation. We need to be ‘Hive mindful’ – where there are knowledge or skills gaps there are others who know…we can develop this new culture of learning and sharing. I began to think about how to structure answers to some of my deeper concerns and fears and think about who and what might be needed in next steps to move things forward: My first thoughts were that HE and university partnerships and the private and public sectors were very important to take things forward. We need to build and re-build these relationships. We need to develop those clear mission statements, be proactive and find new members on a regular basis. Yet we must also encourage a growth of informal networks and opportunities for people to come together and talk. Accessibility is key…not always jumping to someone else’s agenda that they may be funded for whilst we are not. I would like to see more events where it is possible to learn more about other practitioners. I want to see us work to create projects based on great ideas and objectives – things that will be funded because they have real value! I still think we need a clear, central database and register of networks, clear remits and missions for networks yes!! Transparency and mission driven partnerships will make it happen. We can look at, model and use from local authority websites such as Arts Derbyshire, Creative Leicestershire and Creative Greenhouse. We need to use social media more and in better ways – the ‘hive mind’ to fill our knowledge and skill gaps and better signposts and open gates to relevant information.

I think that when the organisations that do have the bigger picture begin to realise BIG changes are afoot maybe they could overlap during that change. i.e. creative delivery on the ground could then continue and young people could continue to experience creative and cultural offers whilst the data collection is happening. They also need to be transparent about what is no longer available! e.g. if you are applying for a post and it is no longer available an automated response would be useful. I need to stop being a gatekeeper and become a connector! Be focussed, think mutually, keep the outcome focus and remember the MOVEMENT and remember to move! Contingency funding between programmes for artists. We need to recover respect and recognition for artists and re-connect them when new opportunities arise. More personal mentoring and CPD. Remembering to be open, have the discussion, learn from other people, work together to share resources, give support and friendship. Whilst being wary of the self appointed experts who make a living from it we need to be mindful that they may have the ear of the powerful. My level of commitment (based on 21 responses), what I can realistically give, is varied but it is relatively well balanced in terms of leadership (high), support and engagement (middle range)…but there is also a small part of me that is feeling really quite left out. My determination (based on 21 responses), to see the cultural progression of young people and to see this enabled through better networking and partnership is realistically high. There are thousands of places to go to for support, inspiration or help but here are a quick few I thought of: FEU Training (Federation of Entertainment Unions) Cultural Leadership Programme – Meeting the Challenge website – summaries of network programmes and their successes and pitfalls. SPACE Arts Council relationship experience

Ourselves – we can learn so much from low key sharing not necessarily high profile groups who do brilliant work but smaller ones working in very practical ways. Other freelancers…other people who experience the same things that we do. Antenna in Nottingham The Art of Transformation Developing Networking – be clear why you have joined a network and work smart!! The Group Recommended four priorities for network development: • Inclusion and accessibility • Mission driven with shared outcomes - Clear Purpose – people being

clear why they are there and what they are getting out of it. • Mutuality/Equality – everyone benefits as a driving principle • Active (shared) Information – accessible and made available in an

active way to people at all levels of engagement not just leads/gatekeepers.