Organisational development | Liverpool Arts Regeneration Consortium

Liverpool Thrive programme – Final Report published

Posted by Administrator on Jul 19, 2013 in News | 0 comments

Liverpool Arts Regeneration Consortium has published the final report into the Liverpool Thrive Programme. The Thrive programme started in 2007 prior to the launch of the Capital of Culture year in Liverpool, supported by Arts Council England’s Thrive! programme. It aimed to provide a systematic approach to helping cultural organisations gain the expertise needed to respond to and influence a rapidly changing environment. The Liverpool Thrive project was given £1.34 million – the largest award within the scheme – and tested out a new model for embedding the arts and cultural sectors in the processes of social and economic renewal. The Liverpool Thrive programme final report in brief. By building on individual organisational strengths the Thrive Programme has enabled the strength, durability and flexibility of relationships to be established, tested and adapted and has therefore supported the development of deeper relationships between organisations. Working collaboratively has been very effective in advocating on behalf of the sector and engaging with key stakeholders as it has allowed LARC to ‘speak with one voice’. The fact that there has been sustained involvement by a consistent number of people has allowed strong networking, the sharing of information about programming aspirations and best practice which has supported the creation and articulation of not just a joint aspiration for the cultural direction of the city but also a shared vision and action plan – how it is to be delivered and who plays their part. The Thrive programme has therefore supported the development of a strategic profile and voice for culture and the strengthening of the relationships and influence with non-cultural strategic partners (e.g. Liverpool City Council, Primary Care Trust, Universities) despite changing political contexts during the Thrive Programme provides one example of the success of this collaborative approach. The Thrive programme has also provided the LARC partners with the resources to build a collective research and evidence base to demonstrate their collaborative and individual organisational activity, an evidence base that has given credibility to the arguments about the scope and impact of cultural activity within the City. The large scale research studies supported through the Thrive programme (e.g. economic and intrinsic impact) would not have been affordable or deliverable by a single LARC organisation and, perhaps more importantly, would not have been credible without the participation and involvement of a wide range of arts and cultural organisations in the City. Download a PDF version of the final report. Final Report ...

Cultural shift…….

Posted by Administrator on May 3, 2013 in Featured, LARC Projects | 0 comments

With Arts Council England support we have developed a two year plan to create a cultural shift within the Liverpool arts sector, to give it adaptability and flexibility, to enable it to be more resilient to the challenges the future will bring, be they economic or cultural. LARC is considering ways to enhance the existing collaborative infrastructure within the Liverpool to support more cohesive strategic working across the whole City without compromising the strength and focus of individual collaborations. LARC believes that arts, culture and heritage organisations have a significant role to play in tackling the economic and social challenges that exist in many of our large towns and cities – they shape the identity of cities, provide direct and indirect employment and generate income for our communities. In difficult times and in an increasingly competitive world the places that will prosper and become desired locations in which to work, live, play, study and invest are those that can demonstrate a unique combination of ‘hard’ and ‘soft’ factors: combining a robust economic argument with a sense of place, quality of life, creative and cultural opportunities. LARC appreciates this, and by working collaboratively will rise and respond to this wider, shared...

Let’s Work Together – Conference Report published

Posted by Richard on Sep 29, 2011 in News | 0 comments

Let’s Work Together was a national conference of leading arts sector figures interested in sharing good practice and some of the critical understanding needed to realise future opportunities for collaboration, both within and beyond the sector. It took place on Tuesday June 21st 2011. The full report on the “Let’s Work Together” conference has now been published and can be downloaded here. In addition to the full conference report LARC has also published a paper containing participant feedback and recommendations for further action. This paper can be downloaded...

Developing a Civic Leadership Role

Posted by Administrator on Feb 28, 2011 in Thrive Aim 1 | 0 comments

LARC’s civic leadership work will focus on three core activities: delivery of an advocacy campaign to promote the role of culture within regeneration; a research programme to support the campaign; and work to help deliver continuous professional development across the cultural sector. Advocacy campaign LARC’s Thrive advocacy campaign will focus on promoting the public value and impact of the cultural sector on Merseyside. It includes a high level annual seminar led by an international speaker and is targeted at leading figures from the public , community, business and faith sectors in the city region. The campaign is also building a new dialogue between cultural organisations and higher education institutions and with the health sector, aiming to establish joint planning mechanisms and secure the funds needed to test out new ways of working together. Research Programme The research programme gives the campaign a solid evidential base and also aims to build research capacity in the cultural sector. The programme is supported through a research partnership with Impacts 08 – the Liverpool University/LJMU research programme set up to establish the social, economic and cultural impact of Liverpool’s Capital of Culture year. Our work will include the collection of key statistics about the LARC partners; mapping activities to chart the engagement of cultural organisations with other sectors such as health or higher education; and a series of research projects to look at the intrinsic (i.e. emotional and intellectual), social and economic impact of culture. Continuous professional development (CPD) LARC is developing a strategic approach to tackling a range of CPD issues across the city’s cultural sector – from programmes at entry level to address the lack of diversity in the workplace to support for emerging leaders and senior management. Organisational development Part of the work of Thrive is to develop LARC as a consortium, creating and supporting a series of working groups and regular network meetings at different levels in the organisations. We will also be considering how we can develop shared services both between LARC partners and more widely in the cultural...