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).