Case study:Achates develops Strategy: West of England Cultural Compact

Image Credit: Cultural Plan cover image: Artist Luke Jerram’s temporary installation, In Memoriam, on Weston-super-Mare beach, September 2021 © Mark Gray

Working closely with the breadth of stakeholders in this unique, region-wide, Cultural Compact, in late 2021, Achates supported the development of the West of England Cultural Plan.

Including a literature review of more than 50 national, regional and local cultural and related strategies (including education and transport); we established existing provision and regional strategic priorities through desk research.

We then carried out a consultation process to understand priorities and opportunities amongst the members. Then, through an iterative design process we established a set of Areas of Focus, Cross Cutting Themes, Strategic Approaches and Investment Approaches, which we agreed with the Compact.

With this framework in place, we designed a Cultural Plan composed of a programme of short, medium and long-term strategic initiatives that address these priorities and which will also generate income for the region to invest in culture going forwards. We also outlined timelines for development, cost implications and potential investment sources. Our work met a set of detailed milestones to ensure that the group had full ownership of the Plan.

The Executive Summary, which we developed from our main report, will be launched by the West of England Combined Authority in 2022.