On governance today and in the future
What are the most pressing governance challenges facing the culture sector today?
- New business models: holding creative and commercial drivers in tension
- Clarity of purpose: who and what are cultural organisations for?
- Relevance: inclusivity and relevance of organisational activity
Style and agility of leadership and need to equip people to work across ‘boundaries’.
- How has cultural governance changed in the last 10 years?
- Americanisation of philanthropy: boards increasingly becoming ‘development/fundraising boards’ with potential to crowd out authentic voices from the community
- Greater external scrutiny
What’s the greatest opportunity that sector-wide good governance might bring?
- Seeing the cultural sector as part of wider civil society
- Greater diversity will lead to greater connectedness and better decision-making which in turn leads to greater resilience
- Need to see organisations as part of an eco-system that can evolve (and in which existing individual organisations have no right to perpetuity crowds out the new)
How do you see the governance of culture evolving over the next few years, particularly with the civic role of the arts in mind?
- More diverse and connected to communities they serve
What can we learn from other sectors - in the UK and internationally - about good governance?
- Emphasis placed on leadership in education and the NHS
- Need for continuous improvement
- Looking out of the silo
What’s the future of cultural governance in one word?
- Shared