Culture
St Albans festival pulls out all the stops
National Graduate Development Programme trainee Thomas Wrench says councils’ investment in activities such as the St Albans International Organ festival will be fundamental to COVID-19 recovery and uniting communities.
Lifting up our high streets
Engaging with and empowering communities are crucial to rejuvenating our high streets, and we must ensure citizens’ voices are heard and listened to, says Kathy Kyle Bonomini.
Community spirit and movie magic
Paul Wheatley explains why a Leicestershire town’s cinema in the park is an innovative use of Welcome Back funding.
Waiting with anticipation for the levelling up White Paper
Sheila Oxtoby says that like many in local government, she is keen to see whether the levelling up White Paper creates opportunities for more power and funding to be devolved to a local level.
The art of preventing a brain drain
Paul Shevlin suggests arts and culture have a part to play in attracting young residents to come to rural areas
Reimagining culture for our local communities
Arts Council England will stand with local authorities that seize the chance to build a vibrant new reality for every place, born out of creativity, says Darren Henley.
Performance anxieties
Turning the role of elected mayor into performance art can’t be the easiest task.
Chubby chasers outraged
A new front in the culture wars has opened in Sheffield.
Creating a ‘great outdoors’ for our urban centres
Accelerating much-needed renewal of high streets will depend on giving councils the freedom to develop and manage their own strategic place plans, writes Cllr Philip Broadhead.
White van man on... the mission statement
I've got a mission statment on the side of my van which says 'delivering product solutions' and when anyone asks me what it means I jut say 'search me' but every business needs one.
Lancashire rules out city of culture bid
The council has resisted pressure to back the county’s bid to become the next city of culture in 2025.
Why Beeston’s blockbuster could spark many sequels
A state-of-the-art cinema is at the heart of the Beeston Square development in Broxtowe. Ruth Hyde says reinventing the retail past is not an option, and a ‘willingness to take sizeable risks’ was crucial.
LGA claims Whitehall ‘hampering’ Parkrun return
The Local Government Association has said a ‘lack of communication’ from the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport is hindering the return of events such as Parkrun.
We’re opening up to everyone
Fellowship Square in London’s Waltham Forest will bring life to the area, business to the shops and cohesion to the community, writes Martin Esom.
Auditors probe 'negative culture' at Nottingham
An investigation has uncovered a ‘lack of compliance with rules’ at Nottingham City Council.
Our organisational culture needs to match staffs' expectations
People have reflected on what they want from work, how and where they want to work and how this fits into their lives, says chief executive of Stroud DC Kathy O'Leary.
Creating an imagining culture
Building ‘a more open, transparent, free-thinking culture where imagination thrives within our teams’ is crucial, and is especially important during the pandemic, argues Professor Donna Hall CBE.
Shifting the story in Sheffield
Sheffield City Council’s new chief executive Kate Josephs talks to Heather Jameson about her new role guiding ‘an incredible city’ through the big challenges ahead – and making it more ‘confident, and outward looking and optimistic’.
Tackling mistrust about vaccines
Dr Justin Varney looks at how Birmingham is working to tackle the ‘layers upon layers of mistrust’ among ethnic minority communities that is ‘now playing out in vaccine hesitancy’.
‘This was liberation’
Daisy Carter of the Innovation Unit outlines how COVID disruption inspired new ways of working in Greater Manchester.
