Future Arts Centres, in collaboration with Goldsmiths, University of London are moving into the next phase of their Creative Democracy work, bringing together academics and 16 arts centre leaders from across the UK to help develop a practical approach to strengthening democratic participation through arts and culture.

As part of a wider partnership, formalised in November 2025, this initiative brings together academic research and the experience of arts centres working closely with their communities. Together, we’re exploring how arts centres can use their relationships, spaces and creative approaches to help communities have a greater say in the decisions that affect them.

Over the past year, we’ve been exploring this question through research, discussion and conversations with arts centre leaders, academics and students. We’re now looking at how to turn that thinking into something that can be used in practice.

Building on our research

In August, Future Arts Centres and Goldsmiths published Creative Democracy: Defining a Term, Honing a Practice, following a roundtable with academics, arts centre leaders and cultural practitioners.

The report looked at the role arts centres can play in connecting communities with local authorities and other public bodies, drawing on examples from across the FAC network and further afield.

It explored how arts centres can build on the trust they’ve established locally to open up conversations, involve people who might not otherwise engage with formal consultation processes, and help communities influence decisions.

The discussions also raised some difficult questions. How do we make sure participation leads to change? How do arts centres maintain the trust of their communities while working with public bodies? And what does it take to share power rather than simply invite people to have their say?

These are questions we want to explore further as the work develops.

Read the Creative Democracy report

Goldsmiths students explore Creative Democracy in practice

The partnership has also provided an opportunity for Goldsmiths students to undertake research with FAC members, bringing another perspective to the work.

Ana Pires de Carvalho Albuquerque, Bettina Bakos and Coco Farinet-Brenner, studying for an MA in Arts Administration and Cultural Policy, interviewed leaders from six FAC member organisations: Storyhouse, the Albany, Proteus Theatre, Contact, Barnsley Civic and Lincoln Arts Centre.

The research highlighted the different ways arts centres are involving communities in their work, from co-creating programmes and activities to opening up conversations about complex issues. It also explored the importance of trust, long-term relationships and creating opportunities for people to influence what happens in their local area.

The students’ findings have enriched our understanding of how Creative Democracy is already taking shape across the FAC network, providing further examples and ideas to draw on as the partnership moves into its next phase.

Thank you to Ana, Bettina and Coco for their research, and to the FAC members who gave their time to be interviewed. It’s been a useful opportunity to connect students with arts centre leaders and bring their research into a live conversation about the future of the sector.

Introducing our Creative Democracy cohort

We’re now pleased to announce the 16 FAC member organisations who will work with us on the next stage of Creative Democracy.

The cohort brings together arts centres of different sizes and contexts, working with communities across the UK:

· Alnwick Playhouse
· The Albany
· The Art House
· Arts Centre Washington (Sunderland Culture)
· Barnsley Civic
· The Barn, Banchory
· Cast, Doncaster
· Eastern Angles Centre
· Farnham Maltings
· Jacksons Lane
· LEVEL Centre
· Old Diorama Arts Centre
· Queen’s Hall Arts Centre
· RESTOKE
· Storyhouse
· Touchstones Rochdale

The group will meet with academics from Goldsmiths and the FAC team in November for a workshop focused on developing Creative Democracy as a practical approach.

We’ll be working through real scenarios that arts centres encounter, from responding to a commission from a local authority to supporting ideas that come directly from communities. The aim is to test our thinking against the experience of the people who would be putting it into practice.

The cohort of arts centres will continue to be involved through to December 2027, helping to develop and refine the methodology as the work progresses.

What next?

There is already a great deal of work happening across the FAC network that could be described as Creative Democracy, even if organisations don’t necessarily use that term.

What we’re interested in now is understanding what makes that work effective, where the challenges lie and whether we can develop an approach that other arts centres can learn from and adapt.

Our partnership with Goldsmiths is helping us to bring research and practice together, and to ask some bigger questions about the role arts centres can play in civic life.

With our new cohort of arts centres in place, we’re looking forward to getting into the practical detail and seeing where the work takes us.