Culture, Arts and Refugees

The addition of the ‘Peer Leadership Network on Culture, Arts and Refugees’ section and updates to the Culture, Arts and Refugees microsite was produced by Ledy Leyssen, Clodagh Miskelly and Nick Bate from Creative Exchange. In particular we would like to thank Nick Bate for his invaluable contribution to the production of this microsite.

General overview of issues, challenges and action learning sets

From the beginning, participants of the PLN wanted to explore those areas that would help them find ways to make the work more sustainable: understanding the purpose of working with refugees and asylum seekers, learning and sharing information on funding and policy trends in the social inclusion and cultural sectors, and meeting key contacts from public policy think tanks, service delivery organisations, funding organisations and non governmental public bodies, giving them a solid overview on current trends when advocating for policy change and planning for the future.  

In the process of exploring sustainability, the group decided to focus on three main themes that reflect their need for sharing and developing knowledge and capacity building:

Ethics & Purpose

Monitoring & Evaluation

Funding, fundraising and communications

A reflection on leadership learning through networks from the perspective of the Peer Leadership Network on Culture, Arts and Refugees, can be found here.

From an individual point of view, participants sketched out their individual professional goals and objectives for short term, mid term and long term future. A summary of their plans can be found here.

Site Credits

PLN’s Sharing Session

What is the PLN?

The Peer Leadership Network on Culture, Arts and Refugees (PLN) was a one-year project bringing together a group of arts practitioners and cultural managers working with Refugees and Asylum Seekers, to share and develop their skills, knowledge and capacity building. The project had an underlying aim: to address the lack of sustainability of the programmes in this sector and explore ways for fostering leadership in the Refugee Arts sector.

Ethics and Purpose Sharing Session

Communications Draft Brief — [printable version]

PLN Draft Communications Strategy 2008-2012 by Ninian Perry

PLN’s Sharing Session

In the day to day work with refugees’ communities, art practitioners, workshop leaders and project managers encounter a wide range of ethical issues that can’t be addressed in the same way or with just one mindset. After debating and sharing their work, the PLN group realised there was no unique way or ethical formula to engage with refugees, as the ethics of this engagement depend on its nature, purpose and moreover, on the needs and wants of refugees themselves.

PLN participant presenting results from a working group

Another key issue to address when exploring sustainability for Refugee Arts organisations and their work with refugees and asylum seekers, is monitoring the changes that a specific project has in people’s lives, as well as evaluating project practices, its methods and outcomes.

M&E – as it is called – gathers information that is relevant to understand the immediate results of the programmes and activities that had taken place, assessing the impact of a project in a specific community. The reasons behind M&E practices can be varied, its results can inform about the effectiveness of a project that can: [1]

Facilitator – Phyllida Shaw

Phyllida Shaw has been an independent researcher, writer and facilitator, specialising in arts policy and management since 1988. Prior to this she was Research Officer for the National Campaign for the Arts, a researcher in the Greater London Council’s Arts Policy Studies Unit, and Coordinator of the Community Programme at Battersea Arts Centre. She has worked with all five Arts Councils of the British Isles, with government departments and agencies, local authorities, grant-making trusts, Arts & Business, the Higher Education Funding Council and a wide range of cultural organisations.

Facilitator – Amanda Barnes, Director, The Partnership

Amanda Barnes has over 18 years experience of planning and implementing overall public relations strategies for one-off projects as well as long term corporate objectives.

Whilst specialising in strategic planning and media relations, she also has extensive experience of internal communication, advocacy, journalism, broadcasting, video and television news production, web communications and print publications.

Over the last 16 years Amanda has held a variety of senior posts with strategic responsibilities, and has spent seven years as an independent communications consultant. She headed up successful media relations teams at Amnesty International, Save the Children and Help the Aged and spent three years as Head of Global Communications at Plan International.

[CONTENT TBC]

Facilitator – Ann-Marie Kelly

Ann-Marie is a Fundraising Consultant at The Management Centre (=mc). She joined =mc from The Imperial War Museum where she was Head of Individual Giving focusing on both revenue and capital fundraising. She has worked in the UK and Europe helping museums and performing arts organisations to access high level individual giving.

Ann-Marie specialises in fundraising strategy and major donor fundraising. Ann-Marie is currently helping the trustees of a new art gallery trust called The Hepworth Wakefield to close their £3 million capital campaign funding gap by creating a volunteer fundraising board, and is conducting a major donor fundraising feasibility for One World Action.