ROBYN ARCHER REPORT 7250: MARCH 7 2019 AGENDA REPORT

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TEXT COPIED FROM AGENDA

DECISION STATEMENT: To consider the Cultural Strategy Progress report.

PREVIOUS COUNCIL CONSIDERATION: Workshop - 5 December 2016 - City of Launceston Cultural Strategy Council - 24 April 2017 - Agenda Item 21.1 - Towards a Cultural Strategy for Launceston Workshop - 12 February 2017 - Towards a Cultural Strategy Workshop - 25 June 2018 - QVMAG Feasibility Study presentation by Hirst Projects .

RECOMMENDATION: That Council receives the report.

REPORT: The City of Launceston (CoL) has a rich and diverse resource of creative practitioners, organisations and companies that is largely untapped and underutilised by the CoL. The opportunities for practitioners who are they to connect and network are limited and the connectivity between the City's creative and cultural infrastructure tends to be siloed and sporadic, often inadvertently working against each other and dividing audiences.

Northern Tasmania's tourism and event programming, combined with world-class offerings wine, food, arts and natural environment experiences, are building and driving state, national and international visitation.

Launceston is a place that is beautiful, filled with boutique experiences that seduce and delight its visitors. It is a place where people love to live and enjoy the variety and richness of shops, markets, bars, seaport and its natural setting the crown of which is The Cataract Gorge.

It is this ecosystem that convinces people to extend their stay and/or return for a more in-depth holiday beyond the festival, sports or cultural event they attend. Recognising the opportunity to leverage this more strategically, the Council ncluded the development of a Cultural Strategy as a key deliverable of the Launceston City Deal and has been working to deliver the project over the past 18 months.

The purpose of this report is to advise the Council of the progress made to date and to articulate the key milestones for the finalisation of the Strategy. The following tranches of work have been completed to date

· Queen Victoria Museum and Art Gallery feasibility study (Hirst Projects)

· Consultation and data collection

· Your Voice Your Launceston - Survey (submission)

· Development of a draft Cultural Strategy framework (Hirst Projects)

The draft Cultural Strategy Framework is currently being considered and refined by Council staff with the major priority being to coalesce the work completed to date into one consolidated and compelling strategic document for Robyn Archer AO]to critically review against her original vision that was endorsed by Council (24 April 2017)

To ensure that the Cultural Strategy delivers the same bold vision of the Archer Interim Report and with QVMAG at its heart, the Creative Arts and Cultural Services Director has developed a strong and inspirational set of strategic priorities which seek to ensure that the Strategy delivers high quality outcomes for the people of Launceston and aligns with other significant work that is underway, or in development:

· Strategic Priority 1: Northern Transformation

· Strategic Priority 2: Inveresk Regeneration

· Strategic Priority 3: Partnering for Education

· Strategic Priority 4: Re-imagine QVMAG

· Strategic Priority 5: Warm up Winter

· Strategic Priority 6: Walk our Stories

· Strategic Priority 7: Weave Culture Through Everything We Do The revised plan and framework will drive cultural transformation, activate change in the way Council works, underpin and secure the pillars of community well-being - cultural, economic, environmental and social - through creativity and culture

The reshaped Cultural Strategy framework provided by Hirst Projects Is ready to populate and align with the University of Tasmania's (UTAS) Cultural Strategy, particularly as it pertains to the future use of the Inveresk Precinct.

Meetings are scheduled with UTAS in the next week to activate an integrated approach to the next phase of activity. In progress: Robyn Archer AO:

· Robyn Archer AO has confirmed she will be available to work on final stage of the Cultural Strategy from 8 April onwards. Hirst Projects:

· Identified Council needs to do things differently across the organisation to deliver cultural outcomes.

· Hirst Projects work has developed a draft Cultural Strategy Framework for this to be achieved. University of Tasmania - Memorandum of Understanding:

· One of the key recommendations of the Interim Report was to engage with the UTAS to establish an integrated approach for Inveresk precinct and an Innovation Hub.

· A brief is being developed for engaging a Consultant in the co-funded position to bring the last stages of work together with a proposed timeframe as follows: Phase 1 – City of Launceston Cultural Strategy (March to April 2019)

· Review, analyse and populate the draft Cultural Strategy document that consolidates the work done to date, the work carried out to date including but not limited to:

o Launceston Cultural Audit

o Towards a Cultural Strategy for Launceston Interim Report (Archer)

o Cultural Delivery Framework and Mechanism (Hirst Projects)

o Stakeholder engagement

· Targeted program of small workshops for special interest groups (eg. performing arts; time-based digital media, etc.)

1 Phase 2 – University of Cultural and Creativity Strategies for the Precinct, including the Willis Street Development (March to April 2019)

· Consolidate, review and analyse the work carried out to date including but not limited to: o Cultural Framework for Northern Tasmania (Frankham)

o The Redevelopment of the Inveresk Precinct Masterplan o UTAS Community Learning Pathways

Phase 3 – Integration and Analysis (March to April 2019)

· Comparative analysis

· Identification of distinct opportunities for partnerships and major projects to codeliver

Phase 4 – Draft Cultural Strategy incorporating Integrated UTAS Partnership Opportunities (April 2019)

· Critical Review by Robyn Archer AO

Phase 5 – Consultation and Testing (May 2019)

· Project Control Group (PCG) (combined UTAS Cultural and Creativity PCG/CoL Cultural Strategy PCG)

· Program for releasing for public comment and building excitement - eg.

Master Sessions - Inspirational Speakers/Creative Industries Leaders o Talkeoke - Popup sessions - taking it to the streets - http://thepeoplespeak.org.uk/ o

Day Makeover: Creative Communities - eg Inveresk Precinct; http://www.creative-communities.com/7-day-makeover/ o Social Media and Online Platforms - Your Voice Your Launceston Campaign; o UTAS Community Consultation platforms; public forums etc.

Phase 6 – Cultural Strategy (June 2019)

· Finalise, edit, design, publish and take to Council for endorsement [SLOW DOWN AND A DIVERSIONARY TACTIC]

· Release endorsed strategy It should be noted by Council, that the actual process of engaging with stakeholders and developing the inaugural Cultural Strategy for the City has already resulted in significant gains being made in the creative arts and cultural community, some of which are outlined in the following table: