Outer Hebrides Cultural Entitlements Pathfinder
Introduction
The Comhairle have just engaged Fablevision, Creative Services and Theatre Hebrides to assist in the delivery of a ground breaking Scottish Government community cultural planning programme, in association with the Outer Hebrides Community Planning Partnership.
The Outer Hebrides are only one of thirteen local authority areas in Scotland which have been chosen to work with the Scottish Government to develop new cultural policy which will be legislated through the National Cultural Bill by the end of 2007.
The aim of the Outer Hebrides pathfinder is to develop inclusive and sustainable cultural entitlements in accordance with the Outer Hebrides Cultural Strategy and the Western Isles Language Plan.
By definition a pathfinder goes ahead to seek the way, so it is inevitable that there will be questions, queries and moments of discovery en-route. However, in the context of the Outer Hebrides, cultural entitlements are at this point interpreted as being specific types of cultural activity or services that authorities will seek to make available and accessible to each person in their own local area.
Over the next nine months Liz Gardiner of Fablevision and Bryan Beattie of Creative Services will work with the Comhairle, as lead agency on the Pathfinder. In the autumn, they will team up with Muriel Ann MacLeod of the Stornoway based theatre company, Theatre Hebrides to embark on a trail of creative discussions throughout the islands. The aim is to gather views, ideas and opinions on what cultural entitlements mean to our communities and what shape they should take.
It is planned that the initial outputs from these discussions will be further debated at the annual meeting of the Community Cultural Network, scheduled to take place at the end of November in Harris.
The outputs from the Pathfinder will result in a suite of cultural entitlements which link with the Outer Hebrides Cultural Strategy and Western Isles Language Plan. However, it is also anticipated that through these discussions with the local community lessons can be learnt which can be shared with the cultural policy makers of the Scottish Government and other relevant local authority areas.
A report on the conclusions of Cultural Entitlements Pathfinder will come before the appropriate Comhairle committees in early Spring.
Those wishing to find out more about the Cultural Entitlements Pathfinder can contact:
Meg Rodger
Arts Development Officer
Comhairle nan Eilean Siar
Balivanich
Isle of Benbecula
HS7 5LA
Tel: 01870 602 425
Fax:01870 602 332
e-mail: m.rodger@cne-siar.gov.uk
or visit the Scottish Government Cultural Entitlements Pathfinder website.
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