Representatives from Birmingham Museums Trust’s Citizens’ Jury, Nottingham gallery New Art Exchange’s Voice Assembly, Metal Culture, and West of England Mayoral Combined Authority are among the founding members of the Citizens in Power Network

Photo: James Allan

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Citizens’ network aims to ‘rethink’ cultural and creative decision making

The Citizens In Power Network wants to instigate a more diverse and representative approach to decision making in the cultural and creative sector.

Chris Sharratt
2 min read

A newly created citizens’ network is hoping to “rethink” decision-making in the cultural and creative sectors.

The Citizens In Power Network (CIPN) will host workshops, field trips and collaborative residencies in order to “test and refine innovative models of citizen-led decision making”.

The network was formed via an open call and consists of 65 members, associates and experts. It will initially run for three years, with funding secured from Esmee Fairbairn Foundation and the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation.

A statement from CIPN said: “Cultural decision making has long been dominated by privileged groups. 

“This new network believes that decision-making processes should reflect the diversity of the people they affect. This is not just a matter of equity; it’s about harnessing diverse perspectives to make better decisions. 

“This is about better solutions, better governance and better policy making.” 

Among the network’s founding members – 20 in total – are representatives from Birmingham Museums Trust’s Citizens’ Jury, Nottingham gallery New Art Exchange’s Voice Assembly, Metal Culture, and West of England Mayoral Combined Authority.

Associates include Campaign for the Arts, Deveron Projects, Make/Shift and Culture Co-op. The network remains open to new associates and experts who wish to get involved.

Three principles

CITN said that its approach will be guided by three key principles: creating systems that grant power to citizens and ensure their decisions are implemented; using ‘random selection’ to create groups that properly reflect communities; and a process of evidence-based, non-adversarial discussions to develop a consensus-based approach.

The CITN statement added: “We don’t think this is a quick fix or a silver bullet.

“But we do believe that by working together, we can contribute towards a wider movement of citizen-led decision making. 

“We hope the Citizens In Power Network helps to build momentum for a new kind of decision making.”