Here's part of a letter I received in 2008.
I hope that in the future we'll all talk and write like this. Every single one of us.
"At a time when the local government sector, more than ever before, must find new and more creative ways of delivering to meet the diverse needs of its communities, this year’s conference will explore the ways in which cultural services can impact on the priority needs of local communities,delivering shared outcomes and driving service improvements. The cross cutting benefits of placing culture at the strategic centre of local policy-making and delivery have been much vaunted, but the time has come to move from vision to delivery, and there are structures, mechanisms and partnerships emerging to help facilitate this. The new-style Local Area Agreements (LAAs), to be introduced in 2008, will be the delivery vehicles for agreed community outcomes and will provide the focus of the new local authority performance framework. Culture must be positioned strategically for this transformation of the local government landscape, and we must be able to convince others of these benefits.
We hope this year’s conference will empower service deliverers to put culture at the heart of their strategies and solutions and provide the tools needed to deliver better outcomes on behalf of their communities. And by attracting policy makers and strategic thinkers from other sectors to the conference we hope to provide the opportunity for constructive dialogue to enable us to put the vision into practice.
We'd be delighted to hear your thoughts and opinions as a key cultural educator and communicator. Culture has the power to break down barriers, cross boundaries, and capture people's imagination and unlock their creativity. We'd love to hear from you on why you feel culture is of value to local communities and why national and local government should be looking to culture for solutions beyond traditional service silos."
