WAHWN News
Respond to Wales Culture Green Paper
WAHWN members are being encouraged to respond to a new Green Paper proposing ways to protect Wales’ culture as the Future Generations Commissioner warns the country risks “long-term damage” to cultural opportunities without stronger legal backing.
The document sets out proposals for how Wales could better protect, promote and prioritise culture as a core element of national wellbeing and future generations’ prosperity, including a Culture Bill for Wales. Commissioned by the Future Generations Commissioner for Wales and developed in partnership with The Audience Agency, it marks the beginning of a national conversation about culture’s place in public life.
Key Proposals
Among the measures explored in the Green Paper are:
• Adopting an internationally aligned definition of culture
• Recognising cultural rights in law or statutory guidance
• Placing duties on public bodies to enable people to exercise those rights
• Increasing civic participation in cultural decision-making
• Exploring mechanisms such as “percent for culture” budgeting models
Making a case for statutory protection
The paper draws inspiration from international approaches, including Spain’s Cultural Rights Plan, suggesting Wales could adopt a combination of statutory and non-statutory measures that would strengthen and safeguard cultural wellbeing.
It explores whether culture should be placed on a statutory footing in Wales, similar to policy areas such as the Welsh language or active travel, to encourage long-term structural support for culture as essential to national wellbeing and future generations’ prosperity. While the Well-being of Future Generations (Wales) Act 2015 provides a framework supporting cultural well-being, the paper argues that this has not yet resulted in consistent protection or delivery for culture across Wales.
You can respond to the Green Paper until 6 April here and stakeholders, communities and public bodies are urged to apply.
The next Culture Forum is to be held in Pontypridd on 23 June. You can register here.
Photo by balesstudio on Unsplash