Founded by The City of Bergen and Lisa Baxter, Taking the Initiative is an open-ended process that seeks to encourage a deeper, more empathic understanding of people and place, with an aim to advance the co-creation of sustainable creative engagement fuelled by shared ambition, purpose and values.
In Bergen, as elsewhere, too many people with either low income or low levels of education do not participate, or participate less, in cultural and civil society activities – and this can be detrimental to their wellness and citizenship.
Currently with a focus on Loddefjord, Olsvik and Arna, our aim is to operate from the grassroots up, to:
- involve a larger part of the population in and around Bergen in creative engagement, provide more access to social benefits related to art and culture,
- discover how culture and creativity might differently contribute to greater civic engagement,
- navigate the link between money, power and decision-making,
- and contribute to a flourishing local life and individual wellness.
Strategic Context
These thoughts match the strategic plans of the City of Bergen to respond to and support cultural activity at a grassroots level and develop community connection and cooperation that makes cultural life more relevant for all of the citizens.
The field of arts and culture holds a large number of meeting places that can contribute to participation and make room for inclusion in larger communities. But how do we support culture engagement in a part of the population that does not participate or has limited cultural infrastructure? How do we for instance meet the family on the 10th floor of the high-rise building in a city suburb and encourage them to participate in their own local community? How can alternative modes of creative engagement in a community contribute to personal and social growth for all ages and for people with different backgrounds?
Taking the Initiative explores the basis of how the City of Bergen can experiment with new creative methods and knowledge to create increased inclusion and diversity in the light of democratic rights. The pilot aims to encourage new, alternative forms of participation and engagement in a way that can bring direct benefit to people`s locale and communities. This also coincide with the strategy and goals for the City of Bergen as expounded in the document «The Plan for Participation and Diversity in the Arts and Culture 2021-2030». The plan highlights that every inhabitant shall have the opportunity to create, produce, develop, participate in and experience art and culture in a free and independent cultural life. Questioning who gets the opportunity to speak out, who we mirror and who we see, is an important task in all areas of society, including the cultural field.
“The Plan for Participation and Diversity in the Arts and Culture fields” (2021) aims to strengthen Bergen’s cultural offer to create a more inclusive cultural life. It highlights the importance of diversity in relation to audiences, participants, artist, in organisational life and in the local community. Such diversity will strengthen the art and culture’s relevance to promote a development towards a good society for all. The plan emphasises relevance, representativeness and democratic participation at all levels of cultural life, and includes dimensions such as socioeconomic, cultural and ethnic background, religion, gender and sexual orientation, disability and age.
Through the use of large-scale multi-year panels (“Barnefamiliepanelet”), The City of Bergen is also building a knowledge foundation that gives a granular shape to who and where the people that participate less are, what they want to do, what institutions and organizations different social groups know about, how family finances effect what they participate in, and real costs of participation, amongst other themes. The City of Bergen is also currently establishing a knowledge based on local cultural production as a means to match needs to opportunities. The City of Bergen is refocusing its work in response to this new level of knowledge which
- makes challenges concrete,
- removes some myths about who is reached and who is not,
- and has made us more clearsighted about what works or doesn’t, and who is succeeding or not.
Taking the Initiative takes this further by connecting directly to the grassroots, supporting the initiative of local people and local entrepreneurship, to see how we can creatively involve people living their daily life in different areas in Bergen. Everyone shall have the opportunity to participate and unfold in a free and independent art and cultural life.