What Next?

About What Next?

What Next? is a free-to-access UK-wide movement for culture. With 31 chapters all over the country, we bring together freelancers, and small and large arts organisations to inform, debate and shape the future of the arts and culture.

Our mission

What Next? is a free-to-access UK-wide movement for culture. With 31 chapters across the UK, we bring together freelancers, and small and large arts organisations to inform, debate and shape the future of the arts and culture.

Our vision

Arts and Culture play a vital role in creating a more equitable society.

This will be achieved when:

· all people have access to arts and culture, and the sector reflects the full diversity of our communities

· the arts and culture sector takes greater ownership of its public sector role, improving quality of life for all

Our values:

· Democracy: creating models for open and purposeful conversation

· Equity: creating conditions for a more equitable movement and society

· Leadership: building the conditions for everyone in our movement to make change

· Creativity: embedding and celebrating creativity across our movement

· Generosity: sharing our skills, expertise and resources with each other

· Trust: building relationships and a more resilient sector.

How we work:

We:

· facilitate conversations with each other, politicians, funders, partners, activists and the public

· build knowledge, relationships and resilience in the arts and cultural sector

· lobby for the arts and culture, creating collective responses to policy proposals and national and local strategies

· create national campaigns and collective resources to effect the things the movement cares about.

We are comprised of 30 chapters operating across the UK, who each meet regularly in their own local community and together at quarterly meetings. All are supported by a tiny core team working a total of 3.5 days a week and a Steering Group of sector leaders.

Our Three Priorities for 2020-21

1. Influence policy-making to make the case for the arts, culture and communities

2. Organise the WN? movement around debating and shaping the future of the cultural sector

3. Diversify and strengthen the leadership of WN?

Each action attempts to respond to the needs of the Cultural Sector, and respond in a way that enables WN? to:

· Build movement leadership and ownership

· Create clear channels of decision-making and communication

· Diversify and strengthen leadership

· Communicate WN? Vision, mission, values and strategies