Welsh Government outlines new Priorities for Culture

The Welsh Government has published its new Priorities for Culture, a strategic document outlining its vision for a resilient sector that brings people together and celebrates Wales as a “nation of culture”.

Launched this week, the document outlines how the culture sector will support the government towards delivering the Well-being of Future Generations Act 2015, which includes the central goal of creating “a Wales of vibrant culture and thriving Welsh language”.

In its recent 2025/26 budget, the government announced a £15m strategic investment to support the culture sector to deliver on the priorities, including £7m for museums, archives, libraries and the historic environment sector, and £8m for an arts sector strategic capital investment programme via the Arts Council of Wales. More details of this funding will be announced shortly.

The government’s three new priorities for culture are “culture brings people together”; “celebrating Wales as a nation of culture”; and “culture is resilient and sustainable”.

Under the first priority, the document emphasises how the culture sector must connect with people and communities and support inclusivity, diversity, accessibility and cultural rights.

“Our cultural workforce, collections, spaces and places must promote a modern and diverse Wales, reflecting the variety of people and cultures who call Wales their home,” the document says.

The document also emphasises the role of culture in place-making and regeneration, stating: “Culture and heritage-led regeneration is powerful and transformative, and culture should be an important consideration in regeneration, economic and business development.”

It highlights the “positive impact of culture” on community wellbeing, and says “there is growing evidence for how culture can help deliver wider policy aims, including health and wellbeing, education, tackling the climate and nature emergencies and the economy”.

“We want to see approaches to improving well-being strengthened further, at a local and national level, by deepening existing partnerships and developing new ones”, the document adds.

Under the second priority, the document outlines how culture can support the government’s ambition for a bilingual and multilingual nation and help promote Wales to the world. The government says it wants to see the profile of culture raised by “celebrating and promoting culture at a local, national and international level.

Under the third priority, the government highlights its ambition to ensure the culture sector is sustainable and resilient.

It states: “There is a need for continued investment to ensure conservation and maintenance of our unique historic buildings and monuments, particularly those in public and community ownership, which contribute so much to our cultural identity and tourism economy.”

The document also recognises “the importance of intangible cultural heritage or living heritage in Wales”, and acknowledges the challenges facing cultural institutions in terms of maintenance and storage.

It says: “Our collections and historic assets should be relevant to a diverse and contemporary Wales, and be leveraged to inspire creativity and support learning and place-making. Access to our collections should reflect our desire to address inequality and ensure the cultural well-being of all the people of Wales.”

Minister for culture Jack Sargeant said: “I am pleased to publish the Priorities for Culture today, delivering on our Programme for Government commitment. This £15 million investment provides vital funding to support our cultural ambitions and will have significant impact across Wales.

“The enhanced funding will support several key priorities, such as improving opportunities for children and young people; addressing climate change and providing resources to help the sector achieve net-zero; developing skills; enhancing access and digital improvement.

“I am immensely proud of the culture sector. Every day, I witness the positive power of culture. This is a vision developed with and for the sector, and I look forward to working collaboratively to deliver these priorities.”

Sharon Heal, the director of the Museums Association, welcomed the government's new priorities.

She said: “We warmly welcome the publication of the culture priorities for Wales and that they recognise the key role of museums in supporting community wellbeing and museums’ power to transform lives which chimes with the themes in the Museums Association’s flagship campaign, Museums Change Lives.

“It is important that government has recognised the challenges that exist around care for collections and storage and we look forward to more detail on how these challenges will be addressed. The commitment to the promotion of fair work is also welcome and we would encourage the use of our salary research and recommendations to fulfil this recommendation. 

“We look forward to seeing further details on the additional £15m investment that will support the delivery of the priorities.”

Ken Griffin, president of Museums Federation Cymru, said: “Imagine a Wales where every local museum is a vibrant centre for learning, volunteering, and cultural discovery.

“The new Priorities for Culture document paves the way for a connected culture sector, ensuring these invaluable institutions can continue to enrich lives and build a strong sense of ‘cynefin’ [place where people feel they belong] for all.”

The Welsh Government recently announced almost £3m additional funding for urgent works at the National Library of Wales and Amgueddfa Cymru, Cardiff, as well as launching a new Collections Management grant scheme, which will award more than £420,000 to improve local storage standards and collections care.

Culture brings people together

• Culture is inclusive, accessible and diverse.
• Cultural democracy and cultural rights are central to culture.
• Culture is embedded in place-making.
• Culture reflects the needs and aspirations of children and young people, and strengthens the connection between generations.
• Cultural participation supports individual and community well-being.

Celebrating Wales as a nation of culture

• Culture supports and promotes the Welsh language and reflects Wales as a bilingual and multilingual nation.
• Culture has a high profile in how Wales is marketed to visitors and in how we establish and develop international relationships.
• The profile of culture is raised by celebrating and promoting culture at a local, national and international level.

Culture is resilient and sustainable

• Organisations caring for our historic places and collections have strategic approaches to recognizing significance and collecting.
• Our collections and historic assets are cared for and used to support learning, creativity, place-making and cultural well-being.
• Our intangible cultural heritage is recorded and supported to thrive.
• Culture and heritage bodies will work collaboratively to maximise the full potential of specialist teams and collections, working with others to explore and leverage the power of culture.
• Culture is supported and enhanced by good digital practice.
• Culture has a collaborative and long-term approach to research and to gathering and sharing evidence.
• The culture sector is a great place to work and volunteer, with a professional and skilled workforce.
• The culture sector demonstrates leadership and collaboration in its approaches to sustainable development, building resilience, and tackling the climate and nature emergencies.

Welsh Government’s new Priorities for Culture, May 2025