Vox pop

“The most refreshing, motivating and urgent thing about What Next? is its name. It is an open question. It invites dialogue. It solicits action.

Since the event in April more than 20 new groups have popped up around the country. It’s a movement having impact in the short-term but has its eyes on a long-term goal: to cherish human potential and creativity; and to achieve this by valuing culture throughout civic, political and national life.

Three collective actions have emerged to date: 1) connect with our MPs; 2) spark unlikely alliances in our communities; 3) link up a dialogue between cultural visitors, audiences and participants.

What Next? is a question to each of us. And by coming together to answer it we will begin to change things for the better.”


“What Next? is a movement, so for me, the next step is to move and take some action.

Through running the Cultural Learning Alliance I spend a lot of time with teachers, cultural professionals, academics, young people and public servants discussing how to make better national policy and improve our practice. What Next? has inspired me to make my work personal and local too.

This week I will be booking in a surgery with my MP to start a conversation about culture on my doorstep. I will be talking to the School Governors’ One-Stop Shop (www.sgoss.org.uk) about becoming a school governor, and I will be continuing to attend a weekly What Next? meeting.

So far they’ve been a great chance to share ideas on how to make our society, and the cultural ecology, stronger.”


“When I first heard about the What Next? movement I was concerned about who was involved and who wasn’t, whether it was too London-centric, whether it was reinventing the wheel, whether those involved were too naïve, or actually had a secret agenda from the start.

Then I went to a What Next? meeting. I was impressed by the generosity and openness I experienced and the willingness of those present to appreciate the importance of the vast amateur and voluntary arts sector as an integral part of the cultural ecology.

I’m not yet sure what actually happens next but I’ve realised the way to make sure it’s the best it can possibly be is to get involved and help to answer the question – What Next?”


“The website whatnextculture.co.uk sets out that the movement is about articulating and strengthening the roll of art and culture in our society through positive, informed and inclusive conversations with each other, community leaders, politicians, funders, academics and business people.

What happens next is we get on with having the conversations. In the north west we are planning to continue our conversation with business leaders and will be starting a conversation with higher education leadership.

At our next meeting we are working out the best approach to running a fringe event at the Tory Party conference in Manchester and looking at how we can use data more effectively in stating the case. The conversations continue.”