Cultural Development Fund (CDF) National Symposium 2025
Almost 200 people from across the creative and cultural sector attended the Cultural Development Gathering-25 event at Rochdale Town Hall – the second Cultural Development Fund (CDF) Network national symposium following our inaugural event in Worcester.
This inspiring event was packed in every sense, with a sell-out audience of national and local policymakers, national funding bodies, senior figures from across the cultural sector, researchers, academics, artists and practitioners.
Packed-Programme
Taking place on the exact date of the 5th anniversary of the first Covid-19 lockdown, Cultural Development Gathering-25 was envisaged as the exact opposite of a lockdown. It was a chance to meet in person in the magnificent and newly-restored Rochdale Town Hall, to connect in a physical space, to celebrate the value of culture to our towns and cities and to remind ourselves of what was lost for too long during the lockdown era.
The packed programme took a “whole place” approach to ensure attendees got the most out of the event and their IRL visit. In keeping with the ethos of Cultural Placemaking and a place-based approach to culture, the programme allowed attendees to explore place and the vital link between a town’s culture, its community, heritage and the integral role of the physical infrastructure and town planning around it with a vibrant programme featuring:
- More than 30 speakers from across England, representing all seven of the second round CDF projects
- 4x Panel discussions
- 6x Quickfire “PekaKucha” style presentations
- Pre-symposium networking event
- 5x Optional Walking study tours of Rochdale’s CDF partners and projects
Purpose and Themes
Cultural Development Gathering-25 celebrated the completion of the seven second round Cultural Development Fund (CDF) projects across England, to share the learning from these projects and to help inform future policy and funding. Key themes and panel sessions included:
- Cultural Placemaking: Including place narratives, placemaking, approaches to place-based funding (e.g. Priority Places) and Cultural Devolution. Panel chaired by Prof. Daniel Ashton, (University of Southampton) and featured Simon Cadle (Turner Works), Laura Sillars (MIMA), Annika Edge (Rochdale Development Agency) and Paul Bason (Manchester Metropolitan University)
- Cultural Democracy: Who owns culture? Including community building and engagement, co-production and activating places. Panel chaired by Kim Wide (Take A Part) and featured Greg Bond (Culture Coop), Kevin Booth (English Heritage), Liane Holdsworth (Barnsley Metropolitan Borough Council) and Clare Parker (Filament)
- Creating Opportunity: Including education, skills, youth voice, cultural provision for Children and Young People. Panel chaired by Jo Hutchinson (SQW) and featured Vicky Holbrough (Navigator North), Alana Borkwood (IN4), Helen Thackray (Create Rochdale) and Matt Woodhead (LUNG Theatre)
- Growth and Resilience: Including cultural and heritage capital funding, business models, operational sustainability, revitalising the High Street, economic growth, supporting creative networks and connections to the Industrial Strategy for the Creative Industries. Panel chaired by Emma Wilcox (Wilcox Associates) and featured Joe Plumb (Department-Ryde), Sam Gilmore (Middlesbrough Council), Ros Lamont (The Maltings Berwick), Jon Finch (Barnsley Metropolitan Borough Council) and Nat Palin (Filament).
Afternoon keynote session was delivered by Abi Gilmore, Professor of Cultural Policy at University of Manchester and UKRI Policy Research Fellow, currently on a placement with the DCMS with the Chief Scientific Advisor’s office and the Creative and Cultural Industries Analytical Spoke team. Abi presented an thoroughly engaging overview of her current research exploring the conditions and factors for successful place-based policy interventions into cultural infrastructure.
Places with Passion
In-between each of our panel discussions, the event was further enlivened by a series of short, quick-fire PekaKucha style presentations delivered by project leads or lead partner organisations from the round two projects in Middlesbrough, Barnsley, Rochdale, Isle of Wight, Berwick and Torbay. Featuring up to 20 slides presented in no more than 7 minutes, these short talks were delivered with passion and energy and brought to life some of the key CDF themes and achievements including:
- Gaye Kirby, Middlesbrough Council’s Head of Culture, on how a partnership approach has helped position culture at the heart of Middlesbrough’s new development strategy to 2030, including partnership with Trans-Pennine Express to create the Most Creative Station
- Liane Holdsworth, Barnsley Council’s CDF Programme Development Manager, on how the Storying Barnsley approach has empowered local communities to co-create a borough-wide engagement and activity programme to involve the whole community
- Oliver Boaler, Rochdale Development Agency’s Placemaking Manager on how to build a resilient cultural infrastructure to support town centre regeneration
- Sharon George, CEO of Shademakers, on how a cultural organisation and Arts Council NPO has galvanised the artist community on the Isle of Wight to take over and repurpose a former retail department store as a new cultural venue, Department Ryde
- Ros Lamont, CEO of The Maltings Berwick, on the challenges and opportunities of redeveloping a major heritage site in the heart of a rural community, Berwick Barracks, and bringing the whole town together for large-scale site activations and events
- Nat Palin and Clare Parker, Co-Directors of Filament, on how to animate high street spaces and public realm in Torbay, develop people and communities and create excitement and engagement with capital projects throughout the construction and renovation works programme and long in advance of reopening of Paignton Picture House.
See you in 2026…
Cultural Development Gathering will be back in early 2026, celebrating the completion of the third round CDF Network projects across England, with programme, venue and location to be announced. Sign up for all the latest news from Cultural Placemaking and the CDF Network to be amongst the first to hear about this and other events and for priority ticket booking.
