Cooperative Culture Making in Rochdale

In Rochdale borough, we are developing a new way of working in culture through a new collaborative “Culture Compact.” We are deploying sociocracy methodologies to support the local working arrangements. The members of the Culture Compact have discovered a need better to understand the role of local government and elected members. In particular, by working through sociocratic methods, the members of the compact are becoming conscious, in new ways, of their roles representing parts of the arts and culture sector and the function of power / powerlessness in the way different parts of the system interact with each other.

Through our prototype we will undertake training, study and inquiry about the theory and practice of sociocracy, focusing on what local government officers and members need to know and do differently in order to support an effective local cultural sociocracy.

We will engage in participatory action in order to surface and address the challenges inherent in developing sociocracies in an environment which is hierarchical so that the shift can be made into leadership models which distribute power, encourage self help and self responsibility through distributed and eco leadership practice.