4. Regenerating a Whole Town Huddersfield is midway through its three-year Urban Pilot Project, which aims to demonstrate, on behalf of the European Commission, how creativity might be nurtured, not just in individuals but in a whole town. It is believed that the creativity and prosperity of a town can grow unchecked if a system can be developed for releasing human potential. The Huddersfield Creative Town Initiative (HCTI) is based on the Cycle of Creativity Ñ generating ideas and then turning them into reality, circulating and marketing ideas, setting up platforms for delivery, and promoting and disseminating these ideas. The range of projects which constitute HCTI broadly follow these five stages of the cycle. One of the creative initiatives in this project is that of ArtimediaÕs Enter and Return training courses. Since April 1998 over 100 people have been trained in the creative uses of computing, with courses ranging from Ôabsolute beginnersÕ, for those who have never touched a computer, to Ôweb weavingÕ, which looks at cutting-edge technology and new developments on the world-wide web. By introducing local people to the creative potential of new technologies, the company is opening up new ways of thinking about and using computers and encouraging people to experiment with computers in their own areas of interest. Information provided by Huddersfield Creative Town Initiative
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Many reports and analyses have pointed to the positive opportunities of cultural diversity Ñ and the problems that arise when intercultural understanding breaks down. The Macpherson report is the most recent of these, and the most compelling. For all young people, one of the most difficult tasks is to forge a sense of personal identity and belonging. Among the complex effects of economic and social change are those of exclusion: of a sense of being alienated from mainstream society by unemployment, culture or personal loss of motivation. Schools must address these issues with passion and determination.
The Arts Council is already working on how best the arts can play a meaningful role in taking young and long-term unemployed people off benefits as part of the GovernmentÕs New Deal programme, and how best they can contribute to policies alongside Government departments aimed at tackling social exclusion. Gerry Robinson, Chairman of the Arts Council of England
The GovernmentÕs view, which we endorse, is that there is too often a gap between the African-Caribbean community and the schools that exist to serve them. There are 25,000 schools in England, and the majority are doing well. But where there are problems, practical strategies must be found to connect the cultures of schools with the wider community, and to bridge the gap. A starting point is to recognise and validate the cultural experience of minority groups and to engage them in the cultural life of the school. Creative and cultural education can provide powerful and direct ways of achieving this, and of raising the self-esteem and motivation
Meeting the Challenge
NACCCE report
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