Introduction

City of Dreams is a long-term mission to make the conurbation of NewcastleGateshead the ‘best place to be young’ by enabling the local population of children and young people – 168,000 under 25s – to have the opportunity to engage with culture and creativity. As well as enhancing engagement with culture and the creative arts, it also aims to be a platform for children and young people's voice and to increase their influence in cultural organisations. Through this, City of Dreams seeks to support young people in becoming active and creative citizens who are able to improve their life chances. Established in 2018, City of Dreams is an initiative led by NewcastleGateshead Cultural Venues (NGCV is a voluntary partnership of 10 organisations running 20 venues, archives and heritage sites across Tyne and Wear) and which has 53 affiliated organisations drawn from a variety of sectors including voluntary, community and social enterprise, and the arts. This broad base of support evidences the collective intent to create a transformational shift in the way the cultural sector, and indeed cities themselves, engage with young participants and audiences.

The ambition is both risky and brave: the longitudinal vision outstrips all partner organisations’ funding cycles and the initiative has been instituted in a climate of austerity, starkly reflected in Newcastle City Council's announcement of a 100 per cent cut to its culture budget in 2013 (it has since worked with various agencies to address the situation). The Newcastle decision highlighted the immense pressure local authorities are under to balance their books, and the sharp impact on cultural provision. The early evolution of City of Dreams offers insights that can inform alternative approaches to operating in this context. It is a collective mission, pooling the resources, ideas and activity of cultural institutions in the city, rather than a formally constituted body. This approach embraces both ambition and challenge: as well as being drawn together for this shared vision, the constituent members of the collective are also, as independent organisations, competing for everdwindling funds. Moreover, in embarking on this transformational journey together, many of the implications for the organisations involved – for example, their modes of operation, programming, organisational structures and priorities – could not be predicted.