Co-designing a Circus Sector Support Network
Report on the Circus Change Up Forum
On Tuesday 20th July Circus Change Up hosted a Zoom Forum with the aim of co-designing a UK Circus Sector Support Network. It was the final meeting of the Circus Change Up process that began in September last year and the plan was to gain an insight into what the sector wanted/needed and build consensus on how we might move forward.
The focus of the conversation was inevitably a bit dry. We needed to talk about governance structures, financial models, aims and objectives, and no matter how many Mentimeter Word Clouds and Paul Simon backing tracks we used it was always going to be hard to make it feel like showbiz. However, it’s a mark of how important this topic is to those working in and with the sector that nearly 60 people engaged with the conversation across the day.
In the morning, in order to fuel our discussions later in the day, we heard from three existing Sector Support Networks. Camille Henry talked to us about the Caravan Circus Network – a European-wide network of youth circus organisations based in Belgium. Angus MacKechnie described Outdoor Arts UK which is an Arts Council England funded sector support network for outdoor arts organisations and practitioners. And Lina B Frank spoke about the Baltic Nordic Circus Network – a collaborative network of circus organisations based in the Baltic Nordic region.
The differences in financial models, governance structures, membership profiles and purposes became immediately clear. For example, Caravan and BNCN are mainly for organisations, Outdoor Arts UK’s membership is made up of both organisations and individual artists. Caravan and Outdoor Arts UK are independently constituted organisations, while BNCN relies on a revolving arrangement with host organisations for its governance. Caravan and BNCN run projects, Outdoor Arts UK focuses on advocacy and information. It wasn’t immediately clear why these differences are significant but as we moved into the afternoon discussions where (through the magic of Qiqochat) participants broke out into self-selecting groups to discuss the models and analyse them critically through the lens of UK circus, some broad consensus began to emerge
The headlines are as follows:
There is a recognised need for a Circus Sector Support Network – although there is a question as to whether it should be UK-wide or divided up across the 4 countries.
Advocacy, Community, Knowledge, Partnerships and Projects were all highlighted as the key benefits that a sector support network might bring to the sector.
Clarity of Purpose was deemed to be essential for a network to succeed.
Across the three groups there was a consistent preference for constituting a sector development network as an organisation with a governing body voted for by the membership, and a small paid executive/administrative function; a membership made up of both organisations and individual artists working on a level playing field; affordable/scaleable membership fees; strong partnerships with existing organisations and other networks to ensure collaboration rather than cross-over.
There are some issues that are more relevant for circus than other sectors – training, health and safety/rigging for example. These need to be acknowledged although it was unclear if these are things that fall into the remit of an SSN.
The importance of the Arts Council in helping to make this happen.
Next Steps
While there was no definitive answer there was, I believe, consensus and a consistency in approach that was inspiring, significant and helpful. Through further discussion with the Arts Council we plan to shape the ideas generated on Tuesday into at least three possible models that we will present back to the sector at the end of the Summer. Watch this space.
If you were unable to attend the meeting you can read all the notes and watch the Presentations here. If you would like to feed into the process in any way or offer comment or guidance on this process please do so by emailing info@circuschangeup.co.uk.
Circus Change Up would like to thank Lynn Carroll and the CircusWorks Team for facilitating the Forum, Camille Henry, Lina B Frank and Angus MacKechnie for their wise words and insight and the Circus Change Up Conveners for their guidance throughout the process.
Daisy Drury