Welcome to Sustainable Cultural Futures

​Led by King’s College London (UK) and Doshisha University (Japan), Sustainable Cultural Futures: COVID-19 and Resetting Cultural Policy (SCF) takes a mid- to long-term perspective to reconsider the pre-pandemic assumptions, explore new frontiers for cultural policy studies and build a more sustainable future for the arts and culture. To achieve this, we focus on three themes: 1) Cultural Value; 2) Institutions of Culture Work; and ​3) Digitalised Cultural Consumption.

UK-Japan collaboration to address COVID-19 challenges

SCF is one of ten UK-Japan collaborative research projects aimed at tackling various challenges induced by the COVID-19 pandemic. The ten projects were jointly awarded by the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC), the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) and the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS). The main objective of these projects is to generate new knowledge and understanding around a range of issues of major public and policy interest that, in turn, can be used for managing the effects of the global pandemic. Being part of such endeavours, the SCF project marks the first major UK-Japan scholarly collaboration in cultural policy research.

Comparative approach

Generating original findings on the shifting understandings, practices and purposes of cultural policy, the project’s comparative approach will offer unique opportunities for UK-Japan cross-national conversation and understanding around more sustainable cultural policy futures.

COVID-19 as a 'critical juncture' for cultural policy

The SCF project builds on previous research which suggests that the pandemic has opened up a moment of ‘critical juncture’ for cultural policy – a short period of significant change where new actors and policy ideas emerge, and important decisions are made, engendering consequential effects on the future development of cultural policy. Pre-pandemic cultural policies across many countries were based on assumptions that it is appropriate to express cultural policy goals in economic terms (i.e., contributions of culture to GDP), that the priority for state support should go to cultural organisations (as opposed to cultural workers), and that culture and the arts can thrive on in-person interactions in physical venues. With venues being closed and projects postponed or cancelled – in turn, leaving many artists and creative workers without an income and forcing these workers, as well as organisations, to join the digital arena – the pandemic has brought about a moment where the existing assumptions are seriously challenged, and new approaches are sought.

Our impact

“Arts Council England launched a new strategy ‘Lets Create’ in early 2020 before the pandemic hit. The Let’s Create vision and outcomes reflected the needs and interests of the cultural sector and provides a blueprint of our cultural ambitions through to 2030. As the Cultural Engagement and Cultural Values report states, the pandemic has opened up a moment of ‘critical juncture’ for cultural policy and a moment where previous assumptions are being seriously challenged. Arts Council England looks to reports like these to offer new insights in order to stress test the ambitions set out in our strategy to see if they are still relevant and on track”. 
Andrew Mowlah, Director of Research, Arts Council England

Academic partners

Cultural sector partners

Funders