Evolving City "hugely successful", says independent evaluation report

Monday 15 May, 2006

Oxford's Evolving City programme has been highly praised in an independent evaluation report. Released this week, the report by the research partnership Tameron Chappell and Louise Harriss presents a detailed analysis of the biggest cultural celebration ever to take place in Oxford and concludes that "Evolving City was hugely successful overall".

Evolving City was a cultural programme that explored and celebrated the changing nature of Oxford throughout 2005. Hundreds of events encouraged people to explore the city and its future, scientific activity, local culture, festivals and European partnerships. Oxford Inspires put together the successful bid for £600,000 to fund the programme and raised further funds from national and regional sources that would not otherwise have come into the county.

Commissioned by Oxford Inspires, which coordinated Evolving City, the evaluation drew on a wide range of sources, including interviews, focus group discussions, event attendance reports by independent volunteers and extensive documentation provided by the participating projects and Oxford Inspires.

The researchers estimate that 125,000 people attended events as audience members. 1400 artists contributed to the programme, and many thousands more participated in other ways. Feedback from the 36 projects in Evolving City showed overwhelmingly that the programme had presented new creative opportunities for individuals and communities. Nearly half the projects said their events had attracted new audiences from across Oxfordshire and beyond.

The development of new partnerships and networks was the most valuable legacy for the cultural organisations that took part in Evolving City. There were also clear benefits for many individual participants. The organiser of one project said: "Being more completely knitted into the fabric of the cultural life of the city and county has been positive and hopefully will continue to be so."

Robert Hutchison, the Chief Executive of Oxford Inspires, said: "Evolving City represented the largest collaborative cultural venture that Oxford has ever seen. It demonstrated how cultural activities—in all their variety and diversity—can enrich the lives of people from widely different backgrounds and living in very different circumstances. The lessons learned from organising a programme of this scope and complexity will stand Oxford Inspires in good stead for the year of festivals and special events being planned for 2007, when Oxfordshire celebrates its millennium."

To read more about the evaluation report please click here.

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