Can Oxford lead as well as inspire?

From William Ewart Gladstone to Aung San Suu Kyi, the leader of the nonviolent movement for human rights and democracy in Burma, Oxford has produced a large number of celebrated political and intellectual leaders—many of them enlightened. But what about leadership at the more local and everyday level? The City and County of Oxford offer many a paradox: Oxford is a great seat of learning—in which thousands of teenagers and adults can neither read nor write; the County Council wins awards for transport planning—yet getting to work is a major ordeal for many commuters; within the University of Oxford there are extraordinary cultural treasures—many of them unknown to those living close to them; Oxford Brookes University has the finest school of urban design in England—but, with notable exceptions, the quality of public spaces throughout Oxfordshire remains undistinguished. On important social, cultural and environmental issues there is much room for fundamental improvements throughout the County.

Oxford Inspires was originally set up to lead Oxford’s bid to become European Capital of Culture 2008. But it has always had a more profound and longer-term purpose: to encourage greater collaboration between Oxford’s two universities and Oxfordshire’s six principal local authorities—as well as the numerous cultural organisations throughout the County—so that, in the course of a few years, there will be clear benefits for everyone who lives here.

Now in its second year, Oxford Inspires is setting itself both short- and medium-term goals. The major aim is to organise and facilitate a great international cultural festival in 2007, which will draw upon Oxfordshire’s many cultural strengths and involve everyone in the County in enjoyable sporting, scientific, artistic and other recreational activities. It will be a year-long countywide festival characterised by celebration, enlightenment and challenge; innovation, participation and internationalism will be the golden threads running through the programme.

These ambitious plans run in tandem with the practical collaborations between thinkers and doers that Oxford Inspires is helping to forge. Our overall aim is for the City and County of Oxford to become—and be recognised as—national and international leaders, not just in learning, but in many other areas of cultural and environmental activity, from arts opportunities for young people to the practical applications of solar energy, from public engagement with science to outstanding urban design.

The challenge is great.

Robert Hutchison

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