The first Partner meeting of the Northern Heartlands Great Place Scheme project took place at The Witham in Barnard Castle on Tuesday 25th April.
Thanks to National Lottery players, Northern Heartlands is one of 16 places across England that will collectively receive £20 million to put arts, culture and place making at the heart of their communities.
45 partners from across the region attended the event which was facilitated by Graham Young, chair of Northern Heartlands. Partners heard from members of the project steering group who set the scene, provided context for Northern Heartlands going forward and outlined the ambition for artist/community collaborations.
As well as providing a platform to assess key aspects of the Northern Heartlands project the Partner meeting included a sharing information session for attendees.
Northern Heartlands aims to cultivate engagement and discussion between local communities and commissioned artists in the area. Using innovative approaches, the scheme will support these communities to explore how the area has changed and evolved over time, what they value about their landscape now, as well as encouraging new thinking about how these community aspirations can be translated into future policy and plans.
The Partner meeting was followed by the first Northern Heartlands Advisory Board Meeting.
More details about the Northern Heartlands scheme can be found at: http://www.northernheartlands.org/