Permanent change possible if Bradford is named City of Culture 2025, says professor
Winning Bradford2025 City of Culture could fast-track implementation of the district’s Culture Is Our Plan blueprint by five or six years - that’s according to the University of Bradford's Professor Marcus Rattray.
Professor Rattray is part of the bid team and in his role as ‘research convenor’, he says it presents an unrivalled opportunity for the University to help create a permanent change in the district’s fortunes.
“We have this opportunity to help drive a permanent change in our fortunes,” says the professor of pharmacology. “It’s not just about getting more people to become involved in cultural events - although that is a big part of it - it’s about ensuring the city and the district is ready to take advantage of all the benefits that will bring, like job creation and more tourism.”
University academics have already helped inform Bradford’s 2025 bid, with rigorous research into economic forecasts, cultural impact and the positive social, health and wellbeing effects that will come about as a result of becoming UK City of Culture.
“This is an opportunity for the Bradford district to shine on a global stage, to attract more students from all over the UK and the world, to share our breadth of knowledge and expertise and to show that culture can be a driver for change.”
Prof Rattray says this means creating more opportunities for people and boosting social mobility - something that aligns perfectly with the University’s own vision and long-term strategy.
“We want to use the City of Culture to open more opportunities to people, to show them things they might not have otherwise considered, to open new doors and new possibilities. This will not only boost people’s confidence but perhaps create new career paths and chances to become involved in things like volunteering.
“We are articulating the fact that we want to involve as many people as possible, to create a step-change in the engagement in cultural activity, and that will have a knock-on effect, in terms of all the services and supply chains that enable those activities to take place. For every one hundred jobs this creates, we think it will create one hundred and sixty five more in related industries and services.”
Global stage
Prof Rattray says the Bradford bid is also about improving people’s life chances - something the University has already been honoured for, by twice being ranked #1 in England as the university most likely to improve people’s social mobility.
“It’s about removing barriers and tackling inequality, whether these are economic or social. When Hull won City of Culture, it created a volunteering programme second only to the Olympics - we want to recreate that here, because it will allow people to benefit from all sorts of new opportunities.”
He adds: “At the moment, the creative sector in Bradford contributes about two percent to the local economy - we think we can do much more than that. The University has a huge role to play, both in terms of helping secure the bid and ensuring our academics engage with it in the years to come.
“This is an opportunity for the Bradford district to shine on a global stage, to attract more students from all over the UK and the world, to share our breadth of knowledge and expertise and to show that culture can be a driver for change.”