Andy Pratt briefs European MPs on culture and regeneration

Prof Andy Pratt has been asked to draft a report on Culture, Heritage and Economic development for the Council of Europe. The initiative was prompted by Lord Dundee, the rapporteur for the CoE on the Culture, Science and Education Committee, on the Culture, Diversity and Heritage sub-committee. Andy began this process 6 months ago with an initial presentation in Aarhus presented to the committee of CoE (comprised of MPs from the 47 nation states). Last Monday (26 March) Andy was in solved in a hearing for information from experts contributing to the report. Andy had invited the head of culture for Islington, Hackney, and Walthamstow (recently awarded London Borough of Culture).

The hearing took place at the Houses of Parliament. MPs from 15 nation states were present, as well as a range of MPs and members of the Lords. A supplementary meeting took place later in the day at Tate Modern with curators and the head of regeneration. The next stage will be to collate the findings, and the main body of the report and present it to a meeting of the Council of Europe in Paris in June.