Why culture needs to take centre stage in Derby’s future

In the latest edition of Marketing Derby’s Innovate magazine, Adam Buss, the man leading Derby’s quest to become UK City of Culture 2025, explains why he believes culture can be a catalyst for improving lives.

Last year, Derby put itself forward for such status – and to everyone’s delight, out of a record 20 entries, the city made the longlist of eight.

The bid team is now putting together its formal submission, which will be put forward early next month.

In the meantime, Adam, who has temporarily stepped aside from his role as chief executive at QUAD, is leading efforts to galvanise support in the city for the bid.

Recently, an event was held at Derby Museums’ Museum of Making, where many businesses pledged their support.

In his interview with Innovate, Adam explains why culture needs to take centre stage in Derby’s regeneration.

He believes culture can be a catalyst for helping to address many local and global challenges, for reimagining town and city centres after the Covid pandemic and for improving people’s lives.

He said: “Culture is important to help our towns and cities build successful futures.

“We know cities are changing. We know that people’s habits and what they want from a city centre are different now.

“Arts and culture can help our city centres be the places where we, as society, come together, do things, enjoy things and have the kind of human experiences that we’ve all missed so much over the last couple of years.

“Culture can also play a major role in people’s lives overall. It can be a point of reflection, giving people a chance to step back and think about where they are going, their role in society and what their place in supporting others might be.”

To read the full article in the latest Innovate magazine click here.