Culture Matters - Thanet District Council’s Cultural Strategy

“A naturally vibrant Isle”

Introduction

What is culture?

Culture means different things to different people. Some think of visits to art galleries or theatres, but it is much broader than that, including tourism, sports activities, learning new creative skills, children playing, enjoying events and festivals and our local environment. However, it would be fair to say that people’s lives and lifestyles have a large impact on what is perceived as being culture and how they respond to this.

Here in Thanet, our environment provides a wide range of cultural opportunities for us to enjoy. Our 26 miles of coastline, regarded as amongst the most stunning in the country, our three unique main towns, each with their own, very different heritage and architecture and our large areas of parks and open spaces, including our seafront promenades, all offer very different opportunities to enjoy our leisure time.

The area is also home to a vibrant and growing creative community, offering activities in the arts, literature, performing and sporting sectors. This variety is further extended when Thanet’s unique social mix, location and opportunities for lifelong learning are factored into the definition of culture.

This fits in with the definition of culture by the government’s Department of Culture, Media and Sport, which includes the arts, architecture and heritage, museums, sport, tourism, open spaces and events.
 

Next: Why is culture important?

Introduction

• What is culture?
• Why is culture important?
• Why produce a cultural strategy?
• Main consultation findings

Context

• Local context
• Cultural context

Vision

• Vision and Overarching Themes
• Underlying Principles
• Action Plan
• Evaluating delivery of the Cultural Strategy
• Cultural aspirations

• Appendix 1: Developing the strategy
• Appendix 2: Key Stakeholders - consultees