The Rural Cultural Forum and proposed Cultural Strategy for Rural England are among the outcomes of a two year Arts Council England funded study: Investing in Rural Creativity; New Rural Arts Strategy, 2001 - 2003. This proposed a new role for the arts sector in support of the Government’s Rural Strategy (DEFRA, 2004), including rural community development, social inclusion and economic regeneration priorities. It also discussed these ideas in terms of framing a wider arts and sustainability strategy, in response to climate change and the radical changes in the farming and agricultural sector driven by CAP reform. The report also advocated the establishment of Cultural Forum for rural communities in England ( including the fishing port communities) and encouraged the urban arts and rural communities to work together to develop a coordinated arts and cultural strategy in support of the Government’s rural regeneration programmes.

http://www.littoral.org.uk/HTML01/pdf/RCstrategyDCMS_Paper.pdf