iShed is partnering with BAC and The Sage Gateshead on the 21st Century Leadership, a nine-week experience for people who are playing a leading role across arts, culture and heritage.

The idea is to enable a group of practitioners to come together and explore different models of leadership: through practice; through collective action; through inspiration; through an exploration of independence, collaboration and resilience.

The programme is not seeking to provide a formulaic set of answers or training opportunities. It is trying to create a physical and imaginative space which is about the talents, ideas and passions of the programme participants.

Risk and uncertainty are a familiar part of our everyday experience in the 21st Century. Whilst precariousness breeds innovation, we also think we can temper change with support. 21st Century Leadership is about support. It is about exploring supportive ways of leading: less about authoritarian delegation, direction, and decision making from above; more about giving permission and creating the opportunities that enable great achievements.
In this programme, we aim to learn together, to discover ways of “holding” each others’ work and wellbeing, of building the collaborative networks that can make us stronger practitioners. We are especially interested in the connections between people working as independents with those working in organisations and the mutual learning that can happen from sharing experience.

20 applicants will be selected to participate in this nine-week part-time programme run by the Battersea Arts Centre in partnership with Watershed in Bristol and The Sage Gateshead. It is open to artists, curators, producers and academics, working across arts practice, arts organisations, cultural, learning or heritage organisations. It is open to you if you are interested in creating some space to develop your work, ideas and commit to working in a network of different individuals who have lots to learn from each other.
Please see the Applicant Information Pack for more details. We hope you will join us in exploring new ways of working together.

Applications due March 1st, 2012.
More info and application form at: 21stcenturyleadership.tumblr.com