Written evidence submitted by the British Council (PSI0016)
House of Commons
Scottish Affairs Committee
Promoting Scotland Internationally
Written evidence from the British Council 6th October 2022
Contents
1. Summary
2. Our work in Scotland
3. Our work in priority countries
3.1 France
3.2 Germany
3.3 Nordics
3.4 Pakistan
3.5 China
3.6 India
4. The British Council
1.1. The British Council’s Scotland team, based in Edinburgh, works closely with partners in Scotland’s education and cultural sectors to develop relationships and deliver programmes to support Scotland’s international ambitions and showcase its unique assets right around the world. In Scotland, this translates into the strengthening of long-standing connections, and the development of new relationships and partnerships with organisations, institutions and individuals in the cultural and education sectors.
1.2. Through the provision of insights, research, access to our global network and programme interventions, British Council contributes to measurable increases in Higher Education and Further Education partnerships, market development and student mobility.
1.3. Our work recognises and responds to the geographical priorities of UK Government, alongside those of the Scottish Government, as well as with the sectors with which we work, and aims to reflect the rich diversity, heritage and contemporary achievements of all parts of the nation.
2.1 Although the British Council works over three pillars of education, arts and culture and English language, our work in Scotland understandably revolves around the former two. Since 1946, we have enabled thousands of young people from Scotland to study and work abroad and helped schools and higher education institutions to create partnerships in other countries, supporting teachers’ and academics’ professional development through international experiences. We have supported and promoted Scottish education giving almost £2m in funding from our Going Global Partnerships programme to universities across Scotland, with the aim of forging international collaboration and partnerships with priority countries and regions including China, India and East Asia.
2.2 Through our global leadership in arts and culture, we support performances and exhibitions at Scottish festivals, museums and galleries in addition to supporting Scottish-based performers and artists overseas. In our work, we emphasise diversity of ideas, freedom of expression and creativity across the world, and promote these values internationally. To support Scottish arts, and as one of the Founders of the Edinburgh International Festival we marked the 75th anniversary by supporting international
promotion and collaboration. Momentum, a bespoke inbound delegation programme (co- funded by British Council Scotland and Creative Scotland and delivered in partnership with Festivals Edinburgh) this year welcomed country delegations from Lebanon, South Korea, France, Germany, Mexico and Columbia and specialist art form delegations for Visual Arts and Literature, all designed to create sustainable connections, exchanges, tours and new collaborations and commissions.
2.3 We have also given £231,000 in funding to enable the Edinburgh International Festival, the Fringe and Edinburgh International Film Festival to conduct research and development culminating in new projects, delivered in August this year.
2.4 British Council Scotland is also a partner in the Scotland + Venice consortium – working with Creative Scotland, National Galleries Scotland, Architecture & Design Scotland, V&A Dundee and the Scottish Government. Promoting new work at one of the world’s
most prestigious visual art festivals, Scotland + Venice plays a vital role in helping to raise the profile of Scotland as one of the most vibrant countries for the production, promotion and presentation of contemporary art. The partnership also delivers a personal development programme to give students and recent graduates from across Scotland a unique opportunity to live in Venice for one month and work as Exhibition Assistants at the Scottish presentation.
2.5 We have capitalised on boosting Scotland’s profile with major international events in Scotland, such as COP26, by building on the British Council’s participation at the Summit in Glasgow. Last October, following a year-long programme of climate-related activity throughout our global network – The Climate Connection - we ran a pavilion in the restricted Blue Zone at COP26 and delivered a programme of activity throughout the public Green Zone in Glasgow, with help from our partners. We facilitated introductions between Scottish and overseas contacts at our pavilion, showcasing climate-related courses and qualifications at Scottish universities and colleges and creating links for school students around the world through our support for the “Live at the COP” massive open online course (MOOC).
As an Arms-Length Body of the UK Government, we work with the FCDO to support their objectives and wider geographical priorities. These are the countries and territories where our programmes and connections will have the most impact and value in sustaining relations, and where we prioritise resource and grant-in-aid funding. We also support the priorities of the Scottish Government where possible and have supported Scottish Government efforts in China, Japan and Pakistan as well as in building links with other ‘Arctic’ nations. Wherever we operate, we aim to work for the whole of the UK, including Scotland, building connections through arts and education, as well as the English language.
As our near neighbour, France is arguably the UK’s most important partner in Europe and a key partner in global issues. The UK and France have a long tradition of student exchange at university level – UK is the second most popular destination for French HE students, and UK’s third largest partner for international collaboration in research and innovation. Along with expanding our English teaching market in France, our priorities include developing new channels of collaboration in international Higher Education and student mobility, as well as collaborating with partners in their attempts to develop and extend new audiences for the arts.
The British Council has promoted Scottish arts in a manner of ways, including a cultural exchange introducing 5 French arts professionals to the Scottish arts sector to support future collaboration and circulation of Scottish work internationally. We have also supported two bilateral programmes in their pilot period of 2 years, helping emerging artists in visual arts (Fluxus Art Project) and contemporary music (Diaphonique) in a new partnership with Creative Scotland.
To broaden Scotland’s presence in research and innovation, the British Council has undertaken increased outreach to more researchers in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, as part of the Alliance call in 2021, which succeeded in doubling the number of
applications from Scottish researchers compared to the previous year (representing 18% of all applications.) On the back of COP26 in Glasgow, and our Climate Connections programme which was promoted by British Council France, we also devised and funded a new Entente Cordiale for the Climate scholarship giving French students the opportunity to study environmental issues in a UK university.
In utilising international events to promote Scotland overseas and raise its profile, the new French Culture Minister Rima Abdul Malak was formally invited to this year’s Edinburgh International Culture Summit in Aug 2022. British Council France actively chased and advocated for her attendance. Unfortunately so soon after her nomination she was unable to attend but we have put this summit event on the radar of the French Ministry of Culture for potential future participation.
Edinburgh Festivals (International Festival, Fringe) also featured in the British Council France’s quarterly Arts newsletter in July with a focus on 4 nation showcases of new work by UK artists, including the Made in Scotland showcase.
As another one of UK’s close allies in Europe, Germany is the UK’s top European export market and invests strongly in the UK. The UK remains the country in which young people from Germany are second most likely to have studied or intend to study. We work closely together in research and in international relations, and British Council Germany aims to maximise on shared research and continue close collaboration on cultural and educational programmes. In Berlin, where the Scottish Government office exists, the British Council Germany team liaises frequently to ensure both teams are kept up to date with Scottish-related programmes and events.
British Council Germany has also established a new Cultural Bridge community arts programme supporting Creative Scotland to fund seven new arts programmes between UK and Germany, two of which will be Scotland and Germany. This pilot programme has also funded three Scottish-German cultural partnerships, linking Alchemy Film & Arts in Harwick with Fine Arts Institute Leipzig, Govanhill Baths Art with the S27 city laboratory in Berlin, and Shetland Arts with Das Letzte Kleinod theatre in Bremerhaven. This has led to visits and events in both Scotland and Germany. We also sent nine professional theatre promoters from Germany to attend the Momentum programme at this year’s Edinburgh festival to showcase Scottish artistic talent at an international level.
In Norway, although we no longer have a physical presence in the Nordic countries, we have implemented a sustainable model that focuses on strategic interventions and aligning closely with HMAs and the embassies to support their goals. We assist British embassies to strengthen UK’s presence, supporting cultural and educational links.
We are assisting Scottish artist, Katie Paterson with international exposure and collaboration with Norway. As part of the NOW series, Katie Paterson’s exhibition Future Library involves planting a forest in Norway, which will supply paper for a special anthology of books to be printed in 2114. From 2014 until then, one writer a year will contribute a text, with the writings held in trust (unread and unpublished), until the
hundred years have passed. The manuscripts will be stored in a specially designed room in the new Oslo Public Library.
In addition, British Council and the Embassy are also supporting the City of Helsinki’s Culture and Leisure team on a visit in September 2022 to Scotland, to learn from cultural stakeholders including V&A Dundee.
Pakistan is a rapidly growing economy, with 64% of its citizens under the age of 30. The number of outbound degree-seeking students increased 70% since 2010 showing the growing scale of this market, and British Council is prioritising working to establish strong links between UK-Pakistan universities. With 1.5 million British Pakistanis in the UK, we also have strong historic ties to this country. Our priorities for Scottish interests in Pakistan are to develop programmes and projects aimed at sustained engagement with young and diverse audiences with an ambition to reach future decision makers and opinion formers.
British Council programmes promoting Scottish arts in Pakistan include The PK-UK New Perspectives Season which seeks to build partnerships and understanding between UK and Pakistan, marking 75 years of Pakistan’s independence. Our ‘Pakistan Stories’ project worked with the Scottish Documentary Institute influencing emerging Pakistani female filmmakers. The selected women belonged to various ethnic and regional communities from across Pakistan and created their first ever original film content after receiving eight weeks of high-quality mentorship and training through partners Patakha Pictures (a subsidiary of Sharmeen Obaid Chinoy Films) in Pakistan and the Scottish Documentary Institute in the UK. British Council Pakistan then promoted this programme with the Scottish Documentary Institute, reaching 24 million people through social media and online magazines.
Our programmes promoting Scottish education include our partnership with the Pakistan Higher Education Commission, delivering Innovative and Collaborative Research Grants as part of the Pak-UK Education Gateway. This programme supports 8 research projects in UK-Pakistan universities. University of Glasgow, University of the West of Scotland and the University of Edinburgh were all awarded grants worth £1.5m. The British Council has also partnered with 8 Scottish universities to deliver postgraduate scholarships (GREAT campaign) and Study UK fairs promoting Scottish education to prospective Pakistani students.
In addition, we deliver Scotland Pakistan Scholarships for Young Women and Girls, which is funded by the Scottish Government to improve accessibility to education for underprivileged girls in Pakistan, benefitting around 30,000 young women. Neil Gray MSP, Minister for Europe and International Development, had a meeting with partners and beneficiary students to learn more about the positive impact of this programme.
As one of the world’s largest economies, and with the UK holding a 14.9% market share for Chinese students overseas, our priority with China is to encourage and promote a more connecting and trusting world with a focus on engagement with young people. We
aim to enable and stimulate inclusive collaboration and enterprise in the creative economy in China through the development of a network of inclusive leaders.
British Council China has run several programmes and events promoting Scottish arts, including the #ReConnect UK-China Contemporary Culture Festival in September 2021 featuring a workshop and screening of the Scottish documentary film Eye of the Storm in Shenzhen, an online showcasing and discussion on the Beijing Stories project (a filmmaking laboratory run by Scottish Documentary Institute and British Council.) and an online screening of Luminate (Scotland’s leading creative ageing organisation).
British Council has promoted Scottish education in China through the GREAT Scholarships campaign with scholarships for post-graduate study jointly funded by the GREAT Britain Campaign and the British Council. The estimated economic benefit of international students attracted to Scotland through the GREAT campaign is £44.4m. The Universities of Glasgow, Dundee, St Andrews and Heriot-Watt also participated in the Study UK School Counsellor Workshop 2021/22 to promote Scottish education to over 260 school counsellors across China.
In addition, we have supported Scottish trade and exports by delivering 136,505 ACCA exams between September 2021-June 2022 delivering more than £10m to ACCA, headquartered in Glasgow.
As the world’s largest democracy, a key member of the Commonwealth, and the world’s youngest country, India is a priority country for both UK and Scottish governments. Post- Brexit our political, economic, cultural and historic ties with India are ever more important. The British Council aims to partner with India’s economic growth and knowledge ambitions by creating opportunities for young people to succeed in a global environment. We aim to build on the recent mutual recognition of qualifications agreement between UK and India to increase student mobility and extend our reach across all three pillars to connect with 100 million people in India by 2025.
British Council has promoted Scottish arts and trade with the project “Future Flow” with the Consul General of India to Scotland, supporting Edinburgh Printmakers in a collaboration with the National Institute of Design. This project involves the Edinburgh Napier University, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh College of Arts and National Museums Scotland and aims to support young artists in developing skills through collaborative working.
We lead on several programmes promoting Scottish education in India through, and collaboration between the two countries. These include a partnership with Edinburgh Napier University led the South Asia Festivals Academy to develop international networks of Festival Managers in India, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Nepal and Sri Lanka. We also gave a global partnership grant worth £136,000 to five universities in Scotland in areas like STEM, sustainability and the Internet, and joined 22 schools in India and Scotland through our Connecting Classrooms programme, giving students from both countries an opportunity to learn more about different cultures with a focus on global themes like climate change.
The British Council is the UK’s international organisation for cultural relations and educational opportunities. As an organisation, we support peace and prosperity by building connections, understanding and trust between people in the UK and countries worldwide. We uniquely combine the UK’s expertise in arts and culture, education and the English language, our global presence and relationships in over 100 countries, and our unparalleled access to young people and influencers. We work with governments and our partners in the education, English language and cultural sectors, in the UK and globally to make a bigger difference, creating benefit for millions of people all over the world.
The British Council plays an important role in showcasing the creativity, innovation and values of the UK and its four nations to the world. Through our global network, we connect Scotland’s creative sectors with their counterparts overseas to showcase the very best of Scottish arts on the world stage through programmes such as Celtic Connections, and continue to bring the best of the international arts scene to Scotland. We support Scottish Higher Education institutes promote the strength and diversity of Scottish universities in the countries we work in, for example through our partnership with the Scottish Graduate School for Arts and Humanities and the EARTH scholarships (a post-graduate scholarship scheme) where the British Council will fund teams of artists and scientists to develop collaborative solutions to climate change. In countries where a Scottish executive office exists such as China and France, our Country Directors, arts and education teams share information and insight between the two offices to maximise on opportunities for Scotland, clarifying and assisting with upcoming priorities and occasions for collaboration on relevant initiatives.
Domestically we work with Scottish partners to expand the impact of major events held in Scotland to widen the breadth and diversity of the audience. The British Council-led programme of bilateral festivals and seasons provides a further opportunity for us to showcase work from Scotland. For example, this year’s Edinburgh International Festival included several major performances and events which were part of the UK/Australia Season and the UK edition of the UK/AUS Cultural Leadership Dialogue took place immediately after the Closing of the Summit.
October 2022