Landscape Analysis of Distributed Governance and Cultural Programming Models

The deliverable will be a focused landscape analysis of approximately 8–12 strong precedents, primarily sourced from the contemporary art and cultural sector but also referencing giving circle and multi-member organizing models.

The research should prioritize models that illuminate the relationship between:

1. Collective agenda-setting
How do participating organizations, artists, members, communities, or other stakeholders influence what the institution or network works on?

2. Distributed programming
How does an agenda become a program? Who commissions, produces, hosts, or implements the resulting work, and how are responsibilities distributed?

3. Economic support infrastructure
How does money move through the model? How are membership contributions, pooled resources, sponsorship, grants, earned revenue, or other forms of support used to sustain the network and/or participating partners?

For each precedent, the research should capture the relevant organizational structure, participants, governance/decision-making mechanisms, programming process, financial/support mechanisms, and relationship between the central organization and its partners.

The analysis should identify:

* distinct model types or patterns;
* meaningful differences between approaches;
* mechanisms that recur across successful models;
* and examples where governance, programming, and economic support are intentionally connected.

The final output should be a research map and comparative framework, not a recommendation for Climate House.

Phase 2 will build from this landscape to assess potential fit, determine what a first-phase Climate House model could look like, and develop a phased organizational strategy.

Organization Mission

Climate House is a creative think tank using the arts to illustrate actionable pathways forward—and bring them to life. Our Mythos Embodied Climate: Climate change is not the abstract, technical issue it’s often framed to be–but a universal, ambient one experienced through our bodies and daily lives. CH communicates using universal sensory language, to reintegrate our understanding of climate change as real in the felt sense, and as a core defining issue shaping everything around us. Universal Sensory Language: By speaking this universal language of the senses, we can communicate in a language everyone speaks and understands. This helps reframe climate as an everyone issue–providing an opportunity for the general public to reclaim their agency in understanding it and engaging with its solutions creatively, collaboratively, and meaningfully. Culture-First: Culture is the fabric of daily life. CH uses a broad suite of cultural tools to meet people where they are, designing programming that is audience-tailored and culture-first, recognizing this as the carrier oil for engaging with more complex topics. Show-not-tell: Because seeing is believing, we design programs that show, not tell. All of our programs are seared with a blueprint, grounding solutions on the experiential plane, allowing our audience to feel solutions that are so actionable, they can taste them.