Cultural planning and policy making with community

Cultural Planning

The Local Government Act 1983 made it clear that councils were expected to be more inclusive and consult with their communities in relation to policy and planning. Councils were also encouraged to support local community cultural development and arts activities.

As councils allocated more funds to the arts, better planning strategies were required to justify the expenditure and Cultural Planning became one of the means to do this.  Debra Mills also suggests that new cultural planning tools are required to assist policy makers and city planners, who are facing the economic decline of their cities. They realise that the arts could be used to ‘re-brand a city, attract new investment and skilled personnel, trigger urban renewal and boost retailing and tourism’. (Mills: 2004)

Jon Hawkes brings culture to the fore and puts it on a par with economic, environmental and social sustainability, he explains:

‘Cultural vitality is as essential to a healthy and sustainable society as social equity, environmental responsibility and economic vitality. In order for public planning to be more effective, its methodology should include an integrated framework of cultural evaluation along similar lines to those being developed for social, environmental and economic impact assessment.‘ (Hawkes: 2001)

The City of Port Philip agreed and has used this model in their own planning process, incorporating cultural vitality, and giving it the same status as the other three areas.  See www.portphillip.vic.gov.au/what_is_cultural_vitality.html

Defining Culture

Before we discuss cultural planning processes, we need to be clear about what culture means. One definition is provided by UNESCO:

‘Culture should be regarded as the set of distinctive spiritual, material,
intellectual and emotional features of society or a social group, and it encompasses, in addition to art and literature, lifestyles, ways of living together, value systems, traditions and beliefs’
UNESCO Universal Declaration on Cultural Diversity, 2002
www.unesco.org/confgen/press_rel/021101_clt_diversity.shtml

Cultural policy and your community

How do you make sense, in your community, of the complex world of cultural activity? Developing policy around culture is an important way to make a statement about your unique sense of place and the role of cultural and creative industries within it.

Local Government has gradually developed a focus on cultural policy development through their partnership with Arts Queensland in the Regional Arts Development Fund (RADF). Over a ten year period the awareness of the significant role of cultural activity in community has risen dramatically.

The work of the Queensland Arts Council has also been vital in this process. The energy of the volunteer members of Local Arts Councils is often the driving force. The performing and visual arts, and the partnership schemes that they bring, have enlivened regional Queensland.

Good governance means taking a leadership role in developing policies that are visionary and that match the aspirations of the community. Consultation is an integral part of creating such policy. In each place we need to ask:

• What are the aspects of the cultural and creative industries that are most relevant to this community?
• What are the strengths and the assets of this place and its people?
• What areas of creativity could best be stimulated to advance the individual artist and the wider community?

This means that each community needs to define this area for themselves and to identify realistic goals and strategies to take them forward. Just remember to always leave a space for the risk takers and the dreamers. Many an eccentric idea has proven a gold mine, or at least given us all a belly laugh that will be remembered long after the policy document has been filed.

Additional texts and resources

Hawkes J. The Fourth Pillar of Sustainability: Culture’s Essential Role in Public Planning. Melbourne. Common Ground & the Cultural Development Network. 2001.

Clark I. Sutherland J. & Young G. Mapping Culture 1995.  See bibliography of cultural texts - www.cultureandcommunities.ca/resources/bibliographies/cultural-planning.html

Mills D. Cultural Planning, Policy Task not Tool
www.ccd.net/pdf/art55_cultural_planning.pdf

Mills D.  An Overview of Cultural Planning .  Paper presented at “Cultural Planning with Museums, Galleries and Libraries” 5 November 2004 - www.mgnsw.org.au/files/resources/Culturaloverview.pdf

Williams D. Creating Social Capital.  University of Illinois. 1995.

Andrea Young Planning Services. A Guideline for Integrating Community Wellbeing into Planning Schemes. 2001.

Heartwork: Great Art Stories from Regional Australia, Australia Council, 2004 www.australiacouncil.gov.au/publications/regional/heartwork