Who would have thought that “love” might become a key force in the economy of cities, much less a prime force? Yet, over the last decade, two epochal urban challenges – competitive and environmental – have come together that cities can only respond to if their citizens are solidly on their side; if they love their city. Larry Beasley will argue that responding to these challenges will take a new approach to city building that he calls “experiential planning”. This involves delivering cityscapes that people will truly desire and fall in love with and prefer over unsustainable forms. He will outline how cultural and heritage efforts are essential to engender urban affection in the harsh contemporary city and he will cover some common pitfalls that limit the effectiveness of these programs; pitfalls related to the building of new arts institutions, facilitation of public art, sponsorship of cultural and community programming and preservation of historic buildings. His presentation provides the conceptual framework through which cultural and heritage initiatives can be understood as pivotal for economic development and sustainability. He concludes that “love” may be the spiritual equity that makes all the difference toward success or failure in the survival and robustness of our cities in the future.

 

Session C was a workshop presentation designed to provide an opportunity for CCNC members to give feedback  and suggestions regarding the relevance, scope and functionality of the Public Art Toolkit which is currently being produced. The CCNC will be adding to the collection of practical guidebooks by partnering again with 2010 Legacies Now and developing a Public Art Toolkit. The toolkit which will be available early in the new year will serve as a key reference resource - communities will gain enhanced knowledge on planning and maintaining public art projects and programs, and will develop better capacity to deliver such projects and programs. Download the Session C Summary (PDF, 384 KB) Disponible en français (PDF, 376 KB)

 

Session D on Heritage Interpretation, led by David Plouffe (Calgary, AB), David Seabrook (Fredericton, NB) and Peter Pacey (Fredericton, NB), gave attendees a sense of what heritage interpretation is and how to go about it. Through an engaging and interactive presentation which took attendees on a quick heritage walking tour, they were given an understanding of the key principles of interpretation, learned how to move beyond presenting factual information, and learned how to connect people to heritage places.The Heritage Interpretation presentation is available for download (PDF, 3.1 MB). Note: The ideas in this presentation were adapted from the work of Joan Lawrence and David Plouffe (Calgary, AB). Download the Session D Summary (PDF, 372 KB) Disponible en français (PDF, 372 KB)

 

Session E showcased three successful Call for Presentation submissions. The CCNC invited academics, researchers and/or cultural practitioners to submit an original research paper, case study or recent planning initiative for presentation at CCNC 2009. The topics chosen by the planning committee were varied - from 'Cultural Tourism: A Place-Based Approach' from Steven Thorne to Youth Engagement through Arts and Culture from the Collingwood (ON) Public Library, and the Culture Days movement from Montréal aiming to reposition arts and culture in the public eye. Download the Session E Summary (PDF, 2.3 MB) Disponible en français (PDF, 384 KB)

 

Steven Thorne's presentation 'Cultural Tourism: A Place-Based Approach' is available for download (PDF, 1.2 MB) as well as his article from Municipal World titled 'Place as Product - A Place-Based Approach to Cultural Tourism' (PDF, 416 KB).  

 

The Culture Days presentation (digital version of handout) is available for download (PDF, 600 KB) as well as an information sheet (PDF, 88 KB) and their presentation for CCNC delegates (PDF, 1.4 MB).

 

The Collingwood Public Library presentation is also available for download (PDF, 52 MB).