News

From the RFP:

"The Town of Collingwood is seeking the professional services of a Consultant (or consulting team) having experience in the field of cultural mapping. The Consultant will develop a Cultural Map for the geographic region encompassing the Town of Collingwood, Town of BlueMountains, Clearview Township and Wasaga Beach. The Cultural Map will serve as a component of a Regional Economic Development Strategy and provide the foundation for future independent and collaborative municipal cultural planning.

The Cultural Mapping Project is one element of a Regional Economic Development Strategy, the purpose of which is to build upon the assets of the four communities, guide economic development decision making, and facilitate investment attraction and economic growth in the Region. The Project is funded by the Ministry of Economic Development and Trade."

The RFP is attached here.

Municipal Cultural Planning Incorporated is seeking a consultant with a proven track record in the research and development of planning and/or mapping guidelines. The consultant’s overall goal will be to produce an easy-to-follow resource providing guidance and direction on the planning and implementation of municipal cultural mapping initiatives. This document will be tailored  to municipal cultural planning stakeholders, elected municipal officials and senior municipal staff. This document will develop introductory guidelines for:
a.    The consolidation and maintenance of cultural resource data based on a defined cultural resource framework
b.    Strategies for connecting municipal policies and plans to cultural mapping in Ontario 
This document should be no more than 20 pages in length. MCPI will be responsible for managing the design, printing and distribution of the document. The document will be professionally designed for print and digital circulation.

Submissions are due to Emily Robson (emily.robson@ontariomcp.ca) by 5:00 on January 4, 2010.

Attached is the full RFP.

This post come from Kate, who attended the Placing Creativity Conference in June and who has been involved in MCP for a number of years.

On June 9-10, some of the best minds in the field of cultural mapping gathered at the MArS Centre in Toronto for the “Placing Creativity” workshop. It was powerful stuff. We were particularly fortunate to have pioneer thinker Colin Mercer on hand, all the way from the U.K..  In reflecting on progress I had made in my understanding of municipal cultural planning and mapping during the event, one of Colin Mercer’s points stood out: Cultural planning is not planning for culture.

“Of course!” I reflected—MCP is about applying cultural resources to address broad civic challenges, it’s about integrating culture into all municipal planning.  We all knew this, yet it was a clarifying statement, a pointed reminder.

While it was an enlightening comment for the practitioners in the room, the statement itself, to any uninitiated person, is simply paradoxical.

It led me to reflect that MCP is burdened by inadequate definitions, explanations and nomenclature. It’s something MCP cogniscenti have to address, if MCP is going to be taken seriously as a part of planning practice in Ontario.

What is MCP?

So what is municipal cultural planning?  read more »

MCPP welcomes Councillor Bill Glover to the Partnership. We are looking forward to having Bill's insight and experience at the MCPP table.

Bill Glover moved to Kingston in 2000 when he retired from the Canadian navy. He was elected to Kingston city council in 2006 for Sydenham District. It is a downtown residential area that includes the main campus of Queen’s University. He obtained his undergraduate degree in History from Queen’s. His MA and PhD are from the University of London (England). He was the editor of The Northern Mariner/Le marin du nord, a referred journal published by the Canadian Nautical Research Society, for five years. He has published in the areas of Canadian naval history, and the history of navigation and hydrography. He edited Charting Northern Waters for the centenary of the Canadian Hydrographic Service.

If you are interested in becoming a Partner, please email emily.robson@ontariomcp.ca

Business for the Arts is launching artsVest in another five Ontario municipalities!  read more »

The City of Thunder Bay has posted an RFP for a Municipal Cultural Plan on their website here. Proposals must be received by 4:00 PM on September 30th. The appendix to the RFP describes the project thus:

"The City of Thunder Bay is requesting the assistance of a Consultant team to develop a Municipal
Cultural Plan. The Plan will consider specific public needs and provide the City with a focus for
future cultural development. Its format and recommendations will be unique to Thunder Bay.
The City of Thunder Bay recognizes the important role of arts and heritage in the community and
is ready to proceed with a process to formally identify and address cultural needs and assets."

Congratulations to Thunder Bay on moving forward with MCP. In April 2007, Thunder Bay was one of three location in north west Ontario for a MCP workshop. It is clear there is a lot of enthusiam and committment to this process in Thunder Bay!

The House of Commons’ Standing Committee on Finance has begun pre-Budget consultations for the next Federal budget, details are in the committee’s announcement here.  The questions Canadians are being asked to consider are:

1. What federal tax and program spending measures are needed to ensure prosperity and a sustainable future for Canadians from an economic, social and/or environmental perspective?

2. What federal stimulus measures have been effective and how might relatively ineffective measures be changed to ensure that they have the intended effects?

While those interested in appearing before the committee had to submit a written brief by July 31st, the first four sessions are online in video form here.  Hearings are happening across the country from Sept 14th to October 21.

A number of culture stakeholders have already presented their views on federal arts/cultural spending – see list below. The full list of witnesses from which this has been extracted is attached at the end.  Those appearing to date have published parts or all of their written submissions.  read more »

Because both present material that informs and entertains.  A documentary festival is like the non-fiction section of the public library.  Too many topics are covered to allow quick description or glib guidance.  Different people will like different items and will have a variety of reactions.  What one person will find useful, another may find funny and yet another will find of little interest.  With both, though, there is something for everybody.  All you need do is explore.

And William Shatner will be here in person Thursday, October 22, 8:00 p.m. (Avon Theatre).

Explore DocFest Stratford, October 21 to 25 at Stratford City Hall (except for the opening & closing galas, which will be at the Avon Theatre).  The attached list includes descriptions of each documentary.

NO BOUNDARIES:  What would happen if students were given cell phones, digital video cameras, editing software, access to the Internet, some hands-on instruction and one day to create a digital movie?The answer is, creativity.  No Boundaries will be a one-day intensive digital media lab for students. 

Today, the Ministry of Culture, Aileen Carroll, announced $9 million will be available to municipalities and non-profit organizations that increase capacity  for Municipal Cultural Planning and community economic development. The Creative Communities Prosperity Fund will:

    * Provide municipalities with incentives and support to help them in undertaking MCP-related activities and integrate cultural planning with land-use planning, economic development, environmental responsibility and social equity.
    * Encourage innovative organizations and initiatives that strengthen Ontario’s cultural sector’s capacity to transform Ontario’s communities and economies through culture.
    * Encourage innovative new cross-cultural (e.g. heritage, arts, libraries and/or cultural industries) and cross-sectoral (e.g. culture, business, environment, social, etc.) partnerships and models to support the cultural vitality, creativity and economic sustainability of Ontario’s communities.

The need for funding is a common message MCPP hears from MCP practitioners and municipalities interested in MCP. With a new source of potential funding, the process of MCP will be accessible to more municipalities.

Want to read a MCP? Read London's, Chatham-Kent's and Prince Edward County's.


For additional information, visit: http://www.culture.gov.on.ca/english/Grants/creativecommunitiesfund/index.html

The Creative Communities Blog on the Knowledge Impact Society website, focuses on issues related to economic development in Eastern Ontario and specifically, how these issues intersect with the concept of the creative economy and creative community. The blog is led by Dr. Betsy Donald of Queen's University's Department of Geography.

As part of the working paper series, Ontario in the Creative Age, Dr. Donald published "From Kraft to Craft: Innovation and creativity in Ontario's Food Economy". At MCPP we have often looked to Prince Edward County as an example of a local economy with culture as a driving force. "Local Food Debates & Eastern Ontario Success Stories" addresses the potential of the Creative Food Economy as a potential economic development and tourism strategy. In Prince Edward County, artisanal cheese-making has been positioned within the "Creative Rural Economy". This positioning has to do with the long history of cheese-making in Prince Edward County and the use of milk from local cows, goats and sheep. The practice of artisanal cheese-making in Prince Edward County is very much tied to place.  read more »