Monday, at its regular meeting, Council was provided with an update on the process.
In terms of background, Lisa Washington - Manager of Community, Culture & Heritage, with the City, told Council culture is an important facet of city life.
“A municipality is responsible for planning ways to ensure quality of life for its residents,” she said. “While roads, education and even sewers are a part of these plans, many municipalities are finding that an increased focus on municipal cultural planning can have a huge impact, and give them an extra advantage in future growth and stronger communities. According to the Creative Cities Network, municipal cultural planning is a process of inclusive community consultations and decision-making that helps local government identify cultural resources and think strategically about how these resources can help a community to achieve its civic goals. Cultural planning is a way of looking at all aspects of a community’s cultural life.”
In 2009, the City of Yorkton was the first Saskatchewan municipality to develop a Municipal Cultural Plan, which was a pilot project completed with SaskCulture.
City Administration is in the process of revisiting and refreshing our community’s Municipal Cultural Plan, with continued financial support from SaskCulture through their Community Cultural Engagement & Planning grant (CCEP). This grant aims to support research, community engagement, cultural planning, community investment and development, and collaboration and partnerships between various cultural organizations and community sectors that promote cultural vitality and economic sustainability, said Washington.
The CCEP grant has four phases:
* Research
* Engagement
* Development of a Culture Plan
* Implementation
In February 2020, Administration applied for and received funding from SaskCulture for the first phase of this process, the Research phase.
Furthermore, on February 1, 2021, Administration updated Council on the progress being made on this first phase of the process, said Washington.
At that time, Administration also requested and received Council’s support towards the second phase, Community Engagement. Administration was successful with the grant application and received further financial support from SaskCulture.
To-date Prairie Wild Consulting has prepared a draft ‘State of Culture Report’ which was presented to Council.
The draft Yorkton Cultural Plan 2.0 Stage 1: State of Culture Report is a snapshot of a specific time in our community and is a critical step for Stage 2 of the planning process, Community Engagement, said Washington.
This draft has been presented to, and accepted by the Recreation and Community Services Committee and the Municipal Cultural Plan Steering Committee.
“Administration wanted to inform Council about this planning process, and include their input for the final draft of the State of Culture Report, which will then be presented to the community at a future council meeting,” said Washington.
