Some interesting stuff

1. The Project on Regional and Industrial Economies at the Hubert Humphrey Institute at the University of Minnesota and their Arts Economy Initiative, and more including

--the report Artists' Centers: Evolution and Impact on Careers, Neighborhoods and Economies;
--and papers such as "The Distinctive City: Divergent Patterns in Growth, Hierarchy and Specialization";
--"The Artistic Dividend: Urban Artistic Specialization and Economic Development Implications"; and
--"Making the City Distinctive: A Guide for Planners and Policymakers".

(There are many more valuable resources on this website, which I've added to the links section on the right).



2. The City of London Ontario has an interesting Creative Cities Task Force, with an interesting Concept and Vision as laid out in their Creative City Task Force Report.

3. The Neighbourhoods blog in the UK has a nice post about libraries as "a stimulus and context for social interaction. One of the points in this debate is that it's not the use of public facilities that generates 'commmunity,' but the social interactions that build up around such uses." It includes a link to a report on community cohesion and public libraries, an article on The library as a meeting place' and a link to a UK libraries community engagement project, which will be releasing a report and a toolkit in a few weeks time.

4. The Province of Ontario Ministry of Culture has some interesting materials including the "Ontario Heritage Tool Kit" which is:

a series of guides that explain different aspects the Ontario Heritage Act, the Planning Act, the Historic Places Initiative, and related programs. It is designed to help municipal Councils, municipal staff, Municipal Heritage Committees, land use planners, heritage professionals, heritage organizations, property owners, and others understand the heritage conservation process in Ontario.



Seems like an interesting set of materials useful in explaining and laying out the value of historic preservation (in other countries this is often referred to as "heritage conservation").

5. This poster featuring historic sites in Ontario, a joint project of the Province of Ontario as well as the Canadian government is an interesting model for a poster on DC's local cultural heritage resources.



6. I have officially hit the point of information overload.

Index Keywords: arts-culture; libraries; civic-engagement