Nancy Duxbury

Citizens’ participation in the Italian health-care system: the experience of the Mixed Advisory Committees

Background  In 1994, the region of Emilia‐Romagna recognized the importance of citizens’ participation in the regional health‐care system and recommended the institution of Mixed Advisory Committees in the health districts and hospitals with the objective of monitoring and assessing health‐care quality from the users’ perspective.

Including culture in sustainability: an assessment of Canada's Integrated Community Sustainability Plans

In Canada, a federally legislated requirement to develop Integrated Community Sustainability Plans (ICSPs) based on a four-pillar model of sustainability provides a good example of a procedural and substantive policy effort to encourage local governments to integrate all pillars of sustainability into their long-term planning. It also provides an opportunity to explore the conceptual and governance challenges that cities and communities face in implementing this four-pillar framework for long-term community planning. Focusing on the linguistic framing of the cultural dimension of this sustainability framework, this article explores the conceptual relationships between culture, nature, and development, as well the governance issues they pose. Then, it assesses the pragmatic integration of culture in ICSP guides and in actual ICSPs developed by cities and communities across Canada. It concludes with an overall analysis of the current status of these efforts and the key conceptual and governance challenges that are evident.

Cultural policies for sustainable development: four strategic paths

Abstract In the Sustainable Development Goals adopted by the United Nations in 2015, the role of culture is limited. We argue that culture’s absence is rooted in the longue durée of interplay among theoretical and policy debates on culture in sustainable development and on cultural policy since the mid-twentieth century. In response to variations in concepts and frameworks used in advocacy, policy, and academia, we propose four roles cultural policy can play towards sustainable development: first, to safeguard and sustain cultural practices and rights; second, to ‘green’ the operations and impacts of cultural organizations and industries; third, to raise awareness and catalyse actions about sustainability and climate change; and fourth, to foster ‘ecological citizenship’. The challenge for cultural policy is to help forge and guide actions along these co-existing and overlapping strategic paths towards sustainable development.

Measuring cultural value in Canada: From national commissions to a culture satellite account

In Canada, government initiatives for the measurement of cultural value can be traced to the 1949 Royal Commission on National Development in Arts, Letters and Sciences, and later evolved to include more empirical measurement with the Culture Statistics Program (1972) as well as research into the social dimensions of cultural investment. In 2009, Statistics Canada launched a four-year Feasibility Study to culminate in the creation of a Canadian Culture Satellite Account (CSA), an accounting framework to measure the impact of culture, the arts, heritage and sport on the Canadian economy. Taking account of both the recent and broader historical context out of which the CSA emerged, this paper examines its intended use and future plans. The CSA is a useful tool to the Government of Canada in supporting its activities related to the funding of culture, but this paper takes the position that it is not in and of itself a sufficient means for measuring the value of culture in Canada, and so it is best understood as part of a constellation of tools with differing but complementary approaches.

Introduction: cultural policies for sustainable development

Abstract Sustainable development has long conceptual roots, and international organisations have played a significant role in articulating the meaning of the term and the content of the dominant discourses. Within these frames, the concept of cultural sustainability tends to be diversely defined and operationalized. This article and special issue examine culture and sustainable development in ways that articulate and contemplate different roles for cultural policy.

Advancing Knowledge through Grassroots Experiments: Connecting Culture and Sustainability

Since 2006, hundreds of communities in Canada have produced Integrated Community Sustainability Plans, based on a four-pillar model of sustainability and developed in consultation with residents and stakeholders. These community-based experiments have developed models, knowledge, and insights about the place of culture in local sustainability. Both conceptual thinking and planning practices regarding the role of culture in sustainable communities were at an embryonic stage when these initiatives took place. The discussions, plans, and implementation processes have advanced both theory and “leading edge” practices with regard to culture and community sustainability, illustrating the importance of a robust relationship between research and practice.

Creative tourism: catalysing artisan entrepreneur networks in rural Portugal

Given limited research about how artisans become integrated into tourism, the purpose of this paper is to investigate the emergence of artisan entrepreneur–mediators who link artisans to tourism in rural areas and small cities in Portugal. Using social embeddedness as a conceptual framework, this paper views artisan entrepreneur–mediators as existing within an entrepreneurial ecosystem. The paper investigates their role within this ecosystem and how social networks influence the artisan entrepreneur–mediators’ roles in connecting artisans to creative tourism.,The paper is based on new (2017 and 2018) empirical evidence developed through two rounds of semi-structured interviews of five artisan entrepreneur–mediators.,This paper finds that artisan entrepreneur–mediators in rural areas or small cities take on multiple roles as networking agents who organize and offer creative tourism experiences, providing the missing link between artisans and tourists. An analysis of the nuances of the operations of these artisan entrepreneur–mediators suggests that high levels of social embeddedness within local rural communities are important in order for these neo-rural entrepreneurs to attain their goals.,Originality lies in the identification of a gap in artisan entrepreneurship literature in a rural context. It is the first time that a critical analysis of artisan entrepreneur–mediators who facilitate the link between artisans and tourism is carried out in terms of social embeddedness, their roles and connections to creative tourism, and types of community engagement.

Making It Real: Measures of Culture in Local Sustainability Planning and Implementation

On 15 May 2014, the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) and the Global City Indicators Facility (GCIF) launched the first official international standards on city metrics — ISO 37120 Sustainable Development of Communities: Indicators for City Services and Quality of Life. Cited as ‘an international standard for cities created by cities’ (Ng 2014, 2), ISO 37120 is a series of standard indicators for ‘a holistic approach to sustainable development in cities and communities’ (GCIF 2014, 18). It includes 100 indicators, of which 46 are compulsory core indicators and 54 are supporting indicators. They are structured around 20 themes, organised by City Services and Quality of Life. ‘Culture’ is one of seven themes within the latter category. However, no core cultural indicator is identified and only one supporting cultural indicator is listed: the percentage of jobs in the cultural sector (GCIF 2011).

Cultural development in cities: linking research, planning and practice.

Municipalities have always been key players in cultural development, assuming various roles to nurture and support a spectrum of artisticand heritage-based activity, to preserve and manage key assets and resources, and to create an environment in which cultural vitality can flourish and evolve. Until recently, however, municipal involvement in cultural development generally occurred “under the radar” within social planning, recreation/leisure, and economic development departments; through planning and development processes, and heritage programs and policies; embedded in bylaws, regulations and incentives; in the support and programming of festivals and special events; in commissioning public art and building civic art collections; through the development and direct operation of theatres, museums, archives, libraries, etc. These efforts often maintained a low profile, were seldom considered in a holistic manner, and were often constrained by limited resources and narrow perspectives that viewed cultural development as a non-essential “frill” of community life. This situation is now changing. While numerous resource and perceptual challenges remain, a sense of renewed opportunity can be observed.

Le Développement culturel dans les Villes : lier la recherche, la planification et la pratique

Depuis longtemps, les municipalités ont été des acteurs importants du développement culturel, jouant divers rôles afin de maintenir et soutenir un large éventail d’activités inspirées par les arts et le patrimoine. Les municipalités ont aussi joué un rôle de conservation et de gestion de richesses et de ressources culturelles. Enfin, elles ont contribué à créer un environnement où peut s’épanouir et se développer notre vitalité culturelle. Jusqu’à maintenant l’implication municipale en matière de développement culturel s’est déroulée à l’intérieur de services municipaux voués soit à la planification sociale, au loisir, à la culture et au développement communautaire ou au développement économique. Ces services utilisent des processus de développement et de planification, des politiques et des programmes patrimoniaux et culturels, le tout encadré par des statuts, des règlements et des mesures incitatives. De cette manière, les municipalités ont soutenu et encouragé la programmation de festivals et d’événements spéciaux ; elles ont promu l’art public et monté différentes collections d’art. Les municipalités ont aussi développé et pris en charge des théâtres, des musées, des archives et, bien sûr, des bibliothèques publiques et plusieurs autres équipements culturels. Cependant, ces efforts n’ont pas toujours bénéficié d’une grande visibilité. Ainsi, rarement ont-ils été abordés de manière holistique. De surcroît, ces efforts valeureux ont souvent été ralentis par des ressources insuffisantes et des perspectives à court terme, ou de courte vue, considérant le développement culturel comme une variable complémentaire de la vie de la communauté. Or cette situation est en train de changer. Même si de nombreux défis demeurent, on observe l’ouverture à d’intéressantes perspectives.