- Click Here for Syllabus
- 6 Month Course Access
- Live discussions with instructors and peers
- For anyone working in placemaking/placekeeping, arts administration, community economic development, or government services
- Break between April 2 and Apr 9, 2023
This course explores how arts and cultural activities can be engaged to develop more equitable, inviting, and effective ways to involve community members in shaping possible futures.
Creative placemaking projects – or for that matter, most place-based projects – should not take place without extensive input from community members. The best public engagement strategies do more than just provide a forum for people to speak their piece. But traditional methods of engagement – such as meetings and surveys – can generate too few responses or may just engage the same people who say the same things. Also, the traditional methods of engagement may not generate the depth and breadth of knowledge you’re seeking. Public meetings tend to be inherently biased towards extroverts and tend to be dominated (if not hijacked) by participants who have hardened views on topics. Public surveys often don’t provide for a deep level of understanding and are inherently biased towards people who have strong verbal skills.
Each week is structured around a series of framing questions, with blended learning, peer discussion and exchange as well as practical activities to explore and develop critical positions on the themes of the weekly sessions.
Expected time to complete course: 3 to 5 hours per week
Learning outcomes
During the module learners will:
- Build a deeper knowledge of creativity and community engagement as placemaking/creative placemaking differentiation point from other place-based disciplines
- Critically engage with theory and practice of creative community engagement
- Develop an awareness of a range of creative strategies and tactics
- Develop an awareness of ethical considerations of working with communities in place
- Understand and articulate their own position on community engagement and apply this to their own practice
Topics covered:
- Placemaking 101 and the Production of Place
- Critiques of Engagement
- Creative Tactics and Strategies for Engagement
- The Ethics of Creative Community Engagement
- Developing a Creative Community engagement proposal for shaping possible futures
Learning methods
You learn by engaging in thoughtful peer exchanges led by the instructors, short exercises or assignments, and reflective writing. You can participate in live weekly discussions over Zoom or through a discussion board.
About the instructors
Cara Courage
Cara Courage is an arts and urban researcher, curator and commentator. She completed her PhD at the University of Brighton, UK, and has an urban arts career spanning over fifteen years, with her own arts-based placemaking practice and specialism in public engagement in the built environment.
She is the author of Arts in Place: The Arts, the Urban and Social Practice (Routledge, 2017), co-editor of Creative Placemaking: Research, Theory and Practice (Routledge, 2018) and the co-editor of Creative Placemaking and Beyond (Routledge, 2018), and co-editor of The Routledge Handbook of Placemaking (Routledge, 2021).
Anita Mckeown
Anita Mckeown is an award-winning artist, curator and educator guided and motivated towards co-designing values-based leadership through education and community processes. Working at the intersection of art, equitable placemaking and technology: Open Source Culture and Technology (ethical and ecological implications) and STEAM education, across a range of interdisciplinary projects, processes and partnerships.
She is co-editor of Creative Placemaking: Research, Theory and Practice (Routledge 2018) sub-editor The Routledge Handbook of Placemaking (Routledge, 2021)
For questions about the course, please contact Anita McKeown (MAILTO: smartlabskelligs@gmail.com ) For questions about the Creative Placemaking Advanced Leadership program, please contact Leonardo Vazquez (MAILTO: leo@cpcommunities.org)
About Creative Placemaking Advanced Leadership Deep Learning courses
Deep Learning courses in the Creative Placemaking Advanced Leadership program give you advanced skills and knowledge to help you make better creative placemaking strategies
In these interactive online classes, build your expertise through engaging discussions led by expert practitioners and scholars, and by exploring carefully curated ideas and cases. Each course includes live sessions with instructors and fellow placemakers, plus exercises and thought-provoking discussions that you can complete at your convenience. You also get the opportunity to get input and insights on your placemaking work from your classmates and the instructor.
Learn more about the Creative Placemaking Advanced Leadership program <<LINKTO: https://cpc.cpcommunities.org/cpal>>