Check out the website for this unique, year-long cultural planning research project CoBALT Connects is leading.
The Expressing Vibrancy project arose out of CoBALT Connects' past and current consultation work. After noting the term "vibrant communities" - used often in municipal cultural planning documents, and always as a desired end goal of the work of cultural planning - it became clear that without a working definition and a set of tools to reach that end goal, the plans were incomplete. How do we build "vibrant neighbourhoods" that are economically prosperous, that provide purpose and activities for citizens, and that attract outsiders if we don't have a firm grasp of which factors, both tangible and intangible, contribute to vibrancy?
That's how the Expressing Vibrancy project was born. With a grant from the Government of Ontario through the Creative Communities Prosperity Fund, which partially finances the project, and strategic partnerships that align CoBALT Connects with some of the most innovative individuals, organizations, and technological equipment around, the project selected eight neighbourhoods in the City of Hamilton to act as testing grounds for the study, which, once complete, will be replicable nearly anywhere.
The Expressing Vibrancy Partners
- Dr. Jim Dunn, McMaster University, Acting Chair, Department of Health, Aging and Society
- Dr. Laurel Trainor, McMaster University, Institute for Music and the Mind's LIVE Lab
- The City of Hamilton
- Center for Community Study
The Eight Neighbourhoods
- Locke Street South
- Downtown Dundas
- James Street North
- Concession Street
- Barton Village
- Waterdown
- Westdale Village
- Ottawa Street
Get Involved
Volunteer opporunities for the LIVE Lab are coming up. Please get in touch with us for more information.
And don't forgot to explore Expressing Vibrancy's website for project updates and research findings.
