City council wants residents to complete a survey about a proposed cultural action plan because that will better inform the city about citizens’ thoughts on existing cultural strengths and how to grow and enhance culture.
Coun. Crystal Froese raised the subject during the July 25 regular meeting while discussing the recent meeting minutes from the cultural diversity advisory committee.
“It takes a few minutes to fill out. It covers the whole gamut of questions to help us to compile much more information and to really get a feel of what our citizens are thinking and wanting around cultural assets here in our city,” she said.
“So I would encourage everyone (to fill out the survey). You can find the link through our social media and website as well.”
The survey is open now closes on Friday, Sept. 2. Visit www.surveymonkey.com/r/MooseJawCulturalActionPlanCommunitySurvey2022 to complete the questionnaire, which should take 15 to 20 minutes to complete.
The results will be shared with the community, but all participants’ identities will be protected, city hall says. There will also be opportunities to provide additional input through this process, so residents should stay tuned for more details.
Some areas on which survey focuses include:
- Favourite tangible and intangible cultural resources
- The past and current state of Moose Jaw’s culture
- Types of programs and activities participated in
- Main challenges to taking part in cultural activities
- Information sources about cultural events
- Cultural diversity
- The current sense of community
- Challenges that hamper cultural diversity and sense of community
- Achievement in the arts
- The adequacy of event venues and public spaces
- Cultural and economic development
The goal is to develop the cultural action plan in four phases.
The first phase is research and an initial community engagement and mapping activity; this occurred in 2021.
The second phase is engagement with the community on short- and long-term strategic goals and action items; that occurs this year.
The third phase is development of the cultural plan and its adoption; this occurs in 2023.
The fourth phase is implementation of the plan and evaluating its effectiveness; this occurs in 2023 and 2024.
The next regular council meeting is Monday, Aug. 8.
