Unlocking the creative potential of the Greater Shepparton community is the vision for the Creative City 2022-2027 strategy endorsed at Tuesday’s Council Meeting during the last meeting of the year.
The Creative City strategy was developed following extensive community consultation, and developed the vision “enabling creativity is all its forms to enhance liveability, economic growth and social cohesion”.
The draft strategy was presented to Council for endorsement at the August 2021 Council Meeting and released to the public for final feedback and comment. Nine submissions were received and the comments have been reviewed and the feedback has informed the final document.
Mayor, Cr Kim O’Keeffe said a strong message from the consultation is that Council should provide leadership, advocacy and facilitation to enable the community to deliver the outcomes.
“Council has created a Creative City Coordinator role to work with the community to guide the strategy with the direction and implementation being very much driven by community,” she said.
“Creativity is seen as being vital to shaping a city’s future. A creative city has the resilience and innovation to adapt and thrive in an ever-changing world.”
Project Board Chair and Manager Riverlinks Venues, Ken Cameron, said creativity should apply to all areas of endeavour, not just to the arts and cultural sectors.
“Many businesses and industries are creative by nature such as designers, media creators, manufacturing and architects, however they are often not recognised for their creative contribution or influence,” he said.
“Creativity also drives innovation in areas such as town planning, building development and engineering. All of this flows into making a city an attractive and rewarding place to live and work.”
There are eight key directions or focus areas in the Creative City strategy:
- Championing First Nations art and culture
- Ensuring the arts are for everyone
- Promoting active participation for all ages
- Celebrating diversity
- Supporting creative businesses
- Furthering cultural tourism
- Creating creative spaces
- Embedding cultural development across Council
An action plan which details objectives, tasks and key responsibilities will now be developed.
