We've made an organizational commitment to growing the practice of creative placemaking globally. Our ambition is to mainstream this practice over the next five years, working both within Canada and internationally.
Within Canada, we teach a university course through the University of British Columbia on creative placemaking. We have a mentorship and coaching program that helps communities interested in these activities advance cultural hub developments.
Currently we're working with the folks in Halifax around repurposing the old convention centre into a community cultural hub. A few years ago, we created a sister organization in Vancouver called B.C. Artscape, which is using the same kinds of principles in that community. In about a month, in early June, we're playing host to a conference in association with the World Cities Culture Forum. It's a study tour in Toronto that will bring together 50 leaders from cities around the world and across Canada to look at the innovations in making space for culture and leveraging culture for change in urban development.
I would say that in a rural context the principles of our work are equally applicable. The idea of clustering creative people together can have an impact in a rural context equal to the impact in an urban one. Look at the great success of what's happened in Prince Edward County, with putting together the winemakers, the beer makers, the cheese makers, and the artisans. They are there in a place that used to not have much of an identity. That's an example of how this principle of clustering, bringing people together in a rural context, can have a profound impact on both the local economy and the identity of the place.