Call for Papers: Creative Construct: Building for Culture and Creativity

Posted by on September 17, 2007

International Symposium
Creative Construct: Building for Culture and Creativity

April 28 – May 1, 2008
Ottawa, Ontario, Canada

Call for Papers and Presentations
Deadline for proposals: September 30, 2007

We are welcoming proposals for panel discussions, presentations, and workshops

Symposium Overview

The Creative Construct: Building for Culture and Creativity symposium brings together participants from around the world to exchange the latest ideas and practices on the development of cultural and creative spaces; planning and investment strategies for cultural infrastructure and cultural districts; and collaborative approaches to enhancing the cultural vitality, creative potential, and competitiveness of cities and communities.

The international symposium includes keynote speakers, presentations, lectures, and various styles of workshops to examine the role and importance of cultural infrastructure in furthering culture and creativity in cities and communities. The symposium will bring together diverse resources and expertise, and foster an exchange of knowledge and experience extending from grassroots opportunities to international issues.

Key Objectives

? Create a dynamic knowledge exchange involving a diverse group of regional, national, and international participants including academics, urban planners, federal and provincial policy-makers, cultural practitioners, and community leaders.

? Advance our understanding of the complex and important role of cultural infrastructure within communities; exploring needs, challenges, opportunities, values, and benefits.

? Present the latest intelligence and introduce successful policies and practices in the areas of urban/community planning for cultural infrastructure, diverse investment strategies, and innovation in creative spaces including flexible/mobile and ?green? building.

? Establish policy ?road maps? for the future to help frame long-term thinking about ways the needs, challenges, and opportunities in this area can be addressed in the context of the growing importance of culture and creativity in the evolution of quality of life, human capital, and global competitiveness issues.

Key Themes

The symposium examines the latest developments, dynamics, and management ideas for cultural-creative community infrastructure. The symposium gives central importance to:

? Networking ideas and knowledge of cultural infrastructure issues and possibilities
? Showcasing leading-edge practices in realizing cultural infrastructure developments
? Understanding cultural infrastructure in relation to the economies and social dynamics of cities and communities
? Multicultural, First Nations, and interdisciplinary connections and opportunities

Symposium themes include:

? Contributions of culture to community and regional economies, social dynamics, and sustainability
? Communities? evolving needs for cultural infrastructure
? Dynamics involved in the development of cultural infrastructure
? Impacts of cultural infrastructure investments in cities and communities
? Integrated planning models and leading-edge practices in infrastructure planning
? Public-Private (and Non-Profit) Partnerships for cultural facility projects
? Synergies and impacts of creative hubs and incubators
? Green architecture in cultural/public buildings
? Heritage re-use/re-purposing for cultural-creative activities
? Connecting hard and soft infrastructure
? Creative and cultural tourism
? Understanding accessibility and the place of community engagement
? Policy/programs, mechanisms, and levers to address cultural infrastructure needs
? Reinventing the planning-policy-funding framework for cultural infrastructure

Proposal Guidelines

Abstracts of approximately 250 words must include the paper/presentation title, the name(s) of the author(s), affiliation, mailing address, phone number, and email address. The abstract should be concise and indicate the salient points of the paper.

Abstracts may be in English or French. Abstracts should be in the language the author will use to present the paper. (simultaneous interpretation will be available in some sessions).

Individual presentations will normally be 20 minutes in length. Conference sessions and workshops will be approximately 90 minutes.

Abstracts should be pasted into the body text of an email and sent to [email protected] by September 30, 2007.

If you have questions, please email: [email protected]

Please sign up for Symposium Updates to receive further information.

Further conference details are available at: