Montréal’s hyperlocal cultural policy keeps an eye on the big picture

The Purpose
The goal is to enhance the Cultural Neighbourhoods program in Montréal by exploring different options of shared governance models for the local delivery of culture. This includes sharing responsibility between municipal administration, cultural organizations and civil society, as well as addressing diversity, equity and inclusion.

The Challenge
A key policy and planning priority for the City of Montréal is to strengthen citizen engagement and shared governance of neighbourhood and community-level cultural policy. The existing municipal governance frameworks have not been structured in a way that allows for effective shared governance on a borough level, leading to limited reflection and planning on simplifying governance processes, sharing expertise and resources between boroughs, and engaging stakeholders and local communities.

In the Verdun Cultural Quarter project, the co-creation workshop approach encouraged innovative thinking with partners and emphasised the need for inclusive and scalable approaches.

The Solution
The Cultural Neighbourhoods program, launched in 2021, is a partnership and collaboration between:

• Montréal’s Culture Department, which provides support to local boroughs and organised co-creation labs and workshops with three different boroughs, bringing stakeholders together.
• The local boroughs, which co-develop the cultural quarters with internal and external stakeholders.
• Universities and research groups, that undertook research around the implementation of a governance framework for the development of the Cultural Neighbourhoods program.

In the Verdun Cultural Quarter project, the co-creation workshop approach encouraged innovative thinking with partners and emphasised the need for inclusive and scalable approaches.

The Impact
Key challenges of the project included how to decentralize hyperlocal cultural policy while connecting to Montréal’s broader cultural policy and navigating stakeholder involvement within boroughs, as well as strengthening work between boroughs. Plans and support are being prepared for a second cohort of boroughs.

Source: World Cities Culture Report 2022

Images Courtesy © City of Montréal