Since the beginning of 2021, there has been hard work in the culture, leisure and youth department in Boden. Schedules, invitations have been drawn up, external monitoring has been carried out and digital web meetings have been conducted with group after group. The purpose? To get an answer to the question of how the culture in Boden can develop.
When someone says the word “culture”, most people usually think of music, art, dance, literature, film or theater. It is a word that has many meanings and can describe almost everything in society to more specific phenomena. A cultural strategy, on the other hand, leans mainly towards two definitions. Culture in the form of aesthetic expressions and art forms and culture as meaning-creating activities that give us community and context.
– Culture is and gives us humans so much more than we think. It is the way we express ourselves, things we experience and the opportunity for us to develop both on an individual and societal level. It’s easy to think that you yourself may not be and take part in culture that much, but we all do that pretty much every day without even thinking about it, says Nina Uusitalo, cultural developer at Boden municipality.
Nina Uusitalo
She has been tasked with working out a new cultural strategy for the municipality that will apply to them for the next four years from 2022 to 2026. The purpose of the strategy is to highlight what needs to be done and prioritized to create an even more open and accessible cultural life in Boden.
The initiatives presented in the strategy have been developed together with representatives from the local cultural life, associations, professional culture creators, organizations and target groups such as young people and seniors. In dialogue meetings, the various groups have been able to highlight needs, wishes and challenges that they see in practice, arrangement and participation. All material has since been compiled and landed in five different development areas; an inclusive cultural life, good conditions for cultural creators, creative and increased collaboration, culture’s public spaces and meeting places and a more visible cultural life.
– Many of the development areas go into each other as, for example, it is difficult to separate an inclusive cultural life from the public spaces. It is like being able to both ensure that a place is perceived as attractive, safe and accessible for the public to take part in. Whether the people are practitioners or participants!
At the time of writing (in early November), the cultural strategy proposal is out for a short consultation round to gather views on the content. After a review of any answers, there may be some final changes before the proposal goes up to the Culture, Leisure and Youth Committee for approval. If the strategy goes through, it is in turn sent on to the municipal council for a decision.
– It is important that we get a current cultural strategy that shows what we have to work with in the coming years. We want a Boden that’s alive with even more exciting and thought-provoking activities, experiences and places that we can be proud of, she concludes.
Read more: Cultural strategy 2022-2026 | BodenXT
