<aside> 🌳 In Vancouver, the polycrises converging the climate crisis, housing crisis, and opioid crisis, underscores the urgency of discussions around social and climate justice. These multifaceted crises present complexity that cannot be addressed by reports and policy alone.
Amidst the entanglement of challenges for the community, culture and arts emerge as critical forms of advancing conversations and community building, and fostering resilience in the face of crisis. Historically, cultural expressions and artistic initiatives have played a “significant role in facilitating discourse on pressing societal issues” representing the relevance to climate and social justice (Kagan & Kirchberg, 2018). Culture and arts can host emotional expression, storytelling, and dialogue, which are essential components to unlearn the cultures of un-care rooted in neoliberal exceptionalism and the polycrises (Weintrobe, 2021). Furthermore, community engagement through arts and culture strengthens social cohesion, an integral element of building resilience (Chavis & Wandersman, 1990). The intersection of crises in Vancouver demands alternative approaches to address the intersectional challenges of social and climate justice. Culture and arts provide a powerful means of initiating conversations, building community resilience, and mobilizing collective action in response to these crises, as supported by academic research and the lived experiences of the community.
The City of Vancouver has launched a Culture Shift plan and Equity framework that places the arts and culture as progressively more inclusive of Indigenous peoples and considering justice, equity, diversity, decolonization and inclusion (JEDDI). We find that there is a gap in bringing the urgency to build communities resilient to social and climate issues (City of Vancouver, 14). Programming and community-building efforts through arts and culture focused on social and climate justice can take JEDDI efforts forward in the City of Vancouver.
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“Robust citizenship education centers on the ability of educators (and education systems) to engage learners in controversial and value-related issues with a high level of attention and skill (Bickmore and Parker, 2014; Lo, 2017). This requires investment, time and supportive cultures for developing these abilities across the system through policy, leadership and implementation.” (Vamvalis,2023)
| Implications | Vancouver context | Challenges to Culture & arts. |
|---|---|---|
| Economy | Income inequality, high costs of living, lack of free culture and arts | High barriers for people to access culture and arts spaces. Disproportionate/ racialized representation. |
| Climate | “Climate emergencies may create unprecedented loss of cultural space and a displacement of the artists, creators, and cultural workers that make cities dynamic and lively places” (Vancouver Culture Plan, 2020) | Wildfires smoke, sea level rise, climate migration, climate and eco anxiety further isolating people |
| Political Structure | Routine change in municipal, provincial, and federal governments | Changes in funding, policy, and implementation of arts and culture |
| Religion | Highly diverse religious groups throughout Vancouver with differing views and interpretations of social justice | Makes it harder to implement widespread arts and culture programming in accordance with all religious views |
| Gender | Gender inequality in Vancouver cultural spaces… | Lack of representation and voices from women and LGBTQ+2S |
| Demographic | Population turnover in the city presents the lack of belonging and lack of political engagement necessary for social and climate justice (there is a data gap about this). Gentrification (Hogan’s alley in downtown Vancouver)… | Constantly changing public, lack of political engagement in climate and social issues due to turnover, gentrification displaces people, destroys community fabrics, leaves people unhoused, threatens communities with thriving culture that are usually racialized |
| Regional differences | Vancouver has a lot of cultural change potential as a cinema hub: VIFF, VLAFF, KDocsFF (Social Justice Film Festival), etc. | Inaccessibility, there is space for discussion but it is still quite top down, how can we in our programming create more inclusive discussions rather than panels |
<aside> ✊🏽 While the city of Vancouver has various social and climate justice issues that are being documented, there are also a lot of data gaps making it harder to draw direct connections between the lack of culture and arts focused on social and climate justice issues. In various areas, The City of Vancouver reported increased racism, discrimination, and violence from 2014-2021. This statistic highlights the need for culture and arts centred around social justice. Racism and discrimination are complex and daunting topics to discuss with the public therefore culture and arts can play a crucial role in engaging these conversations and changes.
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<aside> đź«‚ The City of Vancouver also reports an overall 60% weak sense of belonging across age, race, household income, sex, and education in 2021 moving up from 40% feeling a weak sense of belonging in 2020. Arts and culture programming works to increase sense of belonging and build community. The Community Foundations of Canada found that arts has the power to build a greater sense of belonging in communities (2017).
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<aside> đź‘Ł According to the Canadian Council for the Arts (2021), 7/10 Canadians consider arts and cultural events to be important to their quality of life. However, this statistic presents a notable gap since it excludes non-Canadians, constituting approximately 20% of the population. Immigrants, a substantial portion of this excluded group, are among the most vulnerable to the climate crisis and social injustice. Therefore, comprehensive data encompassing the entire population residing in Canada is imperative to gain a comprehensive understanding of the role of culture and arts in the lives of all individuals and to address the urgent concerns of social and climate justice.
Furthermore, the same study by the Canadian Council for the Arts (2021) highlights that Indigenous and racialized people are most likely to feel they do not belong in cultural facilities. This significant finding underscores the importance of culture and arts that are relevant to social and climate justice. Representation and inclusivity in cultural institutions are essential to address the disparities and promote a more equitable society, particularly in the face of climate and social challenges.
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<aside> 🧿 The cultural economy stands as a vital pillar of British Columbia's economic landscape. Comprising approximately 2.5% of the province's Gross Domestic Product (GDP), the cultural sector's contribution is strikingly significant, rivalling other prominent sectors such as mining, oil, and gas. Currently, 4% of jobs in British Columbia are in the cultural sector representing the importance of the sector to people’s livelihoods. This economic footprint underscores the undeniable importance of the cultural industry in BC's financial stability and growth, it also represents the opportunity to address social and climate justice issues through arts and culture. As we embark on a Just Transition we need to expand economies such as the care and culture economy. Studies have also found Vancouver’s audience to be the most interested in new experiences and with the most attendance to cultural events in Canada, reinforcing the viability of increasing culture and arts programming with social and climate justice lenses.
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(City of Vancouver, 24, 2020)