Imagine This: Report and Resource Guide
The Imagine THIS project was guided by People of Design (POD) in collaboration with Constructive Public Engagement. The work combines a traditional EDIA (Equity, Diversity, Inclusion & Accessibility) audit of what’s been done so far at Calgary Arts Development, with community co-design sessions that asked participants what could be done next.
The result is Imagine THIS: Calgary Arts Development’s internal EDIA audit, possible futures, and plausible actions resource guide. This is an open source, living document and will be updated.
This report and resource is registered with the Creative Commons. Others may remix, adapt, and build upon this work non-commercially, as long as they credit (BY) the attribution that follows and license their new creations under the identical terms BY (attribution) NC (Non-Commercial) and SA (Share Alike). For more information, email peopleofdesign22@gmail.com and visit creativecommons.org/about/cclicenses. This Report/Resource model was designed by People of Design. Co-written and co-researched by People of Design (POD), Constructive Public Engagement, with ideas and imaginings from the lived and learned experiences of citizen artists of Calgary, the Community Working Group, Cultural Instigators, Indigenous Advisory Circle, the staff of Calgary Arts Development and EDIA BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, People of Colour) consultants from across Canada. Design by ARToverMATTER Creative.
How to Use This Resource
This report is organized into sections of Then and Now, Possible Futures, Plausible Actions and Emerging Challenges to reflect the optimism and curiosity that activating change requires. This resource hopes to build on the momentum of EDIA initiatives already underway with Calgary Arts Development (CADA) and/or supported by CADA to meet the complex EDIA challenges facing the arts ecosystem in Calgary now. Rejecting the binary of success and failure, this resource celebrates some of CADA’s EDIA innovations while also being honest about the gaps in readiness that CADA, arts organizations and the community have.
We think of this as a continually growing resource for CADA, citizen artists and other arts organizations, art activists and funders, recognizing that even at the time of this writing, changes in policy and practice are in motion and may not be accurately noted here. People of Design, Constructive Public Engagement and all participating consultants sincerely wish that we all share the understanding that with EDIA work, none of us will ever get it right. All we can ask of ourselves is to make a commitment to stay curious, be willing to learn and change and practice accountability for when mistakes are made.
internal EDIA audit, possible futures, and
plausible actions resource guide.