Recently, some of us shared a conversation about culture as a mechanism for social change and civic engagement with Bob Palmer, former Director of Culture and Cultural and Natural Heritage at Council of Europe. From this scope of practice and his experiences leading the European Capital of Culture projects in Brussels and Glasgow, he shared three key takeaways that might inform our endeavours…

There was a time Calgary was proud to be a host city and the mecca of winter sports in Canada, maybe even the whole world. But saying no to hosting the Olympics again and instead worrying so much about what it would cost made some of us think, “Okay, so what do we want?”

Talking about politics is not the same as “partisanship” or fixed positions. Open and meaningful debate, respectful airing of different views, and criticism of ideas with the intention of improved outcomes are important.

The work of Calgary On Purpose has been to discover and communicate a shared purpose for our city, built upon a culture of trust and empathy. The library event became our first attempt at breaking from traditional decision-making processes and truly listening to Calgarians.