Reimagining Cultural Policy: Leading Change Across Governance Systems

Participants will gain tools to dissect cultural policy across local, provincial, federal, and Indigenous governance systems, engage with government cycles, and advocate for community-rooted priorities. The course supports leaders in reimagining cultural policy as a living, responsive framework for systemic change.

In this six-day course, participants will not only critically examine Canada's cultural policy—its colonial foundations, development, and ongoing systemic inequities—but also situate it within a broader international context by reviewing global trends and policy shifts. This program offers a space for bold thinking, critical reflection, and practical action—where participants can connect, challenge assumptions, and co-create a more inclusive and responsive policy landscape. Through dialogue, case studies, and international comparisons, the course creates a third space for Indigenous and non-Indigenous decision-makers to exchange worldviews, forecast funding futures, and develop advocacy strategies to influence policy and institutional transformation.

Program highlights:

• Unpacking the colonial foundations and lived realities of cultural policy
• Navigating multi-level governance structures
• Understanding funding cycles and identifying systemic inequities
• Applying human-centered and regenerative design to policy development
• Growing a toolbox/bundle rooted in responsibility, equity, and right relations
• Collaborating across organizations and sectors to drive systemic change
• Reimagining accountable cultural policy as a living, responsive framework for the future

Designed for arts, heritage, and creative industries professionals working in organizations of any size and across all art forms, including visual arts, galleries, museums, theatre, dance, opera, film, music, and literature.