(CC) Alyson Hurt
The Knight Foundation recently shared the results of a 3 year study, “Soul of the Community” (SOTC) looking at what factors played a role in ‘attaching’ residents to their communities. This study focused on the definition of community as tied to a specific geographic location, investigating what make people love where they live. ArtPlace America also defines ‘community’ as inherently place-based in their 4 principles of successful creative placemaking:
- Define a community based in geography, such as a block, a neighborhood, a city, or a region
- Articulate a change the group of people living and working in that community would like to see
- Propose an arts-based intervention to help achieve that change
- Develop a way to know whether the change occurred
Why is community attachment important? According to the SOTC study:
“As noted in the study, people who are engaged in their community strove to make it a better place, they were both invested in it and a productive part of its economic growth. Attachment and love for a community strengthens social cohesion which in turn strengthens the overall functioning of the community. SOTC essentially identifies arts & culture as one of the main factors a community should look to when talking about community development, economic strength, and community engagement.”
Why do you love where you live?
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