Creative Placemaking’: The Role of Creative Arts in Place
Caitlin Wallace completed the Inspire Graduate Scheme with Dumfries and Galloway Council in March 2023. Throughout the course of this program, Caitlin, situated within the Community Planning and Engagement Unit, became interested in the concept of creative placemaking after discovering What We Do Now (WWDN).
Though ‘Creative Placemaking’ was a relatively new term only a few years ago here in Scotland, the concept, first established in America, has been gaining traction as Place moves higher up the national agenda. Caitlin, working closely with WWDN to understand the term and how it can be utilised for community-led planning and development, specifically as a tool for communities to develop their own Local Place Plans, spent time interviewing artists, local authority representatives and community workers about their approach to working with communities.
Caitlin Wallace
The findings from these interviews form the basis of Caitlin’s Graduate Research Project entitled: “‘Creative Placemaking’: The Role of Creative Arts in Place.” The report, developed through a partnership between Dumfries & Galloway Council, The Place Planning Partnership and The Stove Network looks at how local authorities, place partners and creatives can work together to contribute to community-led place planning.
Caitlin, now employed as a Community Learning and Development Worker, would like to thank Dumfries & Galloway Council’s Jamie Ferguson, Community Development and Empowerment Manager, What We Do Now’s Katharine Wheeler (Partnership and Project Development), and The Stove Network’s Matt Baker (CEO) for all their help and support with her Graduate Research Project.