About Us

Across Canada, many villages, towns, boroughs, hamlets and outports need creative approaches to assist their transition from resource-based settlements to diversified, creative economies. We believe that small communities that successfully navigate these transitions will play a pivotal role in redefining Canada’s national cultural identity, as well as its future economic success.

The social, economic, environmental and physical legacy of resource closure can be huge. The solutions are often incremental, individual, uniquely contextual and focused on sustainability. In a word, the solutions are small. They are also highly collaborative. We aim to profile the people and places that are navigating these changes, to connect and facilitate best practices.

small is an independent network of local and national affiliates, often promoting unconventional partnerships to reach new solutions for rural communities, all rooted in unique cultural heritage.  small facilitates the adaptive reuse of landscapes, communities and buildings in order to re-envision the community planning process. small is focused on leveraging cultural heritage values and assets, in order to support liveable communities first. We profile some locally-developed initiatives that characterize these livable communities on this site.

We believe a cultural migration is happening in rural Canada. While original settlement patterns can still be traced across the country, based largely on resource extraction, we now see resettlement patterns emerging. These patterns are based on something quite different. While the ties to the land remain strong, quality of life is the key driver in resettlement. The search for improved quality of life has created a wave of cultural prospectors who are drawn to the cultural heritage of small communities, to sustainable, place-based economies and entrepreneurial, small-scale, community-driven intervention.

The decline of a resource industry affects individual residents, industry groups, regional, provincial or territorial governments, unions, affiliate suppliers, the local service industry – the list goes on and on. Each of these sectors has a role to play in regeneration and the support of livable communities.

The transition from singular usage to a diversified economic model – which remains site-specific – requires a unique method of opportunity identification. It must be sensitive to existing cultural heritage and adaptive reuse, focused on place-based economic models, and have input from residents, businesses, trade groups and governments.

 

 


 

Culture of Small is a not-for-profit corporation, registered in Ontario as “a community development and research organization for the purposes of:

a) Advancing rural community sustainability by engaging public policies and private initiatives, individuals and investors, and urban and rural areas to identify, catalyze, and support new cultural economies;
b) Curating and producing events, workshops, conferences, and cultural spaces for the purpose of contributing to rural cultural heritage, community revitalization, sustainable development, and place-based economies;
c) Studying and fostering sustainable placemaking practices sensitive to local cultural heritage, to support community-led revitalization and regeneration objectives;
d) Developing and supporting networks of cultural producers to share best practices and leverage regional strengths toward community economic development and broader market access;
e) Such other complimentary purposes not inconsistent with the purpose of the Corporation.”

The current Directors are:
Philip Evans
Joe DiStefano
Samantha Irvine
George Carothers