SPOTLIGHT: City of Lethbridge Indigenous Placemaking Strategy
The City of Lethbridge’s Indigenous Placemaking Strategy was developed to imagine new opportunities for the Blackfoot and other Indigenous residents and visitors to feel more reflected, respected, connected, safe, and welcomed in their community, and to build bridges between all community members.
In May 2021, the Indigenous Placemaking Strategy was approved by Lethbridge City Council through the Capital Improvement Program 2022 – 2031. The purpose of the Indigenous Placemaking Strategy and Public Realm audit is to look at Lethbridge holistically, and discuss the following opportunities:
Renaming – finding existing public spaces that may currently have a name that emphasizes oppressive histories, may no longer align with our community’s values, or may not have been named using the lenses of truth, Reconciliation and inclusion. This project seeks to understanding where these public realm assets may exist, and make recommendations for City Council to consider.
Reframing - finding existing public realm assets and addressing the way they are presented and interpreted to the public to ensure education around local Indigenous cultures and histories, truth, Reconciliation and inclusion. Reframing is a potential tool to contextualize named places in our community, through truth-telling and education.
Placemaking - imagining new opportunities and venues for the City to acknowledge Indigenous Peoples' cultures and histories. These may be things like murals, public art installations, landscape design elements, public programming, heritage interpretation, etc.
Timeframe to Complete Project: 5-10 Years
Cost Range: varies
Key Words: community, public spaces, Intermediate, Public Spaces & Gathering Places, community engagement, community design, sense of place, arts, BIPOC, diversity, inclusion, race, placemaking, community values, indigenous
To learn more about the City of Lethbridge’s Indigenous Placemaking Strategy, click the button below.