What do you love about place you live?
That’s what the City of Port Alberni and Vancouver Island University are hoping to find out this Saturday, April 9.
“Where is Here is a cultural mapping event that’s being put on by the City of Port Alberni and Vancouver island University,” said city economic development assistant Stephanie Stevens.
“It’s coming together to help illustrate people’s connection to their communities.”
“The deep cultural map is about developing a rich content tool that taps into the lifeblood of the community and the mainstream of the creative economy. This goes beyond bricks and mortar and looks at ways in which communities behave and interact in space,” said project coordinator, Sharon Karsten.
Port Alberni isn’t the only city that VIU has culturally mapped—they’ve done both Courtenay and Nanaimo already.
“They did just did Nanaimo last week and they had just over 20 participants,” said Stevens.
“They said it was a really big success and they’re just working now on uploading the videos and then they’ll plot it onto a map for the community.”
Having Port Alberni residents tell the world what they love about their community achieves something that brochures and ferry rack cards cannot, said Stevens.
“This adds a layer of depth to our community and helps showcase the different stories that people have,” she said.
“Our people, our residents are one of our best assets and I think this is a good way to show that and have the significance of what’s culturally available in the town illustrated.”
The initiative will highlight two sections of the community—Uptown and lower Johnston Road.
“We’re inviting people to come out during the day and tell their stories about the city.”
Interested residents can meet at either Char’s Landing at the corner of Fifth Avenue and Argyle Street or at the soon-to-be opened Twin City Brewing at the corner of Margaret Street and Southgate Road. Spots to be culturally mapped must be within a 15-minute walking distance of either location.
Anyone wanting to take part should e-mail sharonkarsten@live.com with their preferred location, a short blurb on why they feel connected to that spot and a preferred time slot—either 10 a.m., 11 a.m., 12:30 p.m. or 1:30 p.m.
Anyone wanting more information can call Stevens at 250-720-2835.
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