Essay: Building a Community Culture

Theme
1. Community culture is crucial to the survival of a particular community, providing the “glue that holds communities together” (p. 181). Culture in the meaning “way of life” sustains the communities, often arising out of struggle driven by a common purpose to preserve the community and guard it from dangerous external influences, for instance, protecting the geographic area from industrial activities.

The authentic community culture is the key to preserving the diversity, as opposed to imposing on everybody the uniform culture of the Global Village. Discovery of social and natural history of communities as well as cultural groups is essential to community building.

Theme 2. Community culture develops out of social history, “the collective memory of social experiences over time” that ensures continuance of experiences over time (p. 183). Heritage preservation is an important way to protect social history by preserving a way of life through cultural heritage resources such as Kensington Market in Toronto that render a place symbolic meaning.

Theme 3. Natural history is also an important determinant of community culture. Residents become attached to natural features of their environments such as “trees, birds, flowers, rivers and unique climate” (p. 187). An example can be the 100-year-old elm tree in Wolsely Avenue in Winnipeg. To protect the heritage of the community embedded in its natural history, it often takes restoration projects carried out with public discussion and approval. For example, at Forks, a unique natural area in Canada, the confluence of the Red and Assiniboine Rivers, the land was freed from railroads for the restoration of its previous look. However, the Forkc Renewal Corporation responsible for the project, wants to use if for commercial purposes building revenue-generating structures that are out of sync with the history and meaning of the place. In contrast, the local people want a multicultural centre. It is necessary to preserve the original meaning of the place, not develop it in a newer, modern way.

Theme 4. Canada includes vast variety of diverse cultural groups and prides itself on the acceptance of diversity. People from diverse cultures can be united in one whole through meaningful activities such as a local newspaper, an outreach program, planting a community garden, organizing local festivals, staging a campaign for some issues of local importance, community improvement projects, writing books about local history etc. A community hub such as the Carnegie Library in Vancouver or the People’s Center in Cedar Riverside in Minneapolis is another important feature for bringing members of a community together.

Working together on a temporary project that requires joint activity, such as land reclamation effort in Sundbury, Ontario, is another way to unite people and strengthen community ties.

Critical Thinking. The author makes a strong case for the preservation of the local cultures, assuming them the cornerstone of diversity. Using concrete examples of local initiatives and projects in various parts of Canada, the writer supplies plenty of evidence for the statements, showing how various aspects of community culture help build local communities. If you need professional writing assistance from experts, don’t hesitate to order a custom written paper about Community Culture online.