Toward a Shared Framework for Understanding and Measuring Rural Cultural Vitality in Canada
One of the most significant outcomes of the Future of Rural Culture Summit was the formal announcement of a new international collaboration between the Centre for Cultural Futures Canada and the Centre for Cultural Value (UK) and Nordicity.
The Centre for Cultural Value has received funding through the ESRC Impact Accelerator Account to adapt its Cultural Vitality Framework for use beyond the UK, working with partners in Canada, Australia, and Fiji. The framework has been an important model for understanding and articulating how culture contributes to community wellbeing, identity, and long-term resilience.
In Canada, this work will take on a distinctly rural lens.
Ron Ulrich, Executive Director of the Centre for Cultural Futures Canada, will be seeking practitioner-based funding to convene a working session at the Augustana Campus in Camrose in mid-2026. This gathering will bring together Stephen Dobson (Centre for Cultural Value), funders, national arts, culture and heritage organizations, Indigenous leaders, rural development practitioners, and community stakeholders to begin adapting the framework to Canadian rural realities.
The goal is not to import a model wholesale — but to co-develop an approach that reflects the lived experiences, cultural strengths, and structural challenges of rural communities across Canada.
Nordicity will serve as Canadian research and development partner, contributing expertise in social, cultural, and economic impact assessment. Together, this collaboration will help ensure that rural cultural vitality is supported by credible, shared evidence that can inform funding decisions and national policy conversations.
Over time, the digital infrastructure supporting Rural Cultural Vitality data will be provided through Microsoft’s Non-Profit program, allowing communities to contribute to — and benefit from — a growing body of rural cultural evidence.
We are grateful to the Centre for Cultural Value for their openness to international collaboration and to Nordicity for joining this work as a Canadian research and development partner.
This is long-game infrastructure work that will strengthen how rural culture is understood, measured, and valued — not only locally, but nationally. Subscribe to our newsletter to stay connected with the development of the Canadian Rural Development Framework.
What is Cultural Vitality?
Cultural vitality is central to understanding the cultural and artistic health of the places we live. It involves understanding the dynamic interactions between cultural activities and opportunities, participation, diversity, access, and infrastructure, which collectively shape the identity and well-being of our communities.
Cultural vitality encompasses not only formal cultural institutions but also everyday, informal and grassroots expressions of culture. Policymakers, funders and practitioners need tools that capture this full range of activity to inform strategy, track progress and demonstrate value across sectors such as health, education, local development and environmental planning.
