GUIDING PRINCIPLES
How we work- shared commitments
Deep Listening: We aspire to listen honestly and commit to not only being receptive to difficult truths but taking action in addressing them. We aspire to speak honestly and openly with each other. If you have any questions, feedback, or concerns, please contact us ([email protected]) and hold us accountable.
Make and Hold Space: Even well-meaning attempts to help can cause harm. For too long many critical voices have been silenced, ideas for change appropriated, and resources hoarded. We acknowledge that the work of the Pathways Program has the potential to continue these harmful trends and further impede the work we aspire to support. The Pathways Program seeks to amplify underrepresented voices, follow the lead of the individuals who are already doing the work to create change, and support reciprocity in all of our relationships.
Embody Equitable Relationships: This involves taking responsibility for how we work with others and how our work impacts the broader community. On an individual level, this means supporting respectful relationships with the humans we work with and whose support and ideas are essential to this project. On an organizational level, this means advocating for greater justice in terms of funding, power, and prestige within our sector.
Photo credit: Louis Bockner
Guiding Principles for the Project
Pathways is one piece of a larger puzzle: The Pathways Program is only one piece of a complex and multi-faceted approach toward a more equitable and accessible sector. It is not intended to replace the work that is already being done by others or the need for additional action, but seeks to work in synergy with existing and emerging programs, initiatives, and organizations.
Support a safer arts, culture, and heritage sector: The ultimate goal of the Pathways Program is to support systems change in British Columbia’s arts, culture, and heritage sector to make our organizations, programs, and spaces safer for the humans who work, volunteer, and participate in the arts.
No one-size-fits-all approaches: Every organization and individual have different lived experiences, contexts, interests, and needs. We aspire to meet participants where they are to co-create flexible program experiences and supportive learning environments that respond directly to the specific contexts of participants.
Learning-to-action: This program seeks to embed practices of learning and continual growth into participants’ work, their organizations, and the sector as a whole. Moving through cycles of learning, reflecting, and integrating knowledge into our work, acknowledges that this work is ongoing and must be focused on action.
