Go where the people are

 If you like that genre of humour that we call 'Dad' jokes, you might have heard this one:

"Isn't it amazing how they manage to build hospitals where all the sick people are"

... or ...

"Isn't amazing how they build the roads where all the cars go"

You get the idea, so I won't labour the idea or prolong the pain. My point is, if you want to sustain creativity, and learning (beyond formal schooling, that is) I think you need in part to go where the people are. There will always be those who will make the effort, go out of their way, to take advantage of opportunities, to participate in creative or learning events or opportunities. But I'm not convinced that is the majority. Generalising our behaviour as a species, I reckon we tend to look for the easy way out, the easiest path, and if we think something's not easy, we are typically less likely to participate. Just depends on the motivation, our individual answers to that question 'what's in it for me'.

Then there is the issue of genuine ability to connect, to participate. I recall in the 90's when I chaired the kidsFest Trust in Ōtautahi, we took pains to try and get events out into the areas where we knew incomes were more limited. We also negotiated free bus services to try to enable children especially to travel to events. I have worked with many whānau and young people who cannot afford a bus ticket or have never ridden a bus and don't know how. It's easy to apply pākeha middle class values and expectations to these problems, missing the point that we are not all the same. We assume such things at our peril when we think we have a cunning plan that might address inequity of opportunity.

I have seen some interesting solutions to this problem.

As part of its 150th Anniversary celebration the University of Canterbury ran an event called  'Raising the bar'. They took 'talks' by members of their staff out into local bars around the city. I attended one at my favourite local brew pub. It was unfortunate that one of the speakers chose to humble himself before the architect of Ruthenasia, making the content farcical at times. However we can't all see things the same way, can we. My only question is whether or not they took any of these events to any of the local bars in the poorer parts of town. I would love to know ..

Then there is the fabulous  'Arts on Tour', something which I think has been defunded by the Arts Council, sadly. We were pretty regular patrons of the local events.

I recall one concert called 'The Four Chiefs', one of whom was Wayne Mason of 'The Fourmulya' fame with 'Nature'.

I'd never have thought I'd be sitting 3 metres from one of Aotearoa's iconic musical legends listening to him perform. 

Libraries are a great example of taking creativity and learning into their local communities. They have become much more than book repositories (they are still that however), they have become learning and creative hubs for their local populations. They organise and/or host a range of events, sometimes delivered by their own staff, sometimes delivered by external providers.

Organisations like 'Ako Ōtautahi-Learning City Christchurch', with their Learning Days festival, attempt to bring together a range of such providers under one banner ('Learning Days'), their events taken to places where people congregate like shopping malls, libraries, and streets. 

The thing is, we need more. These functions are not things that typically 'make money'. They are typical 'merit' goods, so they are under provided by producers, and we under consume them in the context of what gives the greatest benefit to society, if their provision is left to the market.

UC needs to run a 'Raising the bar' event every year. ArtsOnTour needs to have its funding fully reinstated. These things spark people's curiosity, and that's what leads to real learning.

If we want a 'learning city', a city that is creative and thriving, one of the things we have to do better at taking these opportunities out to people, we have to be where the people are, whether it's in cafes, libraries, bars, shopping malls, or bus exchanges, we just have to go where the people are, to make it easier for them to access these opportunities. 

'Like, that helps create the vibe .. maaaan'