How can cross-sector collaboration between artists, community development initiatives public health, and public policy lead to innovative solutions to global challenges?
Community Based Solutions
Creative collaborations are important for formulating community-based solutions because it allows us to see a more comprehensive picture of the different forces that shape our lives. The need for all stakeholders from different sectors in the community to convene and work together through multi-sector collaboration is important to create a shared vision and value, foster collective action and greater participation that increase better success rate, ensure the benefits spill across all stakeholders and prevent the exclusion or prejudice of marginal members of community. Here are some ways on how cross-sector collaboration within the community result to innovative solutions to some global concerns.
Sustainable Development and Climate Change
Achieving sustainable development and addressing climate change requires a collective effort but starts within an individual. Cross sectoral collaboration helps in changing the lifestyles of individual persons and encouraging their fair share to help mother earth in their individual capacity as well as in community based initiatives. Art essentially serves as an education channel for information dissemination. One such information can be about public health promotion of organic food and farming which in turn can be supported and sponsored through public policy. Organic farming entails community recycling and prevents the use of chemicals which has direct impact of public health and environmental protection.
Crime and Discrimination
Sectoral collaboration in the community can also help curb global issues of crime and discrimination by fostering stronger social cohesion in the community. The institution of local art for instance help communities create a collective identity which help inculcates pride and sense of belonging to community members. Public policy can institute annual festivals featuring and highlighting on the ethnic ad social economic diversity of the community in order to foster civic participation and pave way for community participation in other civic agenda or projects. Greater social cohesion nurture equality, promote interaction and understanding which are factors that help curb crime and social discrimination.
Poverty
The aforementioned strong social connections are fundamental elements to achieve economic success for curbing poverty. Instituting backyard farming also through public policy in the community can also help fighting hunger. Moreover, cross sectoral collaboration is important in initiating economic activities for community progress that will in turn help curtail the incidence of general poverty. Cross sectoral collaborations allow communities to identify new business development opportunities through referrals and cooperative efforts to build new economic spaces, events and business such as art exhibitions, local performances, among others. Collaborations can also result to inter-sectoral job creations that provide employment opportunities or volunteer work to make people critical assets of community.
Health
The connection of public health, arts and culture, public policy, among others help create healthier communities and reduce health inequalities. Arts is conventionally used as an educational vehicle for health promotion in communities. Engagement in art also serves as therapy in promoting wellness and recovery, empowering people, invigorating depressed communities as well as dissuading public health menaces like drug addiction, smoking, alcoholism and domestic violence among others.
As shown in the above instances, cross sectoral collaboration is essential in order to understand pressing issues in a more holistic manner by learning all the stakeholders and the systems at play in problem. This also results collective effort and unity to resolve issue which is more efficient.