Mainstreaming Culture in Local Government Planning

Abstract

This manual is designed to help Local Governments mainstream culture into the Local Government planning process. The manual can be adapted to suit the needs of the various Local Governments. How the manual was developed The manual was developed through consultation with selected stakeholders in eight Local Governments. It was informed by a comprehensive review of relevant literature on culture, culture and development, cultural and community planning and various national and international conventions on promotion, protection and preservation of culture. This was followed by actual training of key stakeholders and their participation in the process and feedback given helped to pretest and further improvement of the manual. How the Manual should be used The manual provides useful tools and guidelines on how to mainstream culture in local government planning. The manual suggests ways, and initiatives which could be useful and helpful in mainstreaming culture. It provides steps to be followed in mainstreaming and mechanisms for assessment indicators of performance on culture mainstreaming through Monitoring and evaluation. The users are encouraged to read all sections of the manual in order to understand the process of mainstreaming culture into the plans. What is contained in the Manual? Section 1 introduces the manual. It outlines the purpose, target users and the objectives of the manual. It also position mainstreaming in the global and Uganda contexts. Section 2 presents an understand of culture in Uganda, highlighting the elements and facets of culture in Uganda, distinguishing features of culture and cultural industries. Section 3 focuses on the relationships and linkage between culture and development and offers useful case examples. Section 4 presents an understanding of the mainstreaming process highlighting approaches, practical tips, initiatives, considerations in mainstreaming and also culture mainstreaming in Local Governments and concludes with some lessons to learn. Section 5 focuses on mainstreaming action framework for Local Governments and provides resource analysis. Section 6 presents the five practical steps for mainstreaming culture in Local Government that have to be followed by Local Government officials. Section 7 highlights the local and global legal and policy framework for mainstreaming culture in Local Government planning. Section 8 presents mechanism for Monitoring and Evaluation of culture mainstreaming process and outlines useful monitoring and evaluation tools. At the end of the manual, templates have been provided to assist users to apply the process of culture mainstreaming in local Governments planning. The annex to the manual provides some reference material and sources of information on the meaning of culture, the elements of culture, and the relationship between culture and development.