Nuacht
14 Nollaig 2021
2021 on the Dublin City Cultural Audit and Map
In November 2020, Dublin City Council Culture Company launched the Dublin City Cultural Audit and Map project.
2021 was the first year of the data being live. So, what did we learn, do, discover in 2021 through the Dublin City Cultural Audit and Map?
Made in partnership with Dublin City Council, this project has culturally mapped Dublin city. It has the dual purpose of providing city planners with dynamic cultural information while they make strategic decisions about Dublin’s future, but also gives city residents and visitors information about cultural people and places. (The data lives in three locations - two are internal to Dublin City Council and the third location is the public-facing website, Culture Near You.)
A year of outdoor activities
We know that in order for people to trust the Cultural Audit and Map, the data has to be up to date to reflect the ever changing cultural landscape of the city. In 2021 we began actively reaching out to individuals, groups and organisations, inviting them to be counted as part of the Cultural Audit and Map.
Our definition of culture is broad and this was reflected back in the people, networks and organisations that joined the map this year.
Lots of outdoor activities reflected a year when being outside was the safest way to come together and local wellness and fitness groups, community gardens, tennis clubs, walking and climbing groups, as well as several new walking tours, added themselves to the map in 2021.
Our multicultural, talented city
It is important for the map to reflect Dublin as the multicultural city that it is, so we were delighted to receive new entries to the map that represent Latino, Arab, and Islamic culture.
We were reminded once again of the talent at work in our city as several visual artists, musicians, drag performers, photographers and artist studios added themselves to the map.
Science and technology is an important cultural outlet for many in the city, and this is particularly true for young people. Coder Dojos, makerspaces, and even a science festival all joined the map this year.
Community is at the heart of Dublin culture and we again saw that reflected with groups, networks and organisations from LGBTQ rights to commuinty clean ups and everything in between being counted as part of the Cultural Audit and Map.
Food and art
Several artisan food producers joined the map this year. From kefir brewers to chilli sauces and a distillery that doubles as a social botany project, we’ve been learning about the vibrant food culture in the city that also spans across food sharing initiatives and groups dedicated to minimising food waste.
In 2021, we also added the 82 permanent public artworks owned by Dublin City Council to the cultural audit and map so you can discover your nearest local sculpture.
Good data
In 2021, we put a policy in place to ensure we’re following best practice for maintaining the cultural database and making sure the data we hold is of a high quality and that it is consistent, accurate, and up to date. We endeavour to ensure good data hygiene at every stage of the data lifecycle, from entry to our database to archival.
We are committed to cleaning and reviewing the data on a rolling, ongoing basis.
Putting the data to use
This year, the Cultural Audit and Map data began to be used not only by city residents and visitors, but in some interesting projects too.
Early in 2021, Dublin City Council carried out research into the hard cultural infrastructure of the city, which will feed into the Dublin City Development Plan 2022 - 2028. We’re excited to see the data being used in this way, and taken into account in the city’s wider strategy.
Participants from the Active Travel Challenge, run by Smart Dublin, used the cultural audit data for their projects to encourage walking and cycling in the city.
We also began publishing open datasets to Dublinked (an open data source for the Dublin region) and Data.gov.ie (Ireland’s open data portal) so that suitable subsets of the cultural audit and map become widely available for use in further research and to increase understanding of the cultural life of the city.
Collaboration
This year, we worked with and were thankful for our colleagues and project partners for their technical support and ongoing collaboration.
We’re grateful in particular to our colleagues in IMGS, McCann Dublin and Dublin City Council (via their GIS and their Web Unit teams) for their ongoing technical assistance and to Smart Dublin, the Arts Office, and Dublin CIty Libraries in particular for their interest, engagement and assistance in the research efforts of the Cultural Audit and Map.
Get involved
We’re looking forward to building on the work already done, and continuing to grow this dynamic cultural database in 2022. We hope to gain a deeper understanding of how both the public and city policy makers are engaging with the map, and are excited to further explore use cases.
If you have a question about the Dublin City Cultural Audit and Map, an idea you’d like to share, an project for collaboration, or even just some thoughts you’d like to air, please don’t hesitate to get in touch with us via culturenearyou@dublincitycouncilculturecompany.ie
We look forward to hearing from you and look forward to seeing where the Dublin City Cultural Audit and Map can take us in 2022!
Discover More
Dublin City Cultural Audit and Map was made by Dublin City Council Culture Company in partnership with Dublin City Council to deliver Priority 2(4) and 3(1) of the Dublin City Cultural Strategy (2016-2021).
- Visit the map and discover Culture Near You
- Suggest an entry for the Dublin City Cultural Audit and Map
- All throughout 2021, we’ve been meeting people from the map for short Q&A interviews. Read more about them here.
- The Dublin City Cultural Audit and Map data feeds into the Dublin City Development Plan 2022 - 2028, which is currently in draft form. You can read the Development Plan and find out how to have your say, here.