A new guide, The Art of Renewal: A Guide to Thinking Culturally About Strengthening Communities, has been launched to assist people in strengthening their communities through arts and culture. EXTRACT: This Guide has been developed to assist local area planning in the community renewal process. The Guide has relevance regional arts councils, local government planners and cultural development officers, and arts and cultural development workers in renewal areas. However, it is also intended to be useful to the wide variety of residents and organisations involved in neighbourhood planning, community cultural development and creative practice anywhere. The purpose of the Guide is: 1. to encourage communities to integrate cultural considerations within the broad processes of planning and decision-making for local areas; and 2. to promote the implementation of creative practice. The Guide is presented in four parts. Part 1 explains culture and creative practice and how inclusion of cultural identity and creativity on the planning agenda can benefit local communities. Part 2 proposes a series of exercises that groups can undertake to explore their community identity, audit their cultural resources and plan effectively to strengthen communities and promote cultural vitality. Part 3 describes a variety of creative practices which can be effective in community cultural development. Part 4 provides some useful information about terms commonly used, potential funding sources and organisations which may help in the planning and implementation of creative practice. For further information, CLICK HERE.