Dr. Gregory (Greg) Baeker has worked in the cultural sector in Canada and internationally for close to 50 years. His first job was as a Historical Interpreter in The Grange, a historic house in Toronto. His last full-time assignment was Director of Cultural Planning and Development for the Department of Culture and Tourism – Abu Dhabi.
During his career, he has held leadership positions in Canada and internationally in five fields: museums, heritage policy, cultural policy, cultural management, and urban cultural planning. His international work has included work for UNESCO and the Council of Europe.
Throughout his career, he’s been guided by three values:
Culture – Not “Arts and Culture” - If you only have arts, you don’t have culture; you need (at least) the arts and heritage before you have culture.
Diversity and representation matter – Canada’s ethno-cultural and racial diversity is our strength, but this diversity must be better represented in our cultural and media infrastructure.
Place-based solutions – our constitution is upside down; people don’t ‘live in Canada’ they live in cities and regions. A sustainable cultural sector must be built into cities and city-building.
Baeker has published extensively and is currently read in 43 countries. He grew up in London, Ontario and lived most of his life in Toronto. He recently moved to Collingwood, Ontario.
Career Timeline
2022 - 2024
Senior Adviser, Culture Sector Executive Office
Department of Culture and Tourism – Abu Dhabi
2018 - 2022
(Founding) Director of Cultural Planning and Development
Department of Culture and Tourism – Abu Dhabi
2010 - 2018
Director of Cultural Development
MDB Insight
1998 - 2009
Founder and Managing Director
AuthentiCity
1993 - 1998
Instructor
University of Toronto at Scarborough Arts Management Programme
1987 - 1990
Executive Coordinator, Ontario Heritage Policy Review (1987 - 1990)
Ontario Ministry of Culture and Communications
1981 - 1986
Executive Director
Ontario Museum Association
Education
Doctorate, Urban and Regional Planning
University of Waterloo (1999)
Masters, Museum Studies
University of Toronto (1981)
Honors BA, History
Western Ontario (1977)
Publishing highlights
(Forthcoming book) Cultural Planning as Practice: Planning Culturally in Cities and Regions, in collaboration with Dr. Franco Bianchini and Dr. Tom Borrup.
Rediscovering the Wealth of Places: A Municipal Cultural Planning Handbook for Canadian Communities, Municipal World, 2010.
Rediscovering the Wealth of Places: A Municipal Culture Planning Handbook for Canadian Communities
“Sharpening the Lens: Recent Research on Cultural Policy, Cultural Diversity, and Social Diversity,” Canadian Journal of Communication, Volume 27 Number 2-3, 2002. https://doi.org/10.22230/cjc.2002v27n2a1293
“Cultural Economies: What Are They and How Do We Grow Them.” Economic Development Journal. Spring 2017 / Vol. 16 / Number 2.
2018
Cultural Planning: Critiques and Some Ways Forward, Municipal World. https://www.municipalworld.com/articles/cultural-planning-critiques-and-some-ways-forward/
2017
Cultural Economies: What Are They and How Do We Grow Them? Municipal World, Vol. 127, No. 9. 7–10.
2014
The Arts and Culture as Economic Drivers: Ideas and US Best Practices Economic Development: AuthentiCity / MDB Insight
Toronto Edinburgh Exchange on Culture and Economic Development. Economic Development – AuthentiCity / MDB Insight
Arts Organizations Attract Many Diverse Canadians. Economic Development – AuthentiCity / MDB Insight
Fourth Pillar of Sustainability. Economic Development – AuthentiCity / MDB Insight
2013
Review: ‘Place, Community and Continuity.’ Economic Development , AuthentiCity / MDB Insight
Colin Mercer (1952 -2013): In Memoriam. Economic Development – AuthentiCity / MDB Insight
Creative Economy Report 2013: Widening Local Development Pathways. UNESCO. Economic Development – AuthentiCity / MDB Insight
https://policycommons.net/artifacts/1759723/creative-economy-report-2013-s-pecial-edition/2491370/
Creative Vitality in Detroit; the Detroit Cultural Asset Mapping Project. Municipal World, Vol. 123, No. 9. 15–18.
2012
Creative Placemaking: Heritage Meets the Creative Industries. Economic Development – AuthentiCity / MDB Insight
Art is to Culture as Baseball is to Sport: The ‘Arts Plus Swindle’. Economic Development – AuthentiCity / MDB Insight
The Cultural Economy and its Global Reach. Economic Development – AuthentiCity / MDB Insight
Assessing Impacts in Creative Place Making. Economic Development – AuthentiCity / MDB Insight
2011
Cultural Asset Mapping for Canadian Municipalities, with Robert Voight, Plan Canada.
Putting Culture on the Map: The South Georgian Bay Cultural Mapping Project. Municipal World.
2010
Mapping Community Identity: The Power of Stories, with David Brown. Municipal World.
2009
Cultural Mapping Tools: Connecting Place, Culture and Economy for the Creation of Local Wealth. Municipal World.
2008
“Building Creative Rural Economies: A Case study of Prince Edward County.” with Dan Taylor, Compendium of Research Papers: An International Forum on the Creative Economy, 41–48.
Building a Creative Rural Economy. Municipal World.
2007
Creative Connections: Building Creative Cities. Municipal World.
Culture + Place = Wealth Creation. Municipal World.
2005
Municipal Cultural Planning: Combating the Geography of Nowhere. Municipal World.
2004
“Back to the Future: The Colloquium in Context: The Democratization of Culture and Cultural Democracy” (chapter) In Accounting for Culture: Thinking through Cultural Citizenship eds.Caroline Andrew, Monica Gattinger, M. Sharon Jeanotte, and Will Straw. University of Ottawa Press, 2005, 279–286.
2002
Beyond Garretts and Silos: Concepts, Trends and Developments in Cultural Planning. MCPP, EUCLID Canada.
Sharpening the Lens: Recent Research on Cultural Policy, Cultural Diversity, and Social Diversity Canadian Journal of Communication, Volume 27 Number 2–3, 2002. https://doi.org/10.22230/cjc.2002v27n2a1293
1992
“Ontario Museums in the 1990s” with M. May, and M. Tivy. Muse, Special Issue on the State of the Canadian Museum Community, Vol. 10, nos. 2–3, 120–123.