MESOC Serapeum | Where culture meets AI

Id		210
Author		Cultures for Cities and Regions , R.,
Title		Future creative cities. Why culture is a smart investment in cities.
Reference		Cultures for Cities and Regions (2017). Future creative cities. Why culture is a smart investment in cities. Retrieved from http://www.cultureforcitiesandregions.eu/
Link to article		http://www.cultureforcitiesandregions.eu/culture/resources/Future-creative-cities-Why-culture-is-a-smart-local-investment-report-from-Culture-for-Cities-and-Regions-WSWE-AWWFCD
Abstract		Culture for Cities and Regions is a three-year project led by EUROCITIES in collaboration with KEA, in collaboration with ERRIN. The project produced a catalogue of 70 case studies, organized 15 thematic study visits and provided expert coaching for 10 cities/regions. Funded under the EU’s creative Europe programme, it aimed to take stock of existing practices all over Europe to exchange and promote transfer of knowledge, to better understand successful cases of cultural investment, and to go into the details of policy planning and implementation.

Results:

Candidate transition variables
These resources make a place unique, in terms of attractiveness and of identity. .
Culture is more than ever a tool to address local and global challenges, to connect people, to innovate, to acquire knowledge or to generate intercultural dialogue and collaboration - ultimately leading to more peaceful and united societies. .
Cultural activities, when they promote tolerance and mutual understanding, can be the fabric capable of keeping different communities together - the sense of place and the desire for reshaping a positive image for the city can also be a powerful driver for culture-led local development. .
They are key resources for a creative ecosystem as providers of: - Creative people and ideas; - Artistic traditions and know how on which to build distinctiveness; - Creative management capacities and experience; - Conviviality, knowledge, tradition and fun. .
Cities build their uniqueness on cultural resources and assets Every place has cultural resources. .
Cultural resources are an essential source of authentic differentiation contributing to singularities, distinctiveness and attractiveness. .
This is where the peer-learning activities of Culture for Cities and Regions helped to reshape the strategic development of the project and develop locally-rooted narratives, and make best use of existing opportunities, such as the development and implementation of the Regional Smart Specialisation strategy as a way to integrate the cultural heritage site in an overall economic and social development policy. .
It is about setting a vision for a city where all forms of creativity and innovation are mobilised to tackle todays and tomorrows challenges, a ville des possibles which empowers cultural workers and creative initiatives. .
Future peer-learning schemes would be helpful to: - Foster social inclusion through culture, including newcomers (refugees); - Attract new and more diverse audiences; - Better work with local communities and residents, increasing participation, bringing culture outside city centres (including in difficult areas), guiding people to culture. .
Local authorities should set up networking opportunities (matchmaking, training session, conferences, workshops, cultural cafes, etc.) that facilitate the exchange of information, knowledge and ideas between various actors, entities and disciplines by favouring an environment of sociability and conviviality. .
Changing citizens perceptions of urban spaces through artistic interventions to encourage ownership, civic pride, and urban regeneration. .
- Invite artists to occupy the public space and transform the perceptions of such places. .
Openness and flexibility - combining vision with flexible approaches A key aspect of the project dealt with how cultural policy and the different cultural and creative spaces account for future developments and introduce some degree of flexibility to allow for different scenarios, emerging uses and new needs of the population. .
Throughout the project we found out some actions proved especially challenging: - Developing new partnerships, cross-sectoral work and strong stakeholders relationships; - Partnerships between culture and education, nourishing creativity and retaining talent; - Improving connections between cultural organisations, including museums. .
This means that the city is not only a producer of cultural services but also a platform for citizens and other actors to present their activities. .
This will promote: - links between innovation and cultural policy, artists and creatives to encourage innovation across the city, and to encourage this by linking digital and tech hubs with cultural and creative hubs; - use of heritage and memory to build self-awareness, self-worth, and social cohesion - this will build strong social values and help combat xenophobia, racism, antiSemitism, gender discrimination and extreme nationalism; - empowerment of people through artist and design-led education, living labs, and cocreation methodologies; - capacity building to enable quality local cultural expression, audience development, and participation; - intercultural dialogues and positive, proactive approaches to managing cultural integration; - the fight against social inequality in urban and rural contexts, by stimulating cultural entrepreneurship and better management of local cultural resources to maximise participation and ownership from citizens. .
Peer-learning activities facilitate the exchange of experience between cities and regions, and strengthen cooperation on cultural policies. .
Art can give places a new destination and new meanings to enable appropriation for the good of the community. .
Their function is to trigger new processes and projects that facilitate fruitful interactions between disciplines, departments or people, thus enabling economic and social innovation. .
Local actions, better future - the legacy of Culture for Cities and Regions Cities should be places of equal opportunities for all, of dialogue and co-creation with citizens, with a good quality of life and high standard of services. .
This involves artists and cultural workers, but also connects with the wider socio-economic fabric of the city. .
The new cultural policies are aimed at augmenting or leading local development, and they focus on: - Creative Spaces: o occupying former industrial sites with new economic or social activities; o making creative uses of heritage buildings that are difficult and costly to maintain; o supporting cultural and creative entrepreneurship (incubators, living labs, creative hubs, maker spaces); - Attractiveness: o attracting creative talents, artists and maximising the potential for local crafts by making workspaces available at lower costs; o attracting tourism or international investors (cultural events, an attractive suite of cultural infrastructure, and a reputation as a destination city/region); - Well-being and quality of life: o generating fun and entertainment (wellbeing and social cohesion) through festivals and cultural events; o boosting the morale, confidence, and spirit of the local population by being a great place to live with a strong cultural offer and strong city / regional brand and identity; - Social cohesion: o addressing social problems through artistic intervention with focus on enjoyment, self-expression, inter-community and inter-generational dialogue and skills development / training to prevent social exclusion, isolation and marginalisation); - Inspiring and driving territorial change: o transforming the image or brand of a city from negative or industrial to creative and inspiring (many examples exist throughout Europe including Bilbao, Lille, Manchester, Belfast, Dortmund, Antwerp, Nantes, Rotterdam, Saint Etienne, Mons, Lyon, Strasbourg, Turin, and so on). .
Cultural investment and cultural workers influence the attractiveness of places (cities and regions), the spirit and morale of people, as well as being the focus of policies, whether social cohesion, entrepreneurship, wellbeing, or investment. .
This trend is often due to greater understanding of as well as increased evidence of the impact of cultural investment on urban regeneration and socio-economic objectives. .
Robust evaluation can also help in raising additional funding from third parties (private sponsors), and is fundamental to improving programmes and projects over the long run. .
It serves to create an aesthetic, an atmosphere and ultimately shapes the attractiveness of places. .
They are often piloted by development or economic agencies as part of innovation programmes, often in the social field or as part of urban regeneration. .
However, heritage sites need to be developed with the involvement and trust of citizens. .
Cities and regions are gradually mixing proactive policies with activating creative communities and enabling them to take up more of a role in the city, especially through: - Facilitating networking across cultural and creative industries (as well as other economic sectors) to enable the emergence of new ideas. .
The evaluation of culture policies is a way to justify cultural investment despite budget cuts and is especially useful for policy-makers as they need to allocate priorities and funding in a context of reduced public spending. .
Public funding should work as an incentive to research & innovation in arts and culture, and test new solutions, for example in mixing arts, science and digital innovation. .
They are people able to work across disciplines with an open mind, people that bring their knowledge of a sector (often culture) into another area. .
Culture for Cities and Regions helped to identify local trends and initiatives addressing this, especially through participatory solutions and strong community involvement in policymaking. .
Value your cultural workers The greater understanding of the value of arts and culture for our society can come at a price, and there is a threat of instrumentalising cultural workers to deliver on social cohesion objectives. .
This is crucial to building up successful and lasting cooperation between cultural and educational institutions. .
One key finding of the project is that cities and regions generally have a very high level of understanding of what these resources are and how they can contribute to cultural, social and economic development at local level. .
Local cultural resources include cultural institutions and organisations, tangible and intangible heritage, festivals and cultural events, CCIs as well as artists and creative professionals (such as designers, architects and communication professionals). .
A culture for all perspective - how to develop the right partnerships between cities, cultural operators and citizens. .
It can be found in technology hubs, in media clusters to nourish innovation, on city walls (graffiti and murals), local community centres and street festivals which trigger social interactions. .
Such calls should have clear objectives (in line with strategies for culture and creative industries), but should otherwise be flexible to allow for experimental ideas and projects. .

ARTICLE - CANDIDATE TRANSITION VARIABLES

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