2026 ENCATC Research Award

The 2026 Awards Ceremony, held in the context of the 34th ENCATC Congress, brought together an international community of academics, researchers, cultural professionals and policymakers to celebrate the best scholarly contributions and teaching practice of the present edition.

Five recognitions were awarded to seven laureates during the ceremony, which was presented by GiannaLia Cogliandro Beyens, ENCATC Secretary General. 

The finalists were Maria Camila Montalvo Senior from the University of Granada in Spain, for the PhD thesis “Making Hands with the Earth: Curatorial Proposals from Indigenous Material Practices for Inhabiting the Earth”, and Maria Antonietta Cipriano from Roma Tre University in Italy, for the PhD “Partecipatory Governance for the Sustainable Management of Cultural Heritage. Pathways to Social, Cultural and Civic Value Creation

The winner was Maria Camila Montalvo Senior, whose research work will be published as a book in the ENCATC Advances on Cultural Management and Policy (EACMP) Book Series, published by Routledge.

The laureate was announced by Catherine Magnant, Former Head of Cultural Policy Department, European Commission

The 2026 award had two ex aequo laureates: Linda Idjéraoui, from the SIC.Lab Université Côte d’Azur, France; for the paper “Inclusive Intercultural Museology and Sustainability? From the (In)-Visibility of Competencies to International Cross-Fertilization”; and Mara Cerquetti, from the University of Macerata “Emerging Skills for Digital Cultural Mediation: Rethinking Local Heritage Narratives through the Museum Serious Game“I Codici del Tempo” (Monteprandone, Italy)

The laureates were announced by Ricardo Leitão-Gonçalves, Frontiers. As part of the recognition, both winners will have their research papers published in the European Journal of Cultural Management and Policy (EJCMP), the official ENCATC Journal published by Frontiers.

The winners were Ellen Loots and Marjelle Vermeulen, from the Erasmus University of Rotterdam in the Netherlands, for their joint teaching method “Impact Education in Cultural Management: Experiential Learning through Real-World Impact Assessment”

The laureates were announced by Pierre Ippolito, Vice-President of Nice Côte d’Azur Metropole, France. Special visibility will be given to the winning practice through an article in the ENCATC Scholars publication.

The first laureate of the award was Rute Carmo Mendes from the Instituto Universitário de Lisboa (ISCTE) in Portugal, for her doctoral thesis, “The Communication of Cultural Policies in Portugal: Ideology, Mediatisation and Leadership in a Networked Society”.

The laureate was announced by Elena Borin, ENCATC President, Vice-Dean for Internationalization, Pegaso Digital University, Italy.

The first laureate of the award was Tzu-Jung Chen, a PhD candidate in Arts Management and Cultural Policy at the National Taiwan University of Arts, for her paper “Cultural Impact Assessment: A Sustainable Development Framework for Mid-sized Live Music Venues in Taiwan”.

The laureate was announced by Claudine Batazzi, Professor (SIC.Lab Méditerranée), Université Côte d’Azur, France.

• DOWNLOAD BROCHURE