Rethinking cultural diplomacy: Innovative approaches and collaborative strategies

Gaia Danese is an Italian career diplomat and a PhD in International Relations at the Institut d’Études Politiques of Paris (Sciences Po). From 2000 at the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, she has worked for the Italian Embassies in Lisbon, Montevideo and Madrid. She has been Consul General of Italy in Barcelona from 2017 to 2021. Currently, since March 2024 she is International Cultural Relation and Public Diplomacy Coordinator at the European Union External Action Service, where she has formerly been Seconded (since 2022) from the Direction General for European Affairs of the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affair as a National Expert to advice the Secretary General on Cultural Diplomacy, in the frame of the Communication Policy and Public Diplomacy Division (SG. STRAT.1). In 2009 she received the “Innovation Protagonists” award of the Italian Public Administration Forum. Since 2017 she has coordinated in Spain the ITmakES project (design&making and innovation). An initiative launched by the Italian Embassy in Madrid and the Consulate General in Barcelona as an exchange program between Italian and Spanish talents, makers and creative people to develop new common projects and promote cooperation between the two Countries, in sectors such as fashion, design, music, food and education. The ITmakES project has been awarded the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs Prize for best practices in the promotion of Italy abroad. In this frame, in 2019 she created and started a new project: “MUSE – A new wave in the Mediterranean”. MUSE aims at the empowerment of female Italian artists and feminine creativity in the Mediterranean on the cultural most avant-garde scene, especially in music. In 2021 in this same frame she has launched the project “Ragazze Italiane” an exhibition of portraits of Italian female talents in Spain, including also inspirational talks with those women leaders. In Barcelona, in close collaboration with the local authorities, she has also worked intensely in creating connections, exchange of experiences, and common projects with Italian Cities such as Milan and Florence, and Regions as Sardinia and Apulia, creating and supporting specific cultural events and networking initiatives. She has also lectured public servants and students at the Scuola Superiore della Pubblica Amministrazione in Rome, at the University of Siena, at the Comillas Pontifical University in Madrid (Colegio Mayor),at the European Design Institute (IED) in Barcelona, at the University of Sevilla. She has published several articles and essays in international relations issues, three books of poetry and performed as a contemporary and tango dancer in Italy and abroad.