ENCATC Academy

Alba Rodríguez Valbuena is a third-year Philosophy, Politics and Economy student, an interdisciplinary degree taught jointly in four different universities (University of Carlos III, Madrid Autonomous University, Barcelona Autonomous University and University of Pompeu Fabra). Currently, she is finishing her year abroad at the Political Science Institute of Bordeaux. Through her academic year in Canada, she was able to pursue her engagement willingness by taking part in a wide range of extracurricular activities and student clubs. 

As an active member of different associations, she was able to pursue her will of involvement and cooperation at a local and national level. At the present, Alba is partner of the museum of contemporary art and the association Hispania Nostra. During the summer, Alba will do an internship, in the Cultural Institute of Leon, in the field of cultural management and territorial development.

Working at the Hungarian Open Air Museum for 7 years, Annamária Szu has been a museum professional for 27 years. In her current position, she works in a group coordinating the preparation, planning and implementation of the second phase of the new building complex and historical-ethnographical exhibitions presenting the heritage of Transylvania. In her previous works she has focused on socio-cultural sustainability of museums and other cultural institutions in research and methodological development. Similarly, she has been concerned with the economic sustainability of Hungarian museums, and for a few years she has been following the environmental activities of museums internationally. In connection with her current work, the focus of her interest is the balanced creation of complexly sustainable museum developments.

Arrate González is Cultural Heritage Technician at the Museum Centre of the Directorate of Cultural Heritage of the Basque Government since 2022. She has previously taught at the Faculty of Education and Sports of the University of the Basque Country (UPV-EHU) in Vitoria-Gasteiz, within the area of Didactics of Plastic Arts, academic year 2020-2021, and first semester of the academic year 2021-2022. 

At university, she studied Audiovisual Communication and a Master's Degree in Psychodidactics: Educational Psychology and Specific Didactics,

Aylin Michel-Koçyiğit studied Cultural Studies with a focus on theatre and cultural policy in Hildesheim and Istanbul and holds a Master’s degree in Cultural Leadership from the University of Groningen. She was involved in various cultural and artistic projects and organizations in Germany and abroad, including Belgium, Tunisia and the USA. Her main interests are transnational cooperation and cultural exchange, including dimensions of sustainability. She currently works for the German Centre of the International Theatre Institute as a communication and project officer.

Crazy about art, fashion, museums and comunications. Making culture accesible to all. From more that 20 years Mrs. Clara Nchama has been working in museums and culture, creating and communicating public programmes. Her areas of expertise are arts management, cultural projects, cultural communication, fashion communication, cultural marketing, international relations, international public relations and cultural projects.

Historian and Professor of Art History, Mrs. Gutiérrez has been a Member of the European Parliament representing the Kingdom of Spain from 1999 to 2014, where she has worked in the Environment, Research, Cultural Industries, Sustainability and conservation of urban, cultural and natural heritage. She has always believed that we can promote excellence as well as innovation and try to improve the world. Her professional connection to heritage and urban planning have helped her to provide a historical vision, uniting the past and historical knowledge with the future. She likes working with people, seeing how projects evolve, driven by enthusiasm and conviction. The Professor is currently working on several projects: 

1.-Depopulation: strategy with concrete measures for the Recovery of the province of Cuenca.

 2. Dynamization of an area in Murcia, based on comprehensive innovation. 

3.- “Cathedral Cities” project in Tarragona. Restoration of Part Alta. 

Dr. David Ocón is based in Singapore where he is an Assistant Professor (Practice) at Singapore Management University’s School of Social Sciences. He teaches and researches on Cultural Diplomacy in Asia, Arts Management, and Urban Cultural Anthropology and Heritage. David has close to 20 years of experience in the culture and education sectors. Trained in the United Kingdom, Spain, and France, he has led the cultural departments of organisations such as the Asia-Europe Foundation (ASEF, Singapore), ENCATC, and Cervantes Institute-Spanish Cultural Centre (Beijing, China).

As a Marketing & Communications Manager at the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Cultural Center – the landmark of modern Athens where everyone has free access and can participate in a multitude of cultural, educational, athletic, environmental and recreational activities and events- Evelina Sarantidi holds responsibility of the Organization’s profile across local & international channels and at the same time leads a strategic development around SNFCC’s key pillars of operation, services & programming: accessibility, sustainability & tourism.

Before joining the SNFCC, she served as a Communications Manager at Red Bull for almost 9 years and before that she was a journalist, working on cultural & sports pieces for the weekly magazine of a Greek Sunday newspaper. 

Federico Rasetti is Managing Director at “KeepOn Live” (The Italian Association for Live Clubs and Festivals) and Project Manager for “BAM! - Strategie Culturali”. He is in charge for coordinating the staff members of the Internazionale Festival in Ferrara. From 2020 he is a member of the Live DMA’s board of directors, the European Live Venues Association. He has two executive master degrees, one in event management and one in corporate circular responsibility after which he obtained a European competencies certification.

Gina O’Kelly has been at the helm of the Irish Museums Association (IMA) since 2011, holding responsibility for delivering the network's vision; leading its advocacy work, research, and programming.  With a background in Visual Arts (Licentiate BBAA, Universidad de Granada, Spain), Gina has held senior management and curatorial roles with both commercial and non-profit arts organisations for over two decades and is an experienced cultural partnership broker, regularly contributing to and publishing on cross-border dialogue in Ireland. She serves as board member of Visual Artists Ireland and ETAI (Encountering the Arts Ireland) and is member of Digital Repository Ireland's Expert Advisory Group and WorldFAIR WG; Cultural Rights, Cultural Democracy biennial steering group; Ireland's Climate Change Implementation Plan for Built & Archaeological Heritage’s Stakeholder WG, and NEMO’s Museums & Sustainability WG. 

Janice Lane is a part of the Senior Executive Team at Amgueddfa Cymru. She leads a multi-disciplinary division and has strategic leadership for Visitor Experience and Sustainability across Amgueddfa Cymru’s seven museums and national collections centre. Amgueddfa Cymru is a bi-lingual, multi-disciplinary organisation with museums located across Wales. She has 25 years’ experience of working in a variety of leadership roles in the museum sector, specialising in visitor experience, learning, public programming and public engagement in large, multi-venue, multi-disciplinary cultural organisations in England, Scotland and Wales. In these roles she established innovative learning, outreach and engagement programmes, led organisational change and worked on award winning redevelopment projects such as Kelvingrove Museum and Art Gallery and Riverside Museum in Glasgow and the recent Sain Ffagan. 

Jordi Mallarach Parés is the Executive Officer at Future for Religious Heritage (FRH) a non-faith, non-for-profit European network working to safeguard Europe's religious heritage sites. The network has over 100 member organisations and 200 professionals in over 35 countries, coming from diverse sectors including academia, restoration experts, architects, museums, government agencies and departments, grassroots volunteers and students. FRH is a proud member of the European Commission Expert Group on Cultural Heritage, the Reflection Group ‘EU and Cultural Heritage’, the European Heritage Alliance 3.3. and the Climate Heritage Network.            

Josep Maria Folch Olivella is a Consultant at KEA European Affairs, an international policy design research center specialised in the cultural and creative industries as well as sport. He is skilled in project design; bid writing, project management and dissemination; and strategic consulting, policy analysis, communication, and research. Josep Maria is a problem-solver, friendly young professional who is eager to keep learning at the intersection of cultural, public, and international affairs. In his role at KEA, Josep Maria aims to promote a more inclusive understanding of culture to unlock its transformative potential. He is convinced that effective policies are a powerful tool to achieve this goal. He holds a Master in Transnational Governance from the European University Institute in Florence, and a Bachelor of Arts in Global Studies from Pompeu Fabra University in Barcelona.

Karla Nunes Penna is a Professor in the Center for Advanced Studies in Integrated Conservation, Australia. She is an architect, cultural heritage manager and educator with a Ph.D. in Education and Anthropology at Murdoch University in Australia. Her work is embodied in human rights, decolonisation, social justice and participatory practices, and education for political freedom.  She is a professor at the Centre for Advanced Studies in Integrated Conservation – CECI in Brazil. Her work invokes learning innovation, embedded in humanizing pedagogical approaches such as critical pedagogy, education for sustainability and transformative education. In parallel, Karla has collaborated with sites listed as UNESCO World Heritage in Latin America. She also works in Rio Tinto, focused on meaningful engagement with Aboriginal Peoples in Western Australia and on designing cultural heritage management policies to promote participatory governance and shared management.

Kirsten Pick works as a scientific advisor for the foundation management at the Museum Foundation Post and Telecommunication in Frankfurt/Main, Germany. Her work focuses on improving foundation-wide collaboration and strategy, e.g., improving knowledge management, organizing workshops with members of the institutions, or creating concepts and reports, such as the annual report or presentations for external parties. The Museum Foundation Post and Telecommunication consists of three museums for communication (located in Berlin, Frankfurt and Nuremberg) as well as an archive and two locations for their collection.

After completing a master in visual and communication design and a master in historical and cultural anthropology with a focus on museology, Kirsten worked at the German Leather Museum and the German Foundation for Monument Protection as a research assistant and aadvisor respectively, within the communications and public relations department. She has been living in Frankfurt since 2017. Kirsten enjoys nature, hiking and is interested in architecture and photography.

Leena Marsio works as a Senior Advisor in the Finnish Heritage Agency, which is a government office with more than 200 staff members. She coordinates the UNESCO 2003 Convention on the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage in Finland since 2014. Furthermore, she is the national coordinator of European Heritage Label since 2018. Marsio holds a Master’s degree in Arts management from the Sibelius Academy and a BA from the University of Helsinki in Arts research. Prior to her career in the government, she worked ten years as a freelance producer and researcher in several organizations in the field of arts and culture both in governmental level, NGO's and companies. Sustainable Development has been strongly in her agenda through various national and international projects in the past years, such as the LIVIND-project.

Marc LeBlanc is a tenured professor and Director at l'École de kinésiologie et de loisir de l'Université de Moncton. He has an Economics Doctorate degree in Tourism and Recreation from the Centre des Hautes Études Touristiques de l'Université d'Aix-Marseille. Prior to that, he completed a Bachelor's degree in Leisure Studies at l'Université de Moncton as well as a license and Master’s degree in Tourism at l’Université de Lyon.

Mrs. Jenkins is speaker at congresses, seminars, meetings and training in Latin America, Europe and Asia. She is a Professor at the university in Costa Rica. Her research mainly focuses on the field of sports, of which she specialised at the University of Copehanguen, Denmark. Likwise, she worked in the Ministry of Education from Spain and the Cantonal Committee of Sports and Recreation. 

Originally from Spain, Marta Keller-Hernandez is an Arts Administrator. She holds Degrees in Tourism and Humanities, a Master’s bachelor in social media marketing from the University of Alicante (Spain), and became an international student of the Culture and Heritage Site Management program at Centennial College. In Toronto, Marta has worked with a wide range of arts and culture organizations. Currently, she is Managing Director at Mural Routes. Marta is the co-founder and Director of Programming of Paralia Newcomer Arts Network, a Toronto-based non-profit that supports newcomer artists by providing them with the skills and resources needed to establish an artistic presence in Canada. She is also the recipient of the 2017 &2022 Newcomer and Refugee Artist Mentorship grant from the Toronto Arts Council in the capacity of mentor and a 2018 Toronto Arts Council Leaders Lab fellow.

Nansi Popovac Ivanišević, Ph.D.,  a Project manager, lecturer, cultural and education policy researcher in the field of Admisinistration and Communication Sciences. Founder and president of the NGO Prokultura - Observatory of Cultural Policies – Split. She has written and edited several scientific papers and reviews. In 2020 her book Broken Mirror; decentralization of cultural policies in the Croatian way was published. Graduated from the University of Zagreb, Faculty of Arts and Letters with a Bachelor’s degree in French Language and Literature and Italian. Worked as professor, became the director and vice president of the Alliance française de Split. Postgraduate in Management of Cultural Projects at the Institute of Political Studies and Observatory of Cultural Policies, Grenoble, France; 1999 obtained a Master’s degree. At the University of Zadar obtained the Doctor´s degree in Culture and Tourism with Ph.D. thesis in social sciences. Worked in the Public Administration sector, holding office of head of the Education, Culture and Sport Department. During that time was the Minister of Education and Sport of the Republic of Croatia, council member of the City of Split, advisor for culture and education to the Split Mayor and Special Envoy of the President of the Republic of Croatia of the International Organization of the Francophony. 

For engagement in promotion of French language and culture was invested with the orders Officer in the Order of Academic Palms by the Government of the French Republic and Knight in the National Order of Merit by decision of the President the French Republic. 

Rebecca Thierfeldt studied art history at the Catholic University of Leuven and the Free University of Berlin. She completed her Master’s Degree in Leuven with a thesis on the iconography of the Book of Tobit in miniatures (1400 and 1600). She is press and communications officer at KBR (Royal Library of Belgium) and is also in charge of the project “Polyphonic masters in a multi-voiced KBR” at the KBR museum.

Rocío del Casar Ximénez is the Head of Collection Management at the House of European History, Brussels, since March 2017. Member of the Body of National Museum Curators in Spain since 2000, she has worked for various museums internationally in different capacities, mainly related to collection management and exhibition organisation:  the Prado Museum, Madrid; The National Gallery and the Victoria and Albert Museum, London and BOZAR, Brussels.

Apart from the long-term preservation of collections through sound management, she is interested in the development of sustainable museum practice at all levels, contributing to the museum's working group on sustainability.

Teresa Jie Dong is studying a doctoral degree in Cultural Management at the Universidad Politecnica de Valencia. She is also a project manager at Shenzhen Concert Hall and have cooperated with the Shenzhen Symphony Orchestra for over five years. Her area of interest is Charitable Institutions in Humanities, the future technique applying to music organizations and touring from European to Asia.

Her study background is: She was studying arts management in China Conservatory in Beijing and completed her master's at the University of Sheffield. Areas that she was involved in are music performance, festival management and intercultural study. She have learned a traditional Chinese Instrument-Dulcimer for over 20 years and completed the study at the University, so she is very interested in the development of traditional culture. 

Uxío Novo Rey, Consultant and Researcher on Cultural Policies. Political Scientist with PHD on Contemporanean Political Process and another in Sociology of Culture in process on the framework of uncharted-culture.eu. Master on European Union and Postgraduate on international financial institutions. Proud founder Secretary of Novoneyra Foundation, Treasurer of ACAMFE and AGPXC directorate in charge of internationalization. Member of Icomos Spain, Europeana and B. Creative network. Producer of kireniadanza.gal company. He has been manager, consultant and cabinet advisor for some local and provincial governments with competences on cultural heritage, orange tourism and CCI enterprises on internationalization and EU projects linked, for example, coordinator of management committee of Ferrol UNESCO World Heritage Candidature or responsible of Ourense Thermal City Museum.