ENCATC Congress 2024

Presenter: To be confirmed

The Large-Scale Skills Partnership on Cultural and Creative Industries (CCIs) was established in the context of the Pact for Skills, an initiative promoted by the Directorate General for Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion of the European Commission, which introduces a shared model of commitment for public and private actors across the European Union to engage in re-skilling and upskilling the workforce across multiple industrial ecosystems. The co-leaders of the CCI LSP have devised a workplan on the basis of the joint Manifesto endorsed by members of the CCI LSP’s which outlines the challenges, ambition and priority skills needs. One of the 6 Working Groups established in this framework is the Working group on skills for the green transformation, of which ENCATC is also a member.

This presentation is held in the frame of the 2024 Creative Skills Week (16-20 September), an initiative of the EU Pact for Skills for the Cultural and Creative Industries Ecosystem.

Presenter: Leticia Labaronne, Professor of Arts Management and Head of the Center for Arts Management at Zurich University of Applied Sciences, Switzerland.

The overall aim of the research-for-action project is to create a coherent set of knowledge, tools and processes to empower museums and the performing arts worldwide to accelerate the transition towards sustainability. Museums, theatres, and other cultural institutions serve as multipliers, generating awareness and change in thinking and action. Their public role makes them highly visible and accountable, placing expectations on them to serve as sustainability role models.

This project will develop the first sector-specific framework of qualitative and quantitative indicators to measure sustainability for museums and performing arts organisations. It advances existing research by adopting a global, holistic perspective, integrating concepts from interdisciplinary sustainability research, and considering the perspective of the audience and funding bodies. 

Learn more here.

Presenter: Paolo Montemurro, Matera Hub, Italy.

GreenCCircle aims to empower Cultural and Creative Industries (CCIs) to tackle climate change by developing a comprehensive support scheme. This initiative will identify skill gaps, create the GreenCCIrcle training for sustainable skills, and establish a multi-stakeholder ecosystem across 9 countries, fostering collaboration and innovation. 

With a focus on the EU Green Deal and Circular Economy principles, it will engage 120 learners, facilitate cross-industry fertilisation, and develop tools for environmental impact assessment and sustainable business practices. This project not only aims to improve green skills and attitudes within CCIs but also to foster EU-level collaboration and align with EU values, laying the groundwork for a future social entrepreneurial initiative.

Learn more here.

Presenter: Patrizia Braga, Head of Ecologic Innovation Department and Co-founder of Melting Pro, Italy.

The Italian cultural sector, recognized for its invaluable heritage, underscores the urgency of sustainable development. In this context, museum bookshops, as extensions of cultural institutions, offer a unique platform to promote environmental awareness and enhance visitor experiences. 

This project aims to propose a comprehensive approach to fostering sustainability in museum bookshops by assisting museums in designing processes to make their bookshops more sustainable, or by creating calls for bookshop managers/concessionaires that incorporate key sustainability factors (diagnosing the sustainability profile, supporting the design of eco-friendly products, selecting sustainable materials and suppliers, etc.).

Learn more here.

Presenter: Valerio Palasciano, Project Manager, Tecnopolis PST, Italy.

RESIST is a five-year (2023-2028) European territorial cooperation project, funded by the Horizon 2020 programme. Tecnopolis PST and the Department of Tourism, Cultural Economy and Territorial Development of the Puglia Region are the two Italian partners.

The overall aim of the RESIST project is to make regions more resilient to climate change. It brings together 56 partners from 12 European regions, who will work together to adopt a new framework to test four climate adaptation pathways, in four macro-regions of the European Union that differ in terms of characteristics and vulnerability: South-West Finland, Central Denmark, Catalonia and Central Portugal. Each macro-region will test know-how, adaptation pathways, exchange of experiences and collaborative activities, and will transfer them to eight twinned regions, including Puglia, through mutual learning activities and solutions to contrast the negative effects of climate change, also through the use of digital tools. In Puglia Region, the Resist project will involve enterprises of the tourism and cultural heritage sector, through activities of involvement, participation, comparison and definition of actions to face the climate change phenomenon and to find effective solutions for adaptation and, where possible, contrast.

Learn more here.

Presenter: Roberto Bernad, Manager of European Funds, Fundación Banco Santander, Spain.

CreaSus is a project co-funded by the European Union, under the Creative Europe programme, designed to guide and support CCSIs to make sustainability a key part of their operations and a competitive advantage. From October 2023 to September 2026, the process will be articulated combining the delivery of outputs such as a specific system of indicators for self-assessment and a toolkit for funding schemes, as well as capacity-building activities and piloting events in Spain, Ireland, Greece, and Italy, among other actions.

CCSIs are very different from one another and face unique challenges. One big challenge is the lack of policy guidelines on how to adopt sustainable practices in their products, services, and business models. This lack of guidance makes it hard for CCSIs to embrace sustainability since they often don't have the push from outside sources to do so. Recognising this, CreaSus believes that CCSIs can and should adopt sustainable innovations on their own, to become more competitive. Investing in sustainability can give CCSIs an edge and prepare them to meet the demands of a rapidly changing world.

Learn more here.

Presenter: Francesco Spina, Sustainability Officer, Conservatoire Royal de Liège, Belgium.

This session will draw on the experience of the Conservatoire Royal de Liège, one of the Walloon higher education institutions committed to implementing a sustainable transition during the 2024-2027 triennium. Launched in 2023 by the federation of French-speaking higher education institutions in Belgium (ARES), the project PRW65 is funded through European and regional funds.

The project provides targeted funding for the appointment of transition plan coordinators to enhance the integration of sustainable practices. Coordinators will develop comprehensive transition plans that align with the 17 SDGs, encompassing teaching, research, campus management, and governance. A structured approach begins with a thorough diagnostic of current sustainability impacts and practices within each institution. This is followed by stakeholder consultations to ensure broad-based support and identify priority areas for action. Transition plans will include clear objectives, actionable measures, and indicators for monitoring progress.

Presenter: To be confirmed.

A cultural organization shall play a significant role in the face of the urgent need for practices and change towards a more sustainable future. Cultural institutions, as incubators of skills and ideas, in direct conversation with communities, and the society at large, shall address the most pressing challenges or greatest opportunities.

Designed to have the lowest possible environmental impact, the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Cultural Center (SNFCC) is a hub of sustainability and innovation. Since the inception of its creation by the Stavros Niarchos Foundation and architect Renzo Piano, sustainability has been a fundamental prerequisite and key element of the project. The architectural design and technologically advanced construction of the SNFCC make it one of the most environmentally sustainable buildings in the world. Since the first years of its operation, the SNFCC has been evolving into a metropolitan park governed by the principles of sustainability, both at the operational level and across the entire range of activities it implements to raise awareness and inform the public.

Learn more here.

Presenter: Aida Kalender, Arts manager and Cultural Policy Scholar, Serbia. 

Smart city, a dominant paradigm in urban planning for the last two decades, has been seen as a potential solution to social challenges and essential for a sustainable future in the cities. Co-creation with citizen and communities is seen to democratize the tech innovation processes. However, sensitivity of marginalized groups and the risk of extractivism call for different approaches to tech innovations, introducing concepts such as intersectionality and principles of social justice. Frameworks such as Design Justice invites all involved in tech innovations in the smart city to shift their approach from top-down and market-driven, towards bottom-up community-led practices and collaboration between designers and communities. 

The project is attempting to reintroduce culture into the discussion on sustainable tech development in smart cities. It questions whether community-based non-profit art organisations can play a role in the smart city innovations in the way that they facilitate co-creation processes between stakeholders: marginalized communities, tech parties and city administrations.  Project proposes initiating a 10-weeks long Theatre of the Oppressed process with tech parties and marginalised communities in Amsterdam to learn about avenues for collaboration between these two worlds through arts and culture.

Learn more here.  

Presenter: Carmine Moccia, PhD in Digital Transformation and Sustainability, University of Salento, Department of Economics, Italy.

"Climate Change and Financial Markets: Assessing the Impact on Lending Interest Rates and the Role of International Agreements" explores how the consequences related to climate change and policies aimed at mitigating climate change could alter banks' ability to achieve their monetary stability objectives. Climate change can affect bank lending in several ways. First, gradual warming caused by sharp increases in emissions can have a significant effect. Second, the increased frequency, severity and correlation of extreme weather events represents a significant risk as they may impair the ability to repay loans. 

Furthermore, sudden changes in carbon policies can have a major impact on the management and reputation of institutions, both from a purely environmental and economic perspective. Recognizing these channels is crucial for central banks in pursuing their monetary policy objectives. Policy responses may need to be developed to address the impacts of climate change on economic stability. It is therefore essential to integrate climate change effects into bank models to provide valuable information for decision-making processes. In this paper we analyze how climate risks can impact bank lending policies and channels. The impacts of carbon regulatory policies on the same lending channels will also be discussed.

Presenter: To be confirmed.

Culture Moves Europe provides mobility grants for artists and cultural professionals in all 40 Creative Europe countries. It covers the sectors of architecture, cultural heritage, design and fashion design, literature, music, performing arts, and visual arts. With a budget of €21 million from 2022 to 2025, Culture Moves Europe is the largest European mobility scheme for the cultural sector to date. It is funded by the Creative Europe programme of the European Union and implemented by Goethe-Institut. The scheme follows the successful i-Portunus pilot project that took place between 2018 and 2022. 

40 Creative Europe countries. It covers the sectors of architecture, cultural heritage, design and fashion design, literature, music, performing arts, and visual arts. With a budget of €21 million from 2022 to 2025, Culture Moves Europe is the largest European mobility scheme for the cultural sector to date. It is funded by the Creative Europe programme of the European Union and implemented by Goethe-Institut. The scheme follows the successful i-Portunus pilot project that took place between 2018 and 2022. 

The scheme consists of two action lines:

1) Individual Mobility Action: for individuals and groups of up to 5 persons.

2) Residency Action: for legal entities to host between 1 and 5 artists and cultural professionals.

Specific incentives are provided both to encourage green mobility and to ensure the sustainability of the project as well as inclusion of people from diverse backgrounds active in the cultural and creative fields.

Learn more here.

Presenter: Ludovico Esposito, President, Sud Sonico, Italy.

Avant Learn is a capacity-building program willing to transfer interdisciplinary project management skills to cultural professionals, students and artists, and to enable beneficiaries to face the future challenges of music and cultural industries, including climate change.

It is expected beneficiaries to acquire a major vision and knowledge on contemporary, sustainable and responsible project management. Individuals are likely to learn how to design, start up and scale-up cultural projects that generate a wide, positive impacts on the civil society. The project has been co-funded by Creative Europe and has transferred such knowledge to 46 regional and national beneficiaries.

Learn more here.

Presenter: Philip Meersman, Doctoral Student, Royal Academy of Fine Arts Antwerp, Belgium. 

UTM contributes to the renewal of the literary sector in Europe through the adoption of Immersive Technology. UTM enhances transnational mobility, new technology and audience engagement with regards to poetry performance. UTM builds upon:

1. The networks and practices of slam poetry, a vibrant vector of audience expansion and artistic renewal, in urban and cultural diversification in the literary sector.
2. Immersive technology in the context of literary creation.
3. Tech infrastructure in 4 scientific planetariums, re-defining 3D projection technology as a compelling means of digital storytelling. 

UTM comprises 3 art schools and 4 planetariums, who will build an Immersive Website to build, exchange and disseminate immersive tools and skills, and make these accessible for literary and visual artists beyond the project’s lifespan.

Learn more here.

Presenter: To be confirmed

WordMap is a process development graphic tool derived from the collective experience of a working group associated with the Matera 2019 - European Capital of Culture Project. This tool is grounded in a collective narrative that encapsulates the identity of a team within a cultural and creative ecosystem, reflecting their being, knowing, and doing.

Recognizing the value of their work and enriched by the experiences in Matera, the initiative explored both professional and personal dimensions. It was discovered that collective work was guided by a set of core values, referred to as "team words." These words, when plotted on an imaginary map, enabled the team to navigate complexity with personal harmony. WordMap has evolved into a versatile tool applicable in various ecosystems.

WordMap is designed to orient cultural operators amidst the complexities of places, factors, and values that constitute an ecosystem. The map, inhabited by identity words, serves as a tool for constructing and releasing community value. It focuses on open projects and their ecosystems, observing changes when communities take responsibility and engage in co-design processes to enact collective improvements.

Presenter: To be confirmed

Open House Europe is a collaborative project involving 14 European cities and 13 cultural organizations, united by a vision to promote architecture as a positive force for change. This initiative fosters inclusive discussions on architecture's role in addressing social and environmental issues, helping residents gain new perspectives on their surroundings and envision the future of European architecture.

Co-funded by the European Union under grant nr 101100328 OHEu, this three-year collaboration began in early 2023. Open House Europe bridges the gap between professionals and the public through their shared passion for architecture, provoking dialogue, encouraging knowledge exchange, and fostering community building. By connecting organizations and exposing audiences to diverse architectural ideas, Open House Europe engages stakeholders in debates, prompting people to imagine, shape, and build a common future.

Learn more here.