Resumen de City led international cultural cooperation: applying a service-learning model for the training of cultural administrators and cultural operators
This thesis aims to join two lines of investigation, that of cultural management and service-learning, a new educational approach that introduces education within the community with the intention of increasing local benefits. There are few examples that relate practical cultural management with education (except for systems that allow students to undertake work practice periods), and therefore it is possible to consider this subject as an emerging field of study, opening up new perspectives for cultural co-operation and education internationally.
We are living within the context of European Union policies for cultural co-operation; decentralisation tendencies experienced by many European countries; increased and cheaper travel options; wider global information; the desire to find new methods to regenerate city areas; the rise in cultural tourism; and other factors related to globalisation. All of this has led to a rising trend in city-led initiatives to support and promote international cultural co-operation something that was once the domain of state governments. These circumstances suggest that increasingly, European cities are competing to be seen as both cultural and international with the aim of providing a positive and cosmopolitan image of a vibrant city. It is important therefore, to highlight that international co-operation is one of the principal strategies within local cultural management and administration.
At the same time, there is a rising interest from artists and cultural operators to support and engage in international cultural co-operation initiatives. International artists' networks and information services on mobility for artists and cultural operators point to the fact that there is an increasing trend amongst the cultural sector to work internationally.
The empirical research was designed to combine desk research, together with a survey of cities that include as examples Amsterdam (NL), Athens (GR), Barcelona (ES), Dubrovnik (HR), Girona (ES), Krakow (PL) and NewcastleGateshead (UK). Interviews with selected experts on cultural management training have complimented this work.
This thesis questions the main motivations to work internationally in areas of culture, in seven European cities of cultural importance. Social cohesion, cultural tourism and marketing the city are identified as being the common denominator for motivating cities to engage in cultural co-operation with partners abroad.
After establishing the motivation of cities to engage in international cultural co-operation with partners abroad, this research identified different possible tools or measures adopted by city councils for engaging in international cultural co-operation, these included:
- support for international tours of local artists - competing for international cultural titles - promoting the image of an international city in branding/marketing - inviting international artists and guest stars to perform in the city - connecting Diaspora communities with their homeland - investment in new technologies for international artistic work - investment in new technologies for marketing and access to local artists - providing advise and information systems for local artists and arts institutions - developing public/private strategies in international cultural co-operation - co-ordination between different public service departments - providing cultural admin./management training courses with focus on international cultural co-operation - consulting artists in key decisions related to the city - city support for museum and gallery acquisitions - engaging artists in local schools Evidence indicates that city international cultural programmes have a low tendency to be fully integrated co-operation projects whereby artists and cultural operators work together with the city administration. The thesis highlights that while both city administrations and artists/cultural operators are separately working in the area of culture internationally, they are rarely working together within an integrated local strategy.
The thesis therefore proposes to apply holistic models of cultural management within local strategies, which integrate local artists and cultural operators, and promote international cultural co-operation, and link the local to the international.
In order to do this, the thesis looks at the difficulties that cultural administrators face when needing to engage and respond in new areas of cultural co-operation. Some of the barriers to a more fluid relationship between city administrators and local artists/cultural operators are:
1. tendency by cities to finance final established products instead of process-led cultural adventures 2. tendency by cities to support risk-free or low-risk artistic initiatives 3. tendency by cities to support popular artistic events or concentrate on heritage preservation 4. lack of personal international contacts amongst artists, cultural operators and cultural administrators 5. lack of experience in dealing with cultural co-operation initiatives 6. tendency to favour in-house driven measures for engaging in international cultural co-operation 7. uneasiness about transferring public money or responsibility and subsidy to artists to carry out cultural co-operation projects 8. difficulties in establishing equitable partnerships abroad.
The latter part of this thesis focuses on the lack of practical training opportunities for both cultural administrators and cultural operators in the field of international cultural co-operation.
The paper proposes the need for life-long training of cultural administrators and cultural operators and reflects on the possible benefits that a service-learning approach might bring to city-led international cultural co-operation.
The research ultimately reflects on current trends in cultural management and cultural administrative training and education. It looks at the current polemics in developing a general education to fit what is an incredibly diverse sector, prone to changes and new challenges. The research highlights the positive results and limitations of exchange programmes currently in existence such as Erasmus and Gulliver connect. The study reflects on the success of these programmes that provide the possibility to:
1. give rise to international contacts 2. break barriers and stereotypes 3. work with and understand other cultural contexts 4. experiment with new ways of doing things The limitation of these exchange programmes are limited to the personal experience of the grant receiver and have no direct benefits for the territory, university or institution from which they have been sent.
Likewise the study highlights other open methods of teaching whereby students are taken on case study visits. The limitations of this approach depend greatly on the type and style of case study visits organised but it could be seen to be that duplication of cultural strategies from one locality to another may not be possible or may not be inadvisable. Study visits are expected to provide inspiration rather than solid models to be reapplied in different circumstances.
Finally, the study introduces the concept and philosophy behind service-learning education and suggests that a gap in current education and training provision for cultural managers and administrators could be filled by adopting a service-learning methodology, whereby training centres would work at the service of local administrations and vice-versa. Service-learning training normally brings together students from different professional backgrounds (cultural operators and cultural administrators), to work together on a project with the aim to find solutions to a central problem and during the process develop new skills, professional connections and a wider appreciation of the work of others in the field, all within guided professional training.
Service-learning education could have many benefits as it would create a pre-condition for cultural administrators and cultural operators at all levels to think, plan and act with imagination and in an integrated way; establish a relationship between artists and cultural planners; develop a common language across professional disciplines concerned with city making; encompass all types, sizes and structures of cultural, social and economic infrastructure; encourage people to think differently, so they are process lead and creative; provide a safe-environ from which to take risks in cultural provision and activity promoting vibrant artistic life; identify, harness, promote and sustain the creative and cultural resources within the city and in its international programme.
The conclusion is reached that applying a service-learning approach to educational training models and cultural operators would be a positive development for locally-led cultural co-operation at all levels and for all actors, especially in the process of fostering international cultural relations.
