ARE YOU A ‘CULTURE VULTURE’ OR DO YOU JUST GO FOR THE FUN OF IT?
Academics and event organisers will be coming to an event near you in March-April to find out about your views on the importance of the <name of event here> event to you and your area. The study, funded by the European Commission and led by University of the Arts London with the help of the Association of Town Centre Management (UK), the Asociación de Gerentes de Centros Urbanos (Spain) and Laboratorio Gestione Centro Città (Italy), will take place in several locations across Europe, which will include Parma and Brescia in Italy, Perth and Stoke on Trent in the UK, and Ghandia and Calatayud in Spain.
“As we approach the dawn of the creative accounting era, it is becoming increasingly evident that creativity and culture can become major agents of change for the revitalisation of our town and city centres, many of which are still suffering from the effects of the global recession. Festivals and events bring communities together in a way that few other (often much more expensive) initiatives have ever achieved. The idea of comparing events across Europe as well as the viability of using key performance indicators to measure their impact on communities in Italy, Spain and the UK is a challenge that visionary thinkers at local level should embrace and be part of” said Andres Coca-Stefaniak, Partnership Manager of the Culture-led Urban Revitalisation project funded by the European Commission.
This research study will aim to improve understanding of how culture-led events address the needs of the community and how they contribute to wider urban revitalisation programmes. The research will build on existing knowledge and frameworks developed by the UK Government’s Department of Culture, Media and Sport as well as the London Development Agency for much larger programmes like the London Olympics 2012. Areas of investigation will include the impact of the event on social, economic, branding, community identity and environmental issues. Behind the scenes, the research will also involve data gathering with town centre managers, artists, festival and event managers, local authorities and community leaders across England, Spain and Italy as part of this pan-European research project. One of the aims of the study is to influence practice and funding decisions for culture-led events across the European Union so that they can contribute more effectively to making cities more liveable, prosperous, friendly and fun to work and play in.
Martin Blackwell (or Giovanna Codato or Agustin Rovira), <insert position within AGECU/ATCM/GECC Lab here> for the Association of Town Centre Management (or AGECU or GECC Lab), endorsed the programme and extended an invitation for local authorities, communities, artists and other stakeholders to join the programme – “we are looking forward to working with towns and cities to help them address their problems and give them a platform at European level that they can use to exchange ideas and best practice in event management and evaluation”.
For further information on this project, please visit www.atcm.org (or GECC Lab or AGECU’s website).
It may be worth including here a quote from an event organiser or a town centre manager as part of this press release, where they say how much they are looking forward to giving the event a more international dimension and how proud they are that their event has been selected for participation in this European research study.
Disclaimer: this communication reflects the views only of the CUR partnership. The European Commission cannot be held responsible for any use, which may be made of the information contained therein.
For more information contact:
Andres Coca-Stefaniak – Partnership Manager, Culture-led Urban Revitalisation project
London College of Communication
University of the Arts London
Mobile +44 (0)7841 476 723
email: a.coca@lcc.arts.ac.uk
Or visit:
