by Maria Elena Santagati | Feb 22, 2018 | The Urban Media Lab
“I have been picture-gazing this morning at the famous Domenichino and Guido, both of which are superlative. I afterwards went to the beautiful cemetery of Bologna, beyond the walls; and found, besides the superb burial-ground, an original of a custode, who reminded one of the grave-digger in Hamlet (…).”
George Gordon Byron, Letters and Journals of Lord Byron with a Notice of his life, 1831
Not only the world-renowned Père Lachaise in Paris (more than 3 million visitors per year), the evocative Okunoin Cemetery in Japan (in the sacred Mount Koya), or the Woodland Cemetery in Stockholm (UNESCO World Heritage site since 1994, although built in the 20th century). Historical cemeteries represent anywhere in the world a peculiar type of urban spaces, both tangible and intangible heritage, while providing funerary services.
In 2001 a European network was created in order to raise awareness about their sometimes neglected importance: ASCE-Association of Significant Cemeteries in Europe. The network counts 179 cemeteries in 22 countries, specifically those public and private entities that care for this specific heritage. The association, born thanks to an Italian initiative, also aims to share experiences and best practices among members and to cooperate in order to protect, restore and enhance these open-air museums.
“Cemeteries as places of life, settings that, as urban spaces, are directly linked to the history and culture of the community they belong to and where we will find many of our references”. This is how the European Route of Cemeteries, promoted by ASCE and supported by the European Commission under its Europe for Citizens Programme (project “Remembrance in European Cemeteries”), refers to this heritage. The Route, comprising 63 cemeteries in 50 cities in 20 European countries, is mainly in charge of the touristic promotion of the sites, and, by raising awareness, it also stimulates dissemination activities and encourages restoration actions. Among the main results achieved by ASCE, we could also mention the establishment of the “Week of Discovering European Cemeteries (WDEC)”, whose activities in 2018 (May 18-June 3) will support the European Year of Cultural Heritage, and a mobile guide presenting members’ heritage thanks to the ARtour platform.
In Italy, we assist to an increasing attention toward the enhancement and management of historical cemeteries, as witnessed by the memorandum of understanding signed in 2016 by the Ministry of Cultural Heritage and Tourism and SEFIT-Servizi Funerari Italiani (the Italian public funerary services): “Protocollo d’intesa per la valorizzazione culturale e turistica dei cimiteri monumentali”. The memorandum also led to the elaboration of a first version of an Atlas of monumental cemeteries in Italy, published few weeks ago. On December 14, 2017, SEFIT, in partnership with Fondazione MAXXI, organized in Rome a workshop dealing with new urban and architectural challenges related to cemeteries: “I cimiteri nella città. I cimiteri come città – Una svolta culturale per la città dei morti pari a quella in atto nelle città dei vivi?”. In 2017, almost 19.000 participants attended cultural events in the four cemeteries of Bologna, Milan, Genoa and Turin.
Practices of participation and citizens engagement are an ever growing phenomenon in the enhancement of these public spaces, that have to balance the protection and development of its cultural heritage with its primary function. The role of citizens, volunteers and not for profit actors turns out to be crucial, especially to ensure the sustainability of enhancement activities, as we will see in two Italian cases: the Staglieno Cemetery in Genoa and the Certosa Cemetery in Bologna.
The cemetery of Staglieno in Genoa (330.000 mq.) was officially opened to the public in 1851. It is one of the most important historical cemeteries in Italy: hundreds of sculptures, but also chapels, galleries and porticoes, with a diversity of styles that contributes to its outstanding historical and artistic value. For the enhancement activities, the cemetery relies on the contribution of different actors, among which an important partnership with ARCI Genova, Auser Liguria e Genova, University of Genoa and CNA-Confederazione Nazionale dell’Artigianato e della Piccola e Media impresa (National Confederation of Artisans and of the Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises), that led to the creation of “La fabbrica di Staglieno”. Financed by Fondazione Telecom, the project is aimed at enhancing the restoration activity carried out within the cemetery by creating a restoration laboratory opened to the public, and combining the guided tours with practical activities and workshops, involving restorers, artisans, researchers and students. In August 2017 the Municipality launched a call for proposals to co-design the enhancement activities, through a “Patto di sussidiarietà”, a juridical instrument within the Third sector regulation allowing not for profit organisations to carry on public interest activities. In this case, the project should involve volunteers, disadvantaged or unemployed people in a variety of activities, with in kind and financial support of the Municipality.
The Certosa Cemetery in Bologna was created in 1801 from a former Chartusian monastery founded in 1334. Its architectural structure is very rich and comprises galleries, cloisters, halls, added to which are frescoes, sculptures, an Etruscan Necropolis and the San Girolamo Church. Starting from 1999, an important enhancement project has been carried out, leading to the restoration of many monuments and to guided tours, special initiatives, a summer programme of events. The entire project is managed by Museo del Risorgimento, which is part of the Municipality museums department, in partnership with the Funerary service provider “Bologna Servizi Cimiteriali”; the cultural association of touristic guides “Didasco”, in charge of the guided tours; the volunteers’ association “Amici della Certosa”, founded in 2009 and relying on more than 90 volunteers that contribute to the maintenance, conservation and enhancement activities and to the opening of the Infopoint; “Fondazione Collegio Artistico Venturoli” for the study and research activities. The summer program of events is conceived through a public call for proposals for cultural and not for profit associations, whose projects are annually evaluated and eventually selected. The Call for projects for summer 2018 has been recently opened (deadline March 11). From each entrance fee of the summer events, 2€ are allocated to the enhancement and restoration project. As regards the collaboration with volunteers, in 2016 the Municipality signed a “Patto di collaborazione” with “Amici della Certosa” association within “Collaborare è Bologna” policy and the Bologna Regulation on public collaborations between citizens and the city for the care and regeneration of urban commons. Recognising the value of both the cemetery heritage and the role played volunteers so far, aims and actions are defined for both actors with a collaborative approach.
Significant cemeteries are more and more serving as catalyst for citizens, associations and volunteers that would take care of these fascinating urban spaces, at the same time maintaining and enhancing its outstanding heritage and raising awareness about its value for the local community.
Pratiche partecipative e di coinvolgimento dei cittadini sono un fenomeno crescente nella valorizzazione dei cimiteri monumentali, particolari spazi urbani che si trovano a dover conciliare l’impegno per il proprio patrimonio culturale con l’originaria funzione funeraria.
by Maria Elena Santagati | Dec 27, 2017 | The Urban Media Lab
Chateau de la Mothe-Chandeniers, France. Image from La Voix du Nord
More than 17.000 contributors from 115 countries participated to the crowdfunding campaign promoted by Dartagnans, a French crowdfunding agency dedicated to the promotion of cultural heritage, to buy, save and enhance the Chateau de la Mothe-Chandeniers in France. More than 1,5 million € have been collected thanks to the contributors that will become co-owners of the medieval castle; 500.000 € will go for the purchase, while the remaining part for the securing and restoration activity.
Meanwhile in Italy Federculture, the National Federation of Regions, Municipalities, Local Utility Companies and all actors managing cultural, tourism, leisure and sports services, launched a petition to ask the Italian government the ratification of the Faro Convention.
Besides the ever growing bottom-up initiatives and activities promoting citizens involvement and engagement in culture, participation is finally gaining an increasing attention also in the research field, as demonstrated by the recent conference “Participatory governance in culture. Exploring practices, theories and policies”, held in November in Rijeka and promoted by Kultura Nova Foundation in collaboration with the European Cultural Foundation. 3 days of interesting discussions and paper presentations around the topic of participatory approaches in culture. Professors Leila Jankovich (University of Leeds, UK), Frank Fischer (Humboldt University, Berlin, Germany and Rutgers University, US) and Christian Iaione (Guglielmo Marconi University of Rome, LUISS University and LabGov’s co-founder, Italy) proposed three different keynote speeches exploring participatory approaches in the arts, in cultural governance and policy making and in the city as a commons perspective. The conference was also an opportunity to learn about many practices spreading throughout Europe, from cultural associations to independent spaces and platforms, from social centres to museums, all developing participatory projects and processes in their everyday activity. Insights into other continents approaches, with some representatives of Zambia, South Africa, US and India were provided as well. Also difficulties and potentials of participation in European Capitals of Culture were discussed, thanks to the experience of some candidate cities.
Next year, other conferences will explore the role of participation in culture, finally acknowledging its importance.
In April (18-20), Aarhus University will host the international conference “Cultures of Participation – Arts, Digital Media and Politics” in order to discuss about the main trends, potentials and problems of the different cultures of participation. The key question is: “On policy levels, citizen participation and engagement are emphasized as key components of democratic societies and these policies are currently being practiced and put to work at cultural institutions and cultural houses, in artistic production, in architectural and urban ‘smart city’ designs and various digital media spaces. But what are the characteristics of cultural participation and how do these manifest themselves in cultures of participation?” The conference invites paper proposals in these topics (deadline January 5): 1) Participatory art & aesthetics, 2) Digital media & technology, 3) Cultural policy & participation.
Image from https://www.gla.ac.uk/events/universeum2018 (the main building of the University of Glasgow)
In June (13-15th), the main annual conference of Universeum- The European Academic Heritage Network (XIX Universeum Network Meeting), held at The Hunterian, University of Glasgow, will be focused on “Working Together: Partnerships,Co-creation, Co-curation”. A call for papers (deadline January 31) is launched in the following topics: 1) Teaching and Student Engagement with Collections; 2) Co-curating Academic Collections Within and Beyond the Campus, while a poster session will deal with the topic of “Working Together in University Museums”. The purpose is clear, due to “the importance for university museums of working together, not only within the university campus but also beyond, collaborating with other cultural heritage organisations; with other communities; with society at large. (…) Working together includes also giving the initiative and the voice to our end users, and working closely together to co-curate and co-create exhibitions, resources, and events”.
European Cultural Heritage Summit, Berlin
Always in June (18-24th), Berlin will host the European Cultural Heritage Summit, one of the flag events of the European Year of Cultural Heritage. The Summit theme is “Sharing heritage – sharing values” and it will be co-hosted by Europa Nostra, the Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation (SPK) and the German Cultural Heritage Committee (DNK). A large number of events will be proposed mobilising public and private stakeholders, among which the Heritage excellence fair, an High-level policy debate on Europe and cultural heritage, the Award-giving ceremony for the EU Prize for Cultural Heritage/Europa Nostra Awards 2018 and the Europa Nostra General Assembly and visits of the UNESCO World Heritage Sites in Potsdam.
An increasing attention for a relentless phenomenon. Stay tuned!
Il tema della partecipazione nel settore culturale sta finalmente ricevendo la dovuta attenzione. Accanto alla crescita di iniziative dal basso, anche il mondo della ricerca e della policy inizia ad interrogarsi su tendenze, problematiche e scenari del fenomeno. Un 2018 ricco di appuntamenti.
by Maria Elena Santagati | Nov 21, 2017 | The Urban Media Lab
Cultural policy is experiencing a participatory revolution in Taiwan. In 2016, the new Minister of culture proposed a new approach for the formulation of the national cultural policy − the Taiwan cultural empowerment − based at the same time on three main pillars: a National Cultural Congress in 2017 (after the ones held in 1990, 1997 and 2002), a Culture White Paper and a Cultural basic law.
The overall project relies on a participatory process involving civil society, researchers, associations, young people and cultural practitioners, coordinated by the National Taiwan University of Arts (NTUA) and the Taiwan Association of Cultural Policy Studies (TACPS). The latter was created in 2015 by 34 artists, cultural practitioners and academics in order to create a knowledge platform and to foster dialogue and cooperation among the different actors of cultural governance.
The new agenda setting is the result of cultural opinions and research (by NTUA and TACPS), Ministry of Culture’s policies and six advisory committees.
To learn more about the project, we propose the interview to Dr Shu-Shiun Ku, CEO of National Cultural Congress and Culture White Paper Project, and Debbie C.Y. Lee, Deputy Secretary-General of the Taiwan Association of Cultural Policy Studies.
How did the project come about?
Since Martial Law was lifted in 1987, cultural democratization has become the main issue in Taiwan’s cultural policy.
In 2016, the Democratic Progressive Party gained the presidential seat upon winning the general election. The new Minister of Culture pledged to strengthen cultural democracy and enhance cultural citizenship by the bottom-up approach. Therefore, researchers and cultural practitioners in National Taiwan University of Arts (NTUA) and Taiwan Association of Cultural Policy Studies (TACPS) have been commissioned to co-organize the project entitled “2017 National Cultural Congress and Cultural White Paper” with the Ministry of Culture in Taiwan.
What are the main steps and related achievements of the participatory process?
In order to take the bottom-up approach to implement this project, the executive team (NTUA and TACPS) initially set up an implement mechanism, which consist of advisory committees from diverse areas including academics, industries, cultural groups and civil groups, to work with Ministry of Culture.
Based on 5 core values (cultural citizen, public participation, diversity and equality, deliberative thinking and collaborative governance), 15 regional cultural forums and 4 thematic forums (including a National Cultural Youth Forum, Forum on the Cultures of New Immigrants, Forum of Cultural Heritage, Forum of Culture and Technology) were held between March to July this year around Taiwan cities. In addition, there are 34 public petitions from ‘Citizen Think Tank’ through the internet proposals. These forums then lead to the National Cultural Congress in Taipei for 2 days on September 2nd and 3rd.
Currently, the advisory committees, the MOC and the executive team are analysing these public discussions to identify the problems and causes of the recent controversies. Most importantly, they are working together to make a new version of Culture White Paper for the future cultural policy.
It can be seen as an experimental case of the co-governance between state, academics and the third sector through practices.
The project sees an high degree of participation from young people. How do you achieve it?
The National Cultural Congress aims to create a friendly, respectful public space for rational debate. In addition to the public forums that took place island-wide, online, social media communications via website and Facebook was used to facilitate the discussions online as well as off-line.
The Congress launched the Youth Forum which was a public space and dynamic opportunity for youth participants to voice their opinions and create dialogues with policy makers and stakeholders from the Ministry of Culture. Over 100 participants in their twenties and thirties actively took part in the Youth Forum by choosing a topic that interests them under the framework of National Cultural Congress and discuss with the group. The Youth Forum deployed group discussion practices including World Cafe and workshop.
How to make the project sustainable?
In order to make the project sustainable, the democratic implement mechanism and strong civil society play essential roles. Firstly, the collaboration of implement mechanism between the Ministry of Culture, advisory committees and the executive team has set up an operational model of bottom-up approach for future National Cultural Congress. Secondly, the strong civil society, which the public actively participates in cultural affairs and cultural NPOs oversee the implement, can facilitate the continuity of the project.
What is the role of the Taiwan Association of Cultural Policies Studies in the project?
Taiwan Association of Cultural Policy Studies is an autonomous and not-for-profit legal organization. Its role in the National Cultural Congress is to facilitate ground research, data collection, and open accesses for citizens to participate in cultural policy making. TACPS acts as an intermediary between policy makers, advisory committees, and the public and contributes to the introduction of better informed cultural policies to promote the development of a dynamic cultural sector.
Una nuova politica culturale per Taiwan, formulata grazie a un interessante e strutturato processo partecipativo lanciato dal nuovo Ministro della Cultura nel 2016. Il progetto, coordinato dalla National Taiwan University of Arts (NTUA) e dalla Taiwan Association of Cultural Policy Studies (TACPS), vede la partecipazione attiva della società civile, dei professionisti della cultura, dell’associazionismo e di giovani ricercatori. Proponiamo un’intervista ai coordinatori per conoscere da vicino il progetto.
by Maria Elena Santagati | Aug 30, 2017 | The Urban Media Lab
“Heritage is only relevant, when it is relevant for the people”.
The Organization of World Heritage Cities (OWHC), founded in 1993, gathers 280 cities hosting sites included on the UNESCO World Heritage List. Its aims are “to favor the implementation of the World Heritage Convention, to encourage co-operation and the exchange of information and expertise on matters of conservation and management as well as to develop a sense of solidarity among its member cities”.
OWHC has 8 Regional Secretariats, besides the General Secretariat in Québec. Since the ever increasing importance of the connection of local communities with cultural heritage, the Northwest Europe and North-America Regional Secretariat, based in Germany, has published the guidebook “Community Involvement in Heritage Management”, in cooperation with the Joint Project European Union / Council of Europe COMUS and EUROCITIES.
The guidebook, consisting of a theoretical background and case-studies, provides practical exemples in the following areas: Promotion & valorisation of Urban Heritage, Supporting owners in safeguarding their Urban Heritage, Use of Urban Heritage for community and cultural development, Participative development of actions, management plans, guidelines, policies for Urban Heritage.
In order to increase citizens involvement and connection with urban cultural heritage, the guidebook identifies three major objectives:
- Recognise, understand, coordinate and balance needs of both local communities and urban heritage
- Link, connect, communicate, empower to produce long-lasting benefits for the communities while safeguarding cultural heritage
- Strengthen abilities and capacities to favor citizens engagement, also in decision making processes, in the preservation, management and promotion of urban heritage.
The guidebook refers to some theoretical approaches of community involvement in heritage management, people-centred approach to conservation (like Co-management (Reggers 2013; Office of Environment and Heritage NSW 2015) and the Living Heritage model (Poulios 2014) and to the Communication model for built heritage assets-COBA, elaborated by the World Heritage Coordination Secretary “to increase the identification of citizens with their built heritage asset in order to get their support in allocating more resources to and preserving cultural heritage”, for the scoping of heritage communication processes, their evaluation and improvement. The model proposes an identification process made up of 5 steps defined by the following indicators: the attitude of the “citizen” (A), the state of identification (B) and proficiency (C), the level of involvement (D), the communication efforts (E), the methodologies that can be applied (F). The 5 stages are the following ones:
- Definition of heritage assets
- Awareness of heritage assets
- Exploration: From Knowing to Doing
- Participation: Action-orientation and self-commitment
- Transfer: Expertise and assimilation of asset.
Within the process, the citizen can pass through the stages of being a recipient, stakeholder, multiplier, expert, lobbyist and, combining the 5 stages and the related indicators, the COBA model results as follows:
“What was missing is a model that can be used to scope and structure local community involvement processes, and all of them of course start with communication” (page 68). This is even more important in view of the celebration of the European Year of Cultural Heritage in 2018.
L’Organizzazione delle Città Patrimonio Mondiale (Organization of World Heritage Cities – OWHC) ha recentemente pubblicato delle linee guida sul tema “Community Involvement and heritage management”. Un quadro teorico e interessanti casi studio con l’obiettivo di promuovere un maggior coinvolgimento dei cittadini nella gestione del patrimonio culturale urbano.
by Maria Elena Santagati | Jul 26, 2017 | The Urban Media Lab
“Approaches to Participatory Governance of Cultural Institutions” is a two year project (from March 2016 to March 2018) implemented by Kultura Nova Foundation (Croatia) with the support of the UNESCO International Fund for Cultural Diversity.
This multi-donor fund was created according to article 5 of the 2005 Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions in order to “foster the emergence of a dynamic cultural sector” in developing countries. Since 2010, it supported 90 projects in 51 developing countries, for a total financing of US$ 6 million for these three major purposes: capacity development (48.7%), cultural and creative industries development (28.6%), governance and public policy (22.7%). The fund is now supporting the following projects, in addition to the already mentioned ones: Strengthening civil society participation in policy advocacy for Bolivia´s culture sector; Sustainable development of cultural industries with women and youth in Ilobasco (El Salvador); Mapping the Haitian music industry; Towards the revision of the National Cultural Policy in Jamaica; Strengthening local cultural policy in Zimbabwe.
Thanks to the funding allocated by the UNESCO IFCD (US $ 77.868,00), Kultura Nova intends to “develop strategic approaches to participatory governance of innovative cultural institutions by fostering their active involvement in planning, decision-making, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of policies”.
Kultura Nova Foundation was founded by the Republic of Croatia in 2011 in order to support the “promotion and development of civil society in the fields of contemporary arts and culture”, by providing both professional and financial support to specific programmes developed by Croatian organizations. Its main goals are to contribute to a capacity-building process in organizations related to contemporary art and culture, to enhance a stronger cooperation in the cultural sector, to raise awareness about its two fields of intervention as well as about their role in social development.
The project is mainly based on the analysis and mapping of the most innovative participatory governance practices and cultural institutions in Croatia and Europe, also through an online survey, and of the policy design as well, in order to identify possible participatory governance models in culture. Another fundamental aim is to strengthen the capacities of 150 relevant stakeholders on participatory governance mechanisms through a series of coaching sessions for policy and decision makers, capacity building workshops for local community and intensive knowledge sharing for civil and creative sectors. A Participatory Governance Guidebook for Innovative Models of Cultural Institutions will be also published.
The project is articulated as follows:
- Research of participatory governance models and institutional frameworks (20/03/2016 – 01/06/2017)
- Knowledge sharing and capacity building (15/06/2016 – 28/02/2018)
- Publication about Participatory Governance in Culture (15/06/2017 – 28/02/2018)
- Participatory Governance in Culture – Conference (November 2017)
The International and interdisciplinary conference Participatory Governance in Culture: Exploring Practices, Theories and Policies. DO IT TOGETHER will be held on 22nd – 24th November 2017 in Rijeka, Croatia, in partnership with Rijeka 2020 LLC and in collaboration with European Cultural Foundation.
La governance partecipativa della cultura sotto la lente, grazie ad un progetto della fondazione croata Kultura Nova finanziato dall’UNESCO International Fund for Cultural Diversity. Analisi di approcci, pratiche, policies e modelli di participatory governance nelle e per le istituzioni culturali, il tutto accompagnato da processi di capacity-building. Se ne discuterà a novembre in Croazia.
