Project Presented at the ICCA International Symposium

Violante Torre (European Cultural Foundation) and Maria Francesca de Tullio (University of Antwerp) gave a presentation at the ICCA (Industries Culturelles et Création Artistique) International Symposium “Cultural Policies. What’s new?” held in Paris on the 30th and 31st of January.

The presentation was titled “Towards a participatory approach to EU cultural policy. Commoning cultural spaces in Timișoara and Madrid” and was meant to discuss the provisional research outcomes of Cultural and Creative Spaces and Cities. The speech started from the basic question of CCSC: how to make creative work sustainable, face to the preponderance of the market dimension, in disadvantage of the balance with domestic, peer and civil dimensions (Gielen).

They highlighted how commons can work and have worked, in imagining new institutions and new visions of cultural policy, based on sustainability and stronger citizens participation. Their presentation also described the innovative methodological approach of the CCSC, which is value-driven and mainly focused on community relationships, rather than quantitative indicators: e.g., through a collaborative “charter of principles”, an activity of peer-learning among the Urban Labs or inclusive and qualitative indicators, and which pushes for stronger exchanges among local communities.

Hence, we are testing our ideas, and gathering feedback from the academic community, in order to start a cooperative reflection on how to draw a more democratic policy-making at EU level.