Category: Liverpool

Impacts 18 Symposium Highlights

Find below highlights from our 10 year anniversary symposium, launching Impacts 08 ~ 18 | #Impacts18, the major research programme I have directed since 2006 on the impacts and long term legacy of hosting a European Capital of Culture. The Symposium opened a global conversation about the value of being a ‘‘#cityofculture’ after 30 years of…

Impacts 18 | Legacies of Liverpool as #ECoC

Impacts’18 is a longitudinal research programme dedicated to capturing the long-term effects of hosting the European Capital of Culture title on the city of Liverpool. Using the data baseline and methodological framework established by Impacts 08  — a five-year study on the economic, environmental, social and cultural impacts of Liverpool 2008  — Impacts 18 offers a…

‘If everyone says so …’ Press narratives and image change in major event host cities

I have just published this academic paper within the Urban Studies Journal. You can access it here   Abstract This paper looks into the European Capital of Culture (ECoC) programme as a leading example of culture-led regeneration intervention aimed at renewing or diversifying the economic base and positioning of host cities. One of the key claims…

ARTICLE | Closer to Marseille than to London … Europe and the EU as trumpeteers for British talent

On the day the United Kingdom decides whether to remain in or leave the EU, I share my personal take on the value of this relationship. This is a personal reflection informed by 16 years researching urban change and documenting the journeys of cities trying to rebuild their economic base while protecting their social fabric and advancing their cultural outlook.…

The Art of Devolution | Culture & the North

On 14 June 2016, I am speaking on the implications of devolution, rebalancing and the ‘Northern Powerhouse’ for the arts and cultural ecologies of the north of England. The Art of Devolution: Culture and the North aims to provide a space for civic, cultural and academic partners to discuss plans and ambitions for arts and culture in times…

My research trajectory since 1999

I have interrogated cities and event-led cultural policy-making since 1999. I started by revisiting the cultural legacy of the Barcelona 1992 Olympic Games to inform my work on the Sydney 2000 Olympic Arts Festivals. This was followed by research on the legacy of Glasgow 1990 as European Capital of Culture; the experience of Cultureshock – cultural programme for…

Liverpool 2018: 10 year ECoC legacy

The Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) supports ICC research programme on the ten year legacy of Liverpool as European Capital of Culture   The Institute of Cultural Capital has been allocated funding from the AHRC Cultural Engagement Fund to kick-start an exciting new programme of research on the ten year legacy of Liverpool as European Capital…

Intangible Heritage and urban development

On the 23rd September I am speaking at Sharing Cultures 2015  – the Fourth International Conference on Intangible Heritage. My paper discusses findings from my research on the impacts of the Liverpool World Heritage Site on city narratives and ambitions. The paper challenges the false perception that there is an irreconciliable tension between urban development and heritage protection. The project:  In…

Public Service Media contribution to society

Find below my contribution to the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) ‘Knowledge Exchange 2015‘, an excellent forum dedicated to discussing ways of debating, evidencing and pushing forward the societal values of Public Service Media across Europe. The event attacted 100 participants from 32 countries, representing 31 different broadcasters. I spoke on the importance of capturing cultural…

Cultural value, media events & city narratives

Presentation at AIMAC 2015 (Aix-en-Provence & Marseille)   My paper abstract, below: Ever since the widespread acceptance that the arts can have economic value, artistic interventions have been commonly interrogated through an economic and, often, purely instrumental lens. Economic or – at most – socioeconomic effect narratives and associated methodologies to capture such effects have…

The cultural value of event-led city regeneration

I am in Helsinki presenting the paper ‘The cultural value of event-led city regeneration. What makes a European Capital of Culture sustainable’ . My presentation is part of the international symposium Culture(s) in Sustainable Futures: Theories, Policies, Practices, organised by the University of Jyväskylä as part of a COST (European Cooperation in Science and Technology) research programme. Find my…

Remembering, Narrating & Re-connecting Space in Liverpool

On the 14 & 15 May I am contributing to “The Global City: Past and Present“, as part of an AHRC international research network that interrogates the city and its varied international projections & representations from a historical as well as contemporary perspective. I will present a paper focused on the varied cultural representations of…

Urban Myths?

Urban Myths? Transforming narratives of place via the media representation of one-off international cultural events Paper presented at: Mediated City – Los Angeles Hosting a major one-off cultural event has become a key aspiration of cities attempting to renew or change their local economic base and position themselves as world, international or national cultural centres.…

Collection of films on my views about Liverpool and cultural regeneration

I have finally had the chance to tidy up the links to a series of films produced under the series ‘Culturefighters’ by Kosice 2013 European Capital of Culture with support from the British Council. The films were produced back in 2011 and cover a range of topics in the format of ‘mini-masterclasses’ around the notion…

Research links: A ‘City of Culture’ initiative for Italy?

Claudio Bocci, Director of Institutional Relations at Federculture and Ravello LAB committee member, has built on the evidence provided by Impacts 08 on Liverpool 2008 and the Cities and Culture project on Glasgow 1990 to advance discussion about a potential City of Culture initiative in Italy. Find his paper in Italian (with English version at…

Project: European Capitals of Culture policy group

In 2009 I attracted funding from the European Commission to establish an international network of researchers and programmers working on the European Capital of Culture initiative. The group focused on finding a common and replicable framework for programme assessment and delivery. This collaboration led to a series of workshops, managed by Liverpool via the Impacts 08…

(2007) Building on the European Culture Capital as impulse for cultural and creative development

Garcia, B. (2007) ‘Building on the European Culture Capital as impulse for cultural and creative development’, in: Change through the Cultural Economy. Perspectives of a Sunrise Industry, The State Government of North Rhine-Westphalia, Essen, Germany (17 Sep 2007) [presentation] Seventeen years on, Glasgow is still remembered for its achievements as 1990 European City of Culture.…