In Paris responding to a day workshop on the Paris 2024 Cultural Olympiad. I will be talking to key local stakeholders across la Ville de Paris and the rapidly developing and newly redefined boroughs (établissements public territoriales) surrounding the Olympic Park site in Seine Saint Denis. Plenty to discuss as France gets ready for the…
On the 4th December 2019 I was in Brussels presenting at the European Parliament. It was a public hearing to the Culture and Education Committee on the legacies and challenges of the European Capital of Culture (ECoC) Programme. I shared with MEPs the wealth of evidence that exists about what works (or not) for ECoCs…
Some pictures from the third UCLG #cultureSummit , hosted in Buenos Aires. The summit has become the largest global gathering of cities and local governments for the purpose of discussing culture as a motor for #sustainabledevelopment. I led a discussion on definitions of data and research frameworks in order to capture meaningful evidence in cities. I referred to…
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…
Culture Liverpool and the Institute of Cultural Capital have partnered with the British Council, and the CreArt European Network to host #Impacts18, a two-day International Symposium which will take place 18-19 October. This global conversation will see cultural heavyweights from across the world join in Liverpool to discuss culture as a catalyst for urban change.…
I am in Rio this week presenting the results of our one year UK-Brazil research collaboration to explore the immediate legacy of hosting the Rio 2016 Games on the reputations of Rio and Brazil as cultural and creative centres. We have received much media interest in Brazil around our core finding: that the most dominant…
On 21 June I am speaking at Common Ground, a day event for AHRC Commons members aimed at: “enabling ideas and skills to be exchanged, new collaborations to be forged, networks to be enriched, knowledge to be produced, and the value of the arts and humanities to be expressed, discussed, and celebrated” I will make…
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…
I am in Montreal on 25 and 26 May to discuss the value and impact of large scale cultural events. My contribution takes place during the launch of the Montreal ArtsGames 2018, a new event edition, focused on bringing artists from around the world to present their traditions as well as explore ways of fusing and reconnecting…
On the 17th and 18th of May 2016 I have contributed to the Regional Seminar for Latin America and the Caribbean that is organised yearly by the Directorate-General for International Cooperation and Development of the European Union. The seminar has brought together Heads of EU Delegations and key staff to discuss challenges and perspectives for EU development…
The European Commission and Iberoamerican General Secretariat have invited me to contribute to ‘Urban Culture for Social Inclusion in Latinoamérica’, an international seminar hosted in Brussels, on the 21 April 2016. This will open the doors to important discussions and knowledge exchange between European city experiences and Latino American cities. * La Comisión Europea y la…
On my way to Sao Paulo to share insights regarging the most powerful cultural legacies of previous Olympic and Paralympic Games. I will present a keynote at the Fórum permanente de gestão do conhecimento, comunicação e memória, a Forum dedicated to discussing the connections between knowledge, communication and memory in order to explore how stories can transform businesses…
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…
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…
I have spent a day in Hull, discussing regeneration opportunities, the challenges of event-driven urban strategies and the many ways in which local people can define success after hosting the UK City of Culture title. We talked & rebated numbers, anecdotes, expectations met, surprises and disappointments in many other cities that have previously undergone a…
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 Royal Society of Arts has invited me to speak at their 2015 Engage Series: RSA Connect: Hull, 14 July 2015 This event aims to explore alternative approaches to regeneration through people, culture and enterprise. I will be a facilitator, together with Lia Ghilardi, and will share examples of how we can harness the power of the…
I have been invited by the University of Chicago’s Cultural Policy Center to join an international research gathering at the university’s Paris campus. The event is a select convening of about 25 researchers, practitioners and policymakers around the theme of urban cultural placemaking. It has been organised as part of the Center’s efforts to develop a more international and…
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…
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…