Project Presentations

6 June

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Training for the Contact Zone (TCZ)

Presenter: Micol Manunta, H401

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Training for the Contact Zone (TCZ), an Erasmus+ Adult Education project, running from the 1st September 2024 until the 31st  August 2026. 

Over the next two years, TCZ will develop and test training materials for heritage sector professionals, artists, cultural mediators, staff, and volunteers. This will be done via training sessions to enhance the skills of cultural mediators and innovate their practices. 

The main goal is to make heritage institutions more representative of contemporary European societies, promoting a transnational view of history and contributing to greater social inclusion.

TCZ aims to equip professionals and volunteers associated with museums and heritage institutions with the skills needed to create more inclusive and diverse cultural spaces where contact zones can thrive.

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Common Grounds

Presenter: Lorenzo Ricca, Amici dell’Imbarchino APS

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The Common Grounds project, developed by Imbarchino and Banda Larga APS within a network of local and international partners, is based on the awareness that there is often a lack of genuine knowledge and attention to ecological transition issues among the people who, as managers, workers, and volunteers, live in and bring cultural centers to life.

The project aims to provide practical tools to help these individuals strengthen their ability to lead ecological change in the spaces they inhabit, the organizations they work in, the communities, and the cities where they operate.

Following a call addressed to cultural centers in Northern Italy, a phase of collective and individual reflection took place to identify the main issues to be tackled and to envision practical solutions. This process was supported by experts from the ENCC (European Network of Cultural Centres) and Trans Europe Halles networks, who provided expertise, tools, and insights to effectively and collaboratively address the ecological transition.

At the same time, collaboration with the Politecnico di Torino enabled the creation of an interactive online platform designed to map and connect spaces, activities, challenges, and solutions. This is an open and constantly evolving tool, useful for building networks, sharing experiences, and generating new sustainable practices within cultural centers.

 

Ortaklaşa: Culture, Dialogue and Support Programme

Presenter: H. Selen Akçalı, Istanbul Foundation for Culture and Arts (İKSV)

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Ortaklaşa, implemented by the Istanbul Foundation for Culture and Arts (İKSV) in collaboration with Marmara Municipalities Union (MMU) and financed by the European Union (EU), addresses the gap in fair collaboration between civil society and local governments in the cultural sector, aiming to foster an inclusive and participatory cultural ecosystem across Türkiye. It aims to promote “a functioning pluralistic, participatory and representative democracy and the consolidation of a resilient civil society by promoting a culture of fundamental rights and dialogue”, revitalizing and democratizing Türkiye’s cultural landscape by fostering collaboration and participation across the sector. Specific objectives are:
To empower cultural professionals working in municipalities and CSOs in cultural policy and management.
To strengthen dialogue and collaboration in Türkiye’s arts and culture sector through joint practices between municipalities and CSOs.
The project provides necessary dialogue opportunities, professional knowledge and budget for cultural actors not just in Istanbul but also around Türkiye to develop a more nuanced understanding of the political and social context within which cultural policy is formed and implemented.

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Green E.Th.I.Cs

Presenter: Nevena Dobreva, Foundation for Entrepreneurship, Culture and Education

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GREEN E.Th.I.Cs – Green Experience through Theatre Inspiring Communities is a European Social and Community Theatre project developed by 18 partners in 12 countries. It implements cultural initiatives of civic engagement to create climate change awareness and foster citizens’ critical thinking and proactivity for the European Green Deal, through performing arts. 

The project is funded by the European Commission under Creative Europe Programme.

Lead partner: UniTo | SCT Centre
FECE is in the role of artistic partner
Project duration: 2022-2026

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ARTEMIS-Arts, Research, and Technologies for Evidence-based Measurement of Impact on Health

Presenter: Victoria Barygina, University of Florence

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The WHO report “What is the evidence on the role of the arts in improving health and well-being?” and the subsequent CULTURE4HEALTH report confirms the impact of arts on mental and physical health regardless of sex, age, or health status. Cultural and artistic experiences have been shown to enhance well-being in both healthy individuals and those affected by various pathologies.

Additionally, both reports highlight a major unmet need in existing studies: the lack of quantitative data that could provide statistically significant and tangible numerical results on the impact of culture and art on health. This limitation hinders policymakers in effectively promoting and supporting cultural and artistic practices for public well-being. Furthermore, the absence of standardized approaches prevents the collection and comparison of data across different environments, research settings, and countries.

We propose to create a network of Culture&Health Stakeholders based on innovative technological approaches to measure the impact of culture and art on health. Thus, identifying and addressing the research gap related to the quantitative evidence of arts on health.

Our goal is to develop the best practices to standardize research methodologies. It will further integrate missing technological approaches to establish reproducible protocols for assessing well-being under different artistic exposures. These protocols will enable comparative analysis between various art practices and cultural settings, ultimately optimizing cultural and artistic experiences to achieve the greatest impact on well-being.

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Nordic Insights: Addressing Cancel Culture in Public Spaces through Artistic Dialogue and Cultural Innovation

Presenter: Oana Nasui, Formare Culturală

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This 12-month cultural exchange project (January 2025-January 2026) brings together Nordic experts and Romanian/Moldovan cultural practitioners to address cancel culture issues surrounding controversial public monuments. Led by platform Formare Culturala Romania, the initiative facilitates knowledge transfer through virtual roundtables, expert interviews, and collaborative research to develop innovative strategies for recontextualizing disputed public art rather than removing it. The project emphasizes artistic interventions, community engagement methods, and digital solutions while exploring how different cultural contexts - from Nordic experiences with colonialism to Eastern European encounters with communist-era monuments - can inform approaches to balancing historical preservation with contemporary values. Key activities include comparative case studies, virtual collaboration sessions, development of a digital resource platform, and creation of a comprehensive study book that will be published both digitally and in print-on-demand format. The project culminates in a practical action plan that provides frameworks for cultural institutions, municipal authorities, and artists working with contested heritage in public spaces.

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Dancing Histor(Y)ies

Presenter: Francesca Billi / Massimo Macaluso, Associazione Enti Locali per le Attività Culturali e di Spettacolo

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Co-financed under the “Creative Europe” program (Project id: 101099222) of the European Union, the project focuses on promoting archaeological sites through performing arts and aims to identify an innovative, effective, and replicable model for the enhancement of cultural sites actively involving local communities in artistic production and conscious heritage enjoyment, also promoting the international circulation of European artists. The project intends to create a common and adaptable general model to be disseminated and exploited at the European level, aiming to combine the material cultural heritage of the sites involved with the immaterial heritage of local communities and their stories, fused together through the creativity of dance.

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GreenCCIrlce

Presenter: Anna Ochmann, ARTeria Foundation

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GreenCCircle aims to empower Cultural and Creative Industries to tackle climate change by developing a comprehensive support scheme. This initiative identifies skill gaps, creates the GreenCCIrcle training for sustainable skills, and establishes a multi-stakeholder ecosystem across 9 countries, fostering collaboration and innovation.
https://greenccircle.eu/

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Kultursistema, cultural and creative primary big data

Presenter: Roberto gómez de la iglesia, Conexiones improbables

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Kultursistema is an international platform for the mapping, analysis and interpretation of cultural and creative ecosystems. It helps agents to focus on their activity, be more visible and connected. And it provides primary data of the cultural and creative sectors properly contextualized for the definition of sectorial impulse policies by public administrations, clusters or professional associations of the creative sectors.
It is developed and managed by Conexiones improbables.
www.kultursistema.com 

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Development of a sensory substitution sistem for visually impaired people (SOMA project)

Presenter: Anna Maria Monciatti, LENS- European Labora

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Art has an undisputable therapeutic power, yet many forms remain inaccessible to visually impaired people. This study develops an SSD for visual art, co-designed with the community. It combines sound–color crossmodal associations, a haptic glove for shape exploration, and olfactory cues for emotional context. The impact on well being will be assessed through EEG neuro- and biofeedback.

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