Bridging the gap between Practice and Theory

1. CReW Cultural Relations at Work
Erasmus+ Programme – Jean Monnet Activities
Bridging the gap between Practice and Theory
Siena Cultural Relations Forum, June 26-29, 2019
Pierangelo Isernia and Alessandro G. Lamonica

2. OUTLINE
1. THE CReW PROJECT
2. PRELIMINARY CONSIDERATIONS: THE PRACADEMIC APPROACH
3. RESEARCH DESIGN
• Construction of the theoretical framework
• Data selection and collection
• Data analysis
• Multiple case study analysis
• Analysis of pracademic activities
4. PRELIMINARY FINDINGS
• Practice-oriented applications
• Policy-oriented theoretical implications
5. NEXT STEPS

3. THE CREW PROJECT
• Erasmus+ Programme, Jean Monnet Activities (EAC-A03-2016)
• 3 events, one on each stream of the Joint communication
• Rabat (Spring 2018): sustainable development
• London (Fall 2018): cultural heritage
• Stuttgart (Spring 2019): inter-cultural dialogue
• Siena Cultural Relations Forum 2019
• Newsletter and website (http://crewproject.wp.unisi.it/project/)
• Best Practice Manual and Edited book

4. OUTLINE
1. THE CReW PROJECT
2. PRELIMINARY CONSIDERATIONS: THE PRACADEMIC APPROACH
3. RESEARCH DESIGN
• Construction of the theoretical framework
• Data selection and collection
• Data analysis
• Multiple case study analysis
• Analysis of pracademic activities
4. GENERAL PRELIMINARY FINDINGS
• Practice-oriented applications
• Policy-oriented theoretical implications
5. NEXT STEPS

5. PRELIMINARY CONSIDERATIONS
• THREE GAPS
• between academics and practitioners;
• between agency and structure;
• between training and selection, and, within training, between formal academic and life-long
training.
• A QUEST FOR FILLING THE GAPS
• The Council asks Member States to “…develop further existing networks for knowledge and
competence development and encourage exchange between academia and practitioners in the
field of international cultural relations” (April 2019, Council Conclusions on an EU strategic
approach to international cultural relations and a framework for action)
• THE CREW PROJECT: 3 GOALS
• To foster dialogue between academics, practitioners and policy-makers
• To make explicit and translate “in a common language” the practical knowledge often used in
international cultural relations and cultural diplomacy
• To collect and to organize information from case studies in ways close to the reality of the
situation and grounded in social science theoretical framework

6. OUTLINE
1. THE CReW PROJECT
2. PRELIMINARY CONSIDERATIONS: THE PRACADEMIC APPROACH
3. RESEARCH DESIGN
• Construction of the theoretical framework
• Data selection and collection
• Data analysis
• Multiple case study analysis
• Analysis of pracademic activities
4. GENERAL PRELIMINARY FINDINGS
• Practice-oriented applications
• Policy-oriented theoretical implications
5. NEXT STEPS

7. Research
Design

8. CONSTRUCTION OF A THEORETICAL
FRAMEWORK - I
• Analysis of politics and policies
• Web or relations

9. CONSTRUCTION OF A THEORETICAL
FRAMEWORK - II
• ACTORS
• DIRECTION
• OBJECTIVES
• MEANS

10. Data analysis

11. RESEARCH QUESTION FOR
PRACADEMICS EVENTS
• What are the current strategies being pursued by members
states and EU institutions [WORKSTREAM 1, 2, 3] within the EU
and in the relationship with its third partners within the EU and
in the relationship with its third partners?
• To what extent is there already an agreement on a strategic
approach to [WORKSTREAM 1, 2, 3] among member states and
between member states and the EU institutions?
• How is your activity contributing to the achievement of the
strategic objectives foreseen by the European Commission when
dealing with [WORKSTREAM 1, 2, 3]?

12. DATA SELECTION AND COLLECTION OF
CASE STUDIES
• Organizational dimensions
üMultilateral partnership with all relevant stakeholders
üMultilateral funding mechanism (multidonor)
üStakeholders’ engagement based on “variable geometry”.
üLocal empowerment
üRegional focus
üEU engagement based on complementarity and subsidiarity
üRole of existing frameworks for cooperation
üAll workstreams of the Joint Communication represented:
• Relational dimensions
üEU Regional level to Third State and Society levels (dyads 1 and 2);
üEU State level to Third State and Society levels (dyads 3 and 4);
üEU Society level to Third State and Society levels (dyads 5 and 6)

13. DATA SELECTION AND COLLECTION
Case study (n:13) Contributor
Event 1. Rabat: Supporting culture as an engine for sustainable social and economic development in the EU Neighborhood South
Tfanen – Tunisie Créative Matteo Malvani - Tfanen programme manager, British Council Tunisia
The “Med-Culture” Programme in the South of the Mediterranean Fanny Bouquerel – Capacity Development Expert
Young Mediterranean Voices – The hub for intercultural dialogue in the Mediterranean Regina Salanova - Head of Communications ALF
The “Cultures pour vivre ensemble” Programme in Morocco Javier Galvan - Director Instituto Cervantes, Rabat
Event 2. London: Reinforcing cooperation on cultural heritage in the EU Neighborhood South
The UK’s Cultural Protection Fund Kate Pugh, Chair Cultural Protection Fund Advisory Group & Alex
Bishop, Grants Manager Cultural Protection Fund
French government initiatives to protect tangible and intangible cultural heritage abroad Alexis Mocio-Mathieu, Directorate for Culture, Education, Researc
The Cultural Management Academy Miki Braniste, Curator, Goethe-Institut
Archaeology and policy-making on the protection and valorization of cultural heritage.
Reflections “from the field” [EAMENA]
Prof. David Mattingly, University of Leicester
Event 3. Stuttgart: Promoting culture and inter-cultural dialogue for peaceful inter-community relations
Eastern Partnership Culture and Creativity: Cooperation and mobility in practice Simon Williams, Director British Council Ukraine
European ‘Houses’ of Culture -Experiences in Eastern Europe and EUNIC projects Robert Kieft, Project Manager EUNIC Global
Young Mediterranean Voices. A flagship regional youth network Eleonora Insalaco, Head of Intercultural Research and Programming
Spaces of Culture: Creative endeavors between Europe and Turkey Hanna Dede, Programme Director “Spaces of Culture”
Residencies as a sustainable model for international mobility of cultural actors –
development and current experiences
Melanie Bono, Goethe Institut

14. B) Multiple case study analysis
supporting culture as an
engine for sustainable social
and economic development
promoting culture and
intercultural dialogue for
peaceful inter-community
relations
reinforcing cooperation on
cultural heritage
The “Med-Culture”
Programme in the South of
the Mediterranean
The Young Mediterranean
Voices Programme (YMV)
The International Alliance for
the Protection of Cultural
Heritage in Conflict Areas
(Aliph)
Tfanen – Tunisie Créative Spaces of Culture EAMENA (Endangered
Archaeology in the MENA
region), with a focus on its
relationship with the UK’s
Cultural Protection Fund (CPF)

15. PRELIMINARY
FINDINGS

16. PRELIMINARY PRACTICE ORIENTED
RESULTS I
• Governance, Management, and Funding
- Multilateral partnership: between network diplomacy and polylateralism
- Process-based design
- Consultative participatory approach
- Regional dimension
- Funding
• Tools and Methodologies
- Tailored capacity development
- mobility and partnerships

17. • Sustainability
- cultural entrepreneurship and employability
- resilience-informed practice (local empowerment)
- professional development: role of formal and informal education
- networking and collaborative work at national and regional levels
- advocacy and education.
• Technical assistance and Grants
- Inclusion
- Selection process/evaluation procedure
- hybrid structure
• Dissemination and Communication
- Website
- social media platforms
- specialized outputs
PRELIMINARY PRACTICE ORIENTED
RESULTS II

18. Rabat Stuttgart London
WORD CLOUDS OF PRACADEMICS
RECOMMENDATIONS

19. A FIRST SET OF POLICY-ORIENTED THEORETICAL
IMPLICATIONS
• There is a certain agreement on the strategic approach to ICR between MS
themselves and between MS and the EU institutions.
• The process is slow.
• Looking at practices, there are quite successful examples of projects and
programmes that reflect the strategic framework through their organizational and
relational dimensions à cooperation with third countries and IGOs is taking place
and cooperation at local level between EU institutions, Member States, and local
stakeholders is increasing.
• Our (small) sample – limited and non-exhaustive – reflect a practical approach to
the role of culture in external relations that is compliant with the requirements of
international cultural relations.
• The strategic approach is not free of contradictions that hinder its implementation
for a combination of intrinsic (“mechanics” of the strategy) and extrinsic
(intervening and systemic) factors

20. • All cases taken into consideration align with the inter-governmental approach endorsed by the EU at least
since 2016 à cooperation between MS with the support of EU institutions (Council Conclusions, April 2019).
à result of long negotiations between governmental and supranational institutions.
• Challenge 1: is the adoption of ICR approach the outcome of a value-driven, interest-free, participatory
process, or rather a stratagem to strengthen the inter-governmental structure to the detriment of the
supranational aspirations of further integration(the rescue of the nation-state hypothesis)?
• Challenge 2: Is a shift from public diplomacy to cultural relations in the EU really taking place? Is it a shift or
rather a struggle between different models with each institution talking past each other (the EU advocating
soft power, the MS pursuing national foreign policy objectives (cultural diplomacy) and practitioners carrying
out cultural relations as “…the exchange of arts, ideas, information, and other aspects of culture in order to
foster a mutual understanding” (Cummings 2003)).
• Challenge 3: EU ICR has been designed with the international liberal order in mind. What are the consequences
of a changing international context for the implementation of the strategy? (Carta and Higgott)
• Challenge 4: Is the EU biting off more than it can chew? Is the effectiveness of EU ICR constrained by different
organizational cultures and levels of expertise in cultural diplomacy among MS
A FIRST SET OF POLICY-ORIENTED
THEORETICAL IMPLICATIONS: CHALLENGES