Art and creativity for changing cities: time for culture?

Pau Rausell from Econcult coordinated a free summer course with Raul Abeledo and Tony R. Murphy among others. 

This summer course "Art and creativity for changing cities: time for culture?" held on July 15th and 16, 2021, in the International centre of Gandia, was open to students and the general public and discussed the role of culture in urban development and some case studies of culture-led transformation. 

Several of the experiences presented were inspired by the perspective of the MESOC conceptual model, focusing on the role of cultural projects in social cohesion and citizen participation, the improvement of health and well-being, and economic recovery. The possibility of extending the Cultural and Creative Cities Monitor model to cities with less than 100,000 inhabitants was also explored from the perspective of the construction of indicators to better measure the social impacts of culture.

Presentation of the course:

The impact of the pandemic crisis has been devastating for cultural and creative activities. Despite this, it must be acknowledged that the EU has reacted with remarkable speed and is proposing an unprecedented strategy which, in our opinion, goes a little further than simply reacting to the immediate effects of the health catastrophe. The Next Generation EU programme includes the cultural and creative sectors as part of the productive activities at the heart of the recovery process. The New European Bauhaus initiative also relies on culture and creativity as agents of change and transformation. It is, therefore, time to consider, in greater depth, what role art and creativity can play in the recovery of cities. From this perspective, more theoretical approaches to the role of culture in the city will be considered, paying attention to different types of cities, including medium-sized non-metropolitan cities such as Gandia, while at the same time focusing attention on recent and specific projects that propose different types of links between culture, creativity and local development.

Agenda of the course: 

Thursday 15th July:

• 16-17h. The cultural city. Redefining the role of culture in urban development. Pau Rausell, Department of Applied Economics. University of Valencia.
• 17 - 18.30h. Culture and development in medium-sized cities. Ana Isabel Escalona, Department of Geography and Urban Planning. University of Zaragoza.
• 18.30-20h. Culture and sustainability: an opportunity for rural development. Raül Abeledo. Department of Applied Economics. Valencia

Wednesday 16th July: 

• 9.30 - 10.30h: L'Alqueria del Pi d'Alfafar. Local development strategy. Tony Murphy, Culturalink SL
• 10.30 - 11.30h: The city of the fallero artist in Valencia. Proposal for the re-reading of the cultural districts. Chema Segòvia. Town planner, coordinator of the society/culture/citizenship area at Culturalink.
• 11.30 - 12.30h: The experience of Covent Carmen in Valencia. Culture and urban revitalisation. Juanma Sánchez, Managing Director of Calma Ventures. Department of Marketing and Market Research. University of Valencia.
• 12.30 - 13.30h: Cultural reactions. Antonio Martínez López. Vice-president PerformArt. Cultural manager.