Cultural Entrepreneurship for Museum and Heritage Organization Professionals

In many European countries, the arts, heritage and cultural sector is supported by or partially subsidized by government. However, due to the economic crisis and cuts in budget, the amount of funds for direct subsidies is decreasing. Starting from this assumption, the project Empowering Museum Professionals and Heritage Organizations Staff by cultural entrepreneurship training and research (EMPHOS) has the objective to develop entrepreneurial skills and attitude among cultural professionals.

The project has been funded with support from the European Commission under the Erasmus+ Programme. It started in fall 2015 and will last three years. The partnership is composed by a multi-disciplinary team which includes three higher education institutions, experts in cultural management and two non-profit organisations active in the field. The organisations are located in three European countries: The Netherlands, Italy and United Kingdom.

Starting from an in-deep research activity about cultural entrepreneurship and related topics and from the final users real needs in terms of competences, the partnership will develop an innovative training course, which will be available and exploitable at the European level by different types of institutions, including VET organisations.

The partners

Reinwardt Academy, Stichting Amsterdamse Hogeschool voor de Kunsten
Università di Bologna
Centro Italiano per lApprendimento Permanente
Goldsmiths, University of London
Landschap Erfgoed Utrecht

State of the art and next steps

During the kick off meeting of the project in October 2015, partners had the opportunity to meet one another and decide upon the most critical issues they thought were affecting the sector. Following this meeting, they presented the results of the first situational scan which charted the position and status of art and cultural entrepreneurship in their respective countries. This research will form the basis for further development of the training programme.

Partners will meet again in May in Bologna (Italy) for the 2nd project meeting, during which, they will conduct a situational scan about attitudes in cultural entrepreneurship.

On May 5th, 2016 the first multiplier event of the project will take place at the Biblioteca di San Giorgio in Poggiale in Bologna. The event will give attendees the opportunity to discover and discuss relevant practices of cultural entrepreneurship in Italian cultural organisations and their implication for the training programme. Apart from the partners, the event will see the participation of 16 speakers, experts in cultural entrepreneurship and connected sectors and of, at least, 25 participants, who will be involved in the discussion.

Further information can be found on the Facebook page of the project.

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