Key questions in international arts management, e.g. on the communication between individuals from different backgrounds or the role of arts managers in challenging contexts, were addressed by the group of highly-qualified and experienced participants at the fourth workshop of the Brokering Intercultural Exchange Network that took place at Goldsmiths University of the London, November 15 - 17, 2017.

For this interview, our correspondent Lisa Harborth talked to Alejandra Solórzano, a cultural producer who is working for the Ministry of Culture and Youth in Costa Rica. They spoke about the local arts sector, the unique position of concert bands in this small country and their link to the non-existing army.

Feasible visions for the city of the future are the Senseable City Lab's main topic. The SCL is one of the interdisciplinary research and transfer centers affiliated at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. We talked with Prof. Dr. Carlo Ratti, founder and director, about how the SCL merges modern research and creativity in applicable developments.

In the cultural sector and in cultural policy, international cooperation is taken for granted. But to be truly fruitful, cultural exchange must be on an equal footing. But what does that mean? Are arts organizations really on a par with their partners? Is it really fair cooperation they pursue? With her award-winning doctoral thesis, Dr. Annika Hampel has triggered the discussion of a topic debated still much too rarely.

The third seminar of the network Brokering Intercultural Exchange taking place in Zürich, Switzerland was the best gathering of Arts/Cultural Management academics, practitioners, and students I have have ever attended. To this appraisement, I have identified eight qualities that continue to come up in conversations like a leitmotiv from a Wagnerian opera.

The 36th Annual AAAE conference was hosted by Queen Margaret University in Edinburgh between May 31st and June 2nd 2017. The fact, that the conference took place in Europe, surely resulted in several new faces. One third of the participants were so-called first timers (assumedly several of them Europeans who took advantage of not having to travel that far).

This research seeks to develop greater understanding of the impacts of globalization, digitalization, and (im)migration on the work of arts managers and arts management researchers. Different from studies that focus specifically on those who work exclusively in international contexts, this paper aims to present current research based on an international empirical study of arts managers who do not necessarily cross borders for their work and who would in most cases not even consider their work international as such.

Aaron Hernandez Farfan, a Mexican actor and cultural manager, together with his company Agua Quemada Creatividad visualizes problems affecting the Mexican society, such as violence and injustice. With Lisa Harborth, he talks about the cultural system in Mexico, how politics influence it and which challenges affect the work as an artist in Mexico.

This article presents the results of a research on the opinions of arts/ cultural managers around the world regarding their profession, working conditions, current challenges, required competencies, and training opportunities. Is cultural management getting harmonized due to cultural globalization? Or are concepts and practices of cultural management more influenced by the specific national or regional conditions?

In this interview, Alan Salzenstein (De Paul University, Chicago) and Martin Zierold (Karlshochschule International University, Karlsruhe) talk about the relevance of teaching transformation skills to arts management students.

This first workshop of the new network Cultural Managers as Intercultural Brokers took place 15-17 January 2017 at Heilbronn University, Germany. Its highly renowned international participants examined the role that arts and cultural managers can play in handling the challenges of globalisation. And they discussed the question how arts management is influenced by certain worldviews and how this in turn influences the fulfilment of its tasks in international contexts.

The second edition of Goethe-Instituts International Forum again brought together cultural experts from all over the world for two weeks in Munich, Germany for discussions and the development of ideas. And flanked by the presidential election in the US, the participants experienced that independently of their geographical and professional background they are connected by the vision to break down barriers and prejudices.

Our current context of internationalisation, globalisation, and the increasing global migration presents challenges and opportunities for the arts and cultural sector. With creative and aesthetic expressions inherently reflective of cultural ideas, knowledge and values, arts and cultural managers have a significant role to play in directing, administering and mediating intercultural understanding. This refers to the ability to know, accept, value, and empathise with alternative perspectives and perceptions of the world.

This article is about how leaders in the arts can upwardly manage stakeholders with a powerful impact on their work, and enable staff to upwardly manage their bosses as well.

The 24th ENCATC Annual Conference took place in Valencia, Spain, from 57 October, 2016. The event brought together about 160 academics, researchers and professionals from the cultural sector, policy makers, artists and students from over 30 countries. And with a more focused and application oriented program their debates about the new paradigm needed for cultural management and policy to face todays risk societies could have in fact been very fruitful and inspiring.

"Introduction to International Arts Management" deals with the reactions of arts managers in more than 45 countries around the world to globalization and illustrates how arts organizations strive to internationalize not only to increase competitiveness, but also to reach out to an increasingly diverse audience and bring the potential and talent that is inherent in this diversity to the forefront.

In this series, I introduce a selection of neglected aspects and competencies from my book The A to Z of Arts Management. This chapter is about the uncertainty and challenge of running an arts company.

BBC Advertising just published an international in-depth report on millennials and the misconceptions surrounding this highly sought after generation. By conducting over 14,000 interviews across 31 countries and seven markets Australia, Germany, USA, Canada, India, Singapore and South Africa the report's findings make it easier for marketers in cultural institutions to target the most attractive and commercially receptive segment within that group.

In this series, I introduce a selection of neglected aspects and competencies from my book The A to Z of Arts Management. This chapter is about love for ones job and why it is important to be more open to the desires and needs of the people you work with and for.