ACCR EUROPE – ISABELLE BATTIONI
Isabelle Battioni is Delegate General of the ACCR Réseau européen des Centres culturels de rencontre (http://www.accr-europe.org/). Since 2010, she reinforces the role and visibility of the French « CCR » national label, binding heritage and culture, while coordinating the European network and strengthening its contribution to cultural public policy, in relation to public and private bodies. She further works towards reaching new territories in Asia, China. In her previous capacity as Deputy Director of Ambronay’s Centre culturel de rencontre (2005-10), Isabelle developed and co-ordinated the activities of the Centre. Shere launched Ambronay Editions, whose award-winning CD label she managed until 2014. Educated at the Sorbonne (Paris) and King’s College (London), she has worked on international environments, mainly in the performing arts domain focusing on research, creativity, production and political advocacy. She is member of Culture Action Europe’s Executive Committee.
AFRICA E MEDITERRANEO – MARTA MELONI
Marta Meloni has a degree on Marketing and Economics and a master degree in Design and Management of cultural activities. She has always been interested in intercultural dialogue and the relation between art and interculturality. She is currently the Project Manager of Africa e Mediterraneo Association (www.africaemediterraneo.it) and has been in charge of educational and cultural activities with a focus on media education with comics – addressed and with the active participation of young people – for 7 years. Among the several projects she directed, the European project Comics for Equality (www.comix4equality.eu) has been awarded with the Intercultural Innovation Award 2014, a partnership between United Nations Alliance of Civilisations and BMW Group, and has been awarded as Media Initiative of the Year 2015 by the European Civic Forum within the European Democratic Citizenship Awards.
AGENDA 21 FOR CULTURE / UCLG – JORDI PASCUAL
Jordi Pascual coordinates the process ‘Agenda 21 for culture’ (http://www.agenda21culture.net/) for the Committee on Culture of United Cities and Local Governments (UCLG). He also teaches urban cultural policies and management at the Open University of Catalonia (UOC) and is one of the leaders of the global campign #culture2015goal on culture and the Sustainable Development Goals. He writes articles, gives conferences and is involved in advocacy processes on cultural rights, cultural policies, local governance and the role of cultural factors in sustainability. He has also been a member of the jury of the European Capital of Culture in 2010, 2011, 2013 and 2016.
ASSOCIATION FRANCAISE DES ORCHESTRES – PHILIPPE FANJAS
Philippe Fanjas is the director of L’Association Française des Orchestres (AFO) (http://www.france-orchestres.com/). Fanjas studied law and political science and later on he became the Administrateur général of the National Orchestra of Lyon and of the National Orchestra of Ile-de-France. His in-depth orchestral experience led him to regular involvement in international exchange (touring functions, meetings and conferences). The international experience was deepened with the organisation of the International Orchestra Forums in Paris (2001 and 2003) and the European Orchestras Forum (Strasbourg, 2005). He is co-author of Prêtez l’oreille ! Livre blanc des actions éducatives des orchestres, which explored the involvement of permanent orchestras in educational activities in France and the UK. Philippe Fanjas lectures at the University of Paris-Dauphine, Sorbonne and Saint Denis and is the president of the contemporary dance company “Kelemenis”, the chamber music center “Centre de Musique de Chambre de Paris” and the Musical Creation association “le Fond des Coulisses”.
BAKELIT MULTI ART CENTER – LUCA KÖVÉCS
Luca Kövécs is a freelance cultural manager currently working as a coordinator for International Relations for the Bakelit Multi Art Center, Hungary. She is also the Online Communication Officer for the PLACCC Festival / InSitu Network and the manager of Bodylotion co-dance. She holds a bachelor’s degree in Cultural management and a MA in Cultural mediation (both at University of West Hungary). Kövécs has also been outdoor programmer and project coordinator for the Trafó House of Contemporary Arts between 2011-2016; HR and project manager for Artklikk (2011-2013) and social media manager and programme coordinator at dunapart3 – Hungarian Showcase of Contemporary Performing Arts. In 2015 she also coordinated the Colourful City Budapest festival.
BANLIEUES D’EUROPE – JEAN HURSTEL
Jean Hurstel trained at the Ecole National Supérieure d’Art Dramatique, TNS (Strasbourg National Theatre) and founded the University Theatre at the same time as he studied philosophy. Passionate in the relationship between the public and the insertion of theatre in social housing estates, he carried out several experiments at the Alstom factory in Belfort, in “working-class” neighborhoods (the Peugeot site) in Montbéliard and in the Bassin Houiller in Lorraine. From 1992 to 2003, he directed the Laiterie – European Centre of Young Creation – in Strasbourg, and became President of Banlieues d’Europe (http://www.banlieues-europe.com/), an unmissable resource centre of cultural and artistic innovation in Europe that brings together 300 international active partners and 4000 contacts in Europe. In 2003 he was designated expert in the European Commission URBACT programme, and also President of Les Halles (Schaerbeek, Brussels) 2006.
BELLE DE MAI – FERDINAND RICHARD
Ferdinand Richard is the founder/director of A.M.I. association (Marseille), a local cultural development platform proposing training workshops, artists’ residences, festivals, a cultural micro-businesses incubator, an international cooperation program, etc. Ferdinand is a member of La Friche Belle-de-Mai/Marseille (http://www.lafriche.org/) since its beginning in 1992, and has been its deputy-director for 8 years. Largely involved at the european level, he was the president (1996-1999) of The European Forum for the Arts and Heritage (today Culture Action Europe) and the president of the Orientation Board of the European Certificate in Cultural Management, delivered by The Marcel Hicter Foundation (2001-2004). He is the current president of The Roberto Cimetta Fund and is also a lecturer in several Universities. Since 2006, he is a collaborator/expert of the “Agenda 21 Culture” and the coordinator of the experts’ panel of the International Fund for Cultural Diversity/UNESCO since 2010. Richard participated to the Declaration of Fribourg on the Cultural Rights (2007) and he was knighted Chevalier des Arts et des Lettres by the French government in 2013.
BRUSSELS KUNSTENOVERLEG (BKO) – LEEN DE SPIEGELAERE
Leen De Spiegelaere holds a Master Degree in Roman Languages (French/Spanish) at the University of Gent and also studied Theatre Sciences, Human Resource Management and Social Mediation. She started her professional career as communication assistant at the Brussels’ art laboratory Bains Connective and also worked as a cultural mediator at Lasso, the Brussels network for art education and mediation. Since 2009, Leen is coordinator of the Brussels Kunstenoverleg (www.brusselskunstenoverleg.be) (BKO). Together with the French speaking partner Réseau des Arts à Bruxelles, the two cultural networks bring together more than 160 cultural institutions in the Brussels Region of Belgium. BKO and RAB aim to stimulate collaboration within the cultural field and with other sectors in order to share and/or create a common vision on culture in Brussels.
BUDAPEST CULTURAL OBSERVATORY – PÉTER INKEI
Péter Inkei is the director of the Budapest Observatory (http://www.budobs.org/) and was deputy to the Minister for Culture of Hungary (1996- 1998). He has been a consultant for the Council of Europe (Mosaic project, cultural policy review on Albania, etc.), the Open Society Institute, the World Bank and other organisations. He was a board member of CIRCLE (Cultural Information and Research Centres Liaison in Europe) from 2000 to 2006, and a member of the Steering Committee of the LabforCulture. He is the Hungarian Expert for the Compendium on Cultural Policies and Trends in Europe and the author of several publications on cultural policy, cultural management and the impact of the EU’s cultural policies in Central and Eastern Europe.
CEVA / TRIBA FILMS – MIHAI ANDREI LEAHA
Mihai Andrei Leaha started Triba Film in 2008 with the desire of creating independent documentary films that share a deep interest in human values and cultures. He studied several fields of the Humanistic and Media Studies and owns a PhD focused on Ethnographic Film. The author published several studies in the field of Visual Anthropology and Ethnographic Film the main focus being on visual anthropology methodology, tradition, ceremonials, storytelling, human rights, feminism etc. Mihai Andrei Leaha also directed award winning documentary films, such as “Valley of Sighs”, on the Transnistrian Genocide.
CONARTE INTERNACIONAL / UNESCO CHAIR – GEMMA CARBÓ
Gemma Carbó is the director of the UNESCO chair in Cultural Policies and Cooperation at the University of Girona. She is also the President of ConArte Internacional (www.conarteinternacional.net . Since 2007 she is an associate teacher of Cultural Pedagogy and Cultural Management at the University of Girona. She is a Bord Member of Interarts Foundation and a cultural consultat for various organizations and several public and private entities.
CREATIVE INDUSTRY FORUM – ZORA JAUROVÁ
Zora Jaurova has a MA degree in theatre and worked as dramaturge on various theatre projects in Slovakia. She was a director of national agency for EU cultural programmes and a Slovak representative in Cultural Affairs Committee in the Council of EU. For many years she was the vice-president of Culture Action Europe. She is the co-author of Kosice – European Capital of Culture 2013 project, until May 2011 she was the Artistic Director and Director General of the project. She is the President of the national platform for creative industries Slovak Creative Industry Forum (http://www.ciforum.sk/). She works as a consultant for projects connecting arts, technologies and entrepreneurship, as well as creative industries development; she also participates on cultural planning and policies development projects. She is the member of policy expert group in European Creative Industry Alliance. Since 2011 she works as a film producer and producing partner in MPhilms, her first feature film “Slovakia 2.0” has been released in 2014. Since 2015 she is the member of the Board of Arts Council Slovakia.
CREATIVITY LAB – JORMA SARV
Jorma Sarv has a varied experience in the fields of strategic planning, culture, creative industries and sports. He is also very keen on the connections culture has with other sectors, exploring various models and practices. In 2007-2013 Jorma worked at the Estonian Ministry of Culture where he was responsible for strategic planning, creative industries policies and a number of development projects or studies. He has been a member of European Union expert group on cultural and creative sectors. Among other internatinal think-thanks and discussions he has also contributed to the work of ESSnet Culture statistics working group (Eurostat) and was a member of Steering Committee of Northern Dimension Partnership on Culture. In 2011-2013 was Jorma Estonian representative at the Conference of the Parties and Intergovernmental Committee of UNESCO 2005 convention. He currently works as a Head of the International Programme dedicated to centenary of Republic of Estonia and Estonian Presidency of the Council of EU in 2018. Jorma is also involved with Estonian Business School lectures in Tallinn and Helsinki where he conducts workshops on Project Management.
CULTURE ACTION EUROPE – LUCA BERGAMO
Luca Bergamo is, since March 2012, the secretary general of Culture Action Europe (http://www.cultureactioneurope.org/). Previously, he was Director General of the Italian National Agency for Youth from its inception in 2007. Between 2004 and 2007 he was Director General of the “Glocal Forum”, an international foundation promoting peace dialogue, cultural cooperation and active citizenship in post-conflict areas, in cooperation with UN Agencies and local authorities. From 1999 to 2004, Luca was the Executive Director of Zone Attive, a public-private company fostering cultural innovation in Italy. Under his leadership Zone Attive conceived and produced most of the initiatives that shaped the Italian landscape in the period. From 1993 to 1999 he was with the Mayor of Rome, first involved in reengineering the Municipality and later by leading the youth policy department. Previously Luca worked in the ICT and artificial intelligence for ten years. His studies focused on political science and on the role that knowledge play in human and social development.
CULTURE CONCEPTS – CORNELIA DÜMCKE
Dr. Cornelia Dümcke is a cultural economist and works as a project developer and arts consultant. She is the founder of CULTURE CONCEPTS (http://www.cultureconcepts.de/), an independent institute based in Berlin, providing research and consultancy services for clients in both the cultural and the development sector. Her thematic specialisation focuses particularly on issues of culture and development, cultural economy, cultural tourism, as well as on the museum, theatre and festival market. In 2011, she was nominated to the pool of experts in the field of cultural policies, set up by UNESCO Paris in the context of the implementation of the UNESCO Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions. Since 2011, she is a member of the European Expert Network on Culture (EENC). On behalf of the European Commission, in the context of the EENC she has conducted several reports on specific issues within the Cultural and Creative Sectors in EU Member States. Furthermore, Cornelia Dümcke is as a member actively engaged in the Global Cultural Economy Network (GCEN).
EBLIDA – VINCENT BONNET
Vincent Bonnet is the Director of EBLIDA (http://www.eblida.org/). He studied art history, beginning his career as a research librarian at the Museum of Fine Arts in Valenciennes. Then worked as a trainer with a company producing software for public libraries, which took him all over France. After three years, he joined Marseille’s public library. For 6 years and through different positions, he focused on improving services for the local population. Among others, he initiated workshop projects to help local people develop digital skills and find the information they needed through the library. He joined EBLIDA in 2010, attracted by an occupation that combined his love for libraries with his interest in European affairs, copyright and information law.
ECCOM – CRISTINA DA MILANO
Cristina Da Milano holds a degree in Archaeology, a Diploma of Fine and Decorative Arts, an MA in Museum Studies and an MA in Technological Instruments for the Economic Evaluation of Cultural and Environmental Heritage. She is a research fellow in the field of museum education and communication, with specific regard to the issue of culture as a mean of social integration, subject on which she has published several studies. From 1996 she is member of ECCOM (http://www.eccom.it) and its president since 2010. She has been part of several research projects at a national and international level on the issue of the social role of museums cultural institutions and lifelong learning processes. She has also managed many European funded projects, mainly within the framework of the Lifelong Learning Programme 2007-2013 and of the Culture Programme 2007-2013. She is member of the board of CAE-Culture Action Europe.
EDUCULT – MICHAEL WIMMER
Michael Wimmer is a founding member and the first general manager of EDUCULT (http://educult.at/). Working as director of the Austrian Cultural Service (ÖKS) for many years and with a background as music educator and political scientist, gained comprehensive experiences in the cooperation between the arts, culture and education. He is a lecturer at the University of Applied Arts Vienna and on cultural policy at the Institute for Theatre and Media Studies, Vienna University. He is a consultant of the Austrian Ministry for Education, Culture and the Arts and since 2007 a member of the ministerial expert committee on the New Middle School. On the international level, Michael Wimmer is an experienced consultant of the Council of Europe, the UNESCO and the European Commission, who asked him to join the EU Expert Network on Culture. He is also a member of the scientific committee of the International Conference for Cultural Policy Research (iccpr).
ELIA – CARLA DELFOS
Carla Delfos graduated from the Theatre school in Amsterdam and worked as actress, theatre director and writer. She served in numerous boards, national and international, including the Amsterdam School of the Arts. She is the founder of the European League of Institutes of the Arts – ELIA (www.elia-artschools.org). – and has been the organisation’s Executive Director since. She gave leadership to the development of ELIA into an influential independent network of over 300 institutions/universities in 55 countries, representing more than 350.000 art students. In the frame of ELIA she successfully realized several research projects funded by the European Commission and numerous events and conferences, including the annual graduate festival NEW NOW. She was knighted ‘Chevallier dans l’ordre des Arts et des Lettres, awarded an Honorary Fellowship by the Hong Kong Academy of Performing Arts and Music and a Degree of Doctor of Arts by Columbia College Chicago and the Robert Gordon University in Aberdeen.
ELIA – LARS EBERT
Lars Ebert (Heidelberg, Germany, 1976) holds a degree (drs.) in theology and is currently the programme co-coordinator of the cultural centre Castrum Peregrini in Amsterdam and Head of Research, Development and Advocacy at ELIA – The European League of Institutes of the Arts (www.elia-artschools.org). In both capacities Lars develops and implements projects and engages in initiatives addressing the integration of a culturally diverse and inclusive Europe. For ELIA he advises and advocates higher arts education institutions across Europe in questions related to the development of and engagement in the European Higher Education Area. For Castrum Peregrini Lars co-authored a multidisciplinary series of events, including exhibitions, lectures, performances and publications. He developed and implemented (inter-)national exchange based research projects such as a.o. Time Case (LLP 2012-2014) or Silent Heroes (LLP 2013-2015). He is also a founding board member of EQ-Arts, the sectoral accreditation agency for higher arts education across Europe.
EMC – SIMONE DUDT
Simone Dudt studied cultural sciences in Hildesheim, Germany and Marseille, France focusing on Fine Arts and Music. She worked for the educational programmes of several museums and music schools and as academic assistant at the University of Hildesheim. She has been working for the European Music Council – EMC (http://www.emc-imc.org/), since 2004, where she co-ordinated the EU funded “ExTra! Exchange Traditions” project. Simone is executive editor of the EMC’s “Sounds in Europe” magazine which provides an overview on diverse music topics and cultural policy in Europe. From 2010-2014 she served on the Board of Culture Action Europe, a European umbrella organisation that advocates for culture at the EU institutions. She is author of diverse articles on music and cultural policy as well as a speaker on these topics at European conferences. Currently, she is Secretary General of the European Music Council.
ENCATC – GIANNALIA COGLIANDRO
GiannaLia Cogliandro Beyens joined ENCATC (http://www.encatc.org/) in 2003. GiannaLia is also administrator of the Thomassen mobility programme. In 2010 she was elected member of the Advisory group of the European Platform Access to Culture. Former Policy Officer of the Cultural Forum of EUROCITIES, she successfully designed and coordinated within this prestigious organization several transnational projects in the field of culture. Earlier, she was appointed Secretary General of the Association of the European Cities of Culture of the year 2000. Journalist since 1993, she was Press & PR Officer for the N.A.T.O organization in Rome. For the European Commission she wrote 10 reports on social European policy and a major study on the European Cities of Culture for the year 2000. In 2013 she joined the team of experts to finalize on behalf of the European Parliament a research study on “The Status of the European Capital of Culture – Long Term Effects”. Educated in Rome at the University “La Sapienza”, Giannalia holds a Degree in Political Sciences – International relations, an M.A. in European & International Career Studies and an M.A. in European Constitution.
ENCATC / FIBICC – SANTIAGO ARROYO
Santiago Arroyo Serrano, graduate of Philosophy with an MA in Cultural Companies and Institutions (University of Salamanca), a Master’s degree in Public Management (ESADE). Since 2006, he has been the director of Gestión Cultural Castilla La Mancha, a company specialised in management of cultural and artistic projects. Currently, he is president of the Ibero-American Foundation for Cultural and Creative Industries (FIBICC), a member of the European Network of Cultural Administration Training Centres (ENCATC) (http://www.encatc.org/), involved specially in the CultUp Cultural Entrepreneurship Program, Fábrica de la Memoria for recovering women in culture, and La Harinera particularly stand out. He has worked as a consultant and teacher on the Creation and Consolidation Program of Cultural and Creative Industries of the Chamber of Commerce and the Ministry of Culture of Spain. At an international level, he takes active part in the European program Up Skilling Cultural Managers, which is supported by the European Commission.
EUROPA NOVA / GALLUP FOUNDATION – ROBERT MANCHIN
Robert Manchin is a social scientist, economist, professor and lecturer. He was the Chairman and Managing Director of Gallup Europe and runs the Foundation Europa Nova since 1994. He has been conducting empirical social research for the last 40 years. He is a specialist in social audits for the public sector; research programs monitoring economic expectations, political, and social trends; performance indicators for the quality of education, healthcare, the use of micro-data for policy decision and social impact studies; etc. He was working as a professional musician and been the member of the Hungarian State Philharmonic Orchestra, and in addition to other functions he is the Vice Mayor of the village of Vallus, Hungary (pop. 132).
THE FEDERATION OF EUROPEAN PUBLISHERS (FEP) – ENRICO TURRIN
Enrico Turrin was hired as an Economist by FEP (http://www.fep-fee.eu/) in 2008 (Deputy Director since April 2013), where he has followed a range of issues including statistics, digitisation and VAT and has been involved in the ARROW and ARROW+ projects. He got a degree in Economics at the Bocconi University of Milan and a Master’s degree in International Affairs at the Institute for International Political Studies (ISPI), Milan. After several internships at the Italian Embassy in Madrid and at the United Nation’s Global Programme against Money Laundering in Vienna, he became Project Manager in the Training Area at ISPI and lecturer of International Organisations in 2002. From 2005 to 2008 he worked as an external expert and lecturer for ISPI and for a project by the Italian Foreign Ministry in the field of Cooperation.
FILM ETC – CORINA SUTEU
Corina Suteu is a cultural entrepreneur, international consultant, researcher and educator. She worked in Romania, France and NY and was director of the Masters Degree in European Cultural Management of the Dijon Business School (1995-2001). She initiated in 1995 the first regional (Eastern European) MA in cultural management – the ECUMEST program and co initiated the Policies for culture platform for SEE Europe (2001) with the European Cultural Foundation. She was board member of IETM and President of The Forum of European cultural Networks. Between 2006-2012 she was director of the Romanian Cultural Institute in NY. Since 2012 she works as independent consultant internationally and is the executive president of Making Waves, the Romanian Film Festival (http://www.filmetc.org/) at Lincoln Center in NY, as well as co founder of Farad- the documentary film festival in Arad . In 2015 she was general coordinator of the Romanian Pavilion at the Biennale in Venice and Senior expert for the Bucharest Cultural Strategy. Recently, she opened a small cultural space in Bucharest-Insula 42.
FUNDACIÓN SGAE – RUBÉN GUTIERREZ
Rubén Gutiérrez del Castillo. Degree on Economics (Universidad Autónoma de Madrid), Master in Cultural Management (Universidad Complutense de Madrid) and Expert in Market Research (Universidad Complutense de Madrid) is the head of the R&D department in Fundación SGAE, the foundation of the main collecting society of author’s rights in Spain. He works mainly in the field of cultural economics (cultural statistics, cultural consumption habits) and cultural policy. He has collaborated with different institutions as Instituto Cervantes, Spanish Ministry of Culture, European Music Office, etc.
GERMAN COMMISSION FOR UNESCO – CHRISTINE MERKEL
Christine M. Merkel (http://www.unesco.de) is a social scientist with over twenty years of international professional experience in policy analysis, project management and human development who currently advises both the Federal Government and Parliament. Her areas of focus are: the strategic development of foundations and public organizations; capacity building of civil society leaders and young experts; the assessment of legal and technical frameworks and resource strategies. She is a seasoned designer and convenor of strategic multi-stakeholder policy dialogues on cultural diversity issues and cultural and media policy developments. Assignments included technical expert missions for IDEA International; the European Union; the Council of Europe; the Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Foundation and UNESCO. She has published widely on these issues, including the chapter on public media services in UNESCO’s First Global Monitoring Report on the 2005-UNESCO Convention (December 2015).
GLASGOW LIFE – MARK O’NEILL
Mark O’Neill has been Director of Policy & Research for Glasgow Life (http://www.glasgowlife.org.uk/), the charity which delivers arts, museums, libraries and sports services for the City of Glasgow, since 2009. Previously he worked in museums in Glasgow, having moved there from Ireland in 1985. His first project was setting up, in one of the city’s poorest areas, a community museum which became a UK model of best practice. After joining the City museums in 1990 he led a number of award-winning projects including: the Open Museum (outreach service); the UK’s only museum of world religions; the UK’s largest publicly accessible museum store; the £30 million refurbishment of Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum; and master-planning the £74 million Riverside Museum – European Museum of the Year 2012. These projects aimed to combine international quality, staff expertise and extensive research into the interests of visitors and non-visitors. In his current post Mark applies these approaches to arts, libraries and sport.
HANGAR – TERE BADIA
Tere Badia is the director of Hangar in Barcelona ( www.hangar.org) since 2010. She holds a Degree in Art History and a Master in Sociology from the Universityof Barcelona. Coordinator of the programme “Disonancias” in Catalonia ( platform for mediation and promotion of relationships between companies, research centers and public institutions and artists to stimulate innovation ) and creator of the Integral Plan for R + D + I in the Visual Arts, Catalunya Laboratori program through AAVC . Researcher in the fields of cultural policy, networking, international cultural cooperation and Research , Development and Innovation in artistic production. She has also been professionally linked to the Interarts Foundation (Barcelona) and the communications agency Goetzinger + Komplizen (Karlsruhe).
ICLS – GUIDO ORLANDINI
Guido Orlandini is the co-founder of the ICLS (Intercultural Communication and Leadership School) (http://www.intercivilization.net/). An economist with special focus on Development Economics and process re-engineering, he is also a Chartered Accountant and Auditor who has worked both in the private sector and for international organisations, including 15 years at the Council of Europe. Since 2009, he is a board member of PIE (Platform for Intercultural Europe). Orlandini has carried out a number of assignments for IFAD, including field work in Sierra Leone. As a member of the Board of Auditors for a number of limited companies in Italy, he has acquired a long experience in the Italian administrative, tax and company law, where in the past he has been a full-time self-employed consultant.
IEMED – JOSEP FERRÉ
Josep Ferré is since 2007 the managing director of the European Institute of the Mediterranean (http://www.iemed.org/), founded in 1989. In 1996 he worked in the Spanish Embassy in Morocco as a Deputy Market Analyst at the Trade Office and between 1997 and 1999 as an Expert coordinator at the Technical Cooperation Office of the same embassy. From 1999 he was the head of the Spanish cooperation in Mauritania (Spanish Embassy in Nouakchott). After two years, he moved to Madrid to become the Executive Secretary of the Azahar Programme (Spanish Agency for International Cooperation) and later on the Director General of the African Medical and Research Foundation (AMREF).
IETM – NAN VAN HOUTE
Nan van Houte has 35 years’ professional experience in arts and culture as a dramaturg, general director, artistic director, programme developer, producer and journalist. She was on the Board of IETM (www.ietm.org) from 2001 (Vice-President 2003-2006, President in 2007) and is since 2013 the Secretary General. She also has broad expertise in advocacy for culture in local, national and European councils and boards. She worked as Programme Developer and Head of the International Department of Theater Instituut Nederland and before that as Director of [NES] theaters. Since 2008 she is the co-founder and coordinator of Breaking the Silence, a theatre programme supporting reconciliation in post genocide areas in Cambodia and Rwanda.
INTERARTS – EDUARD MIRALLES
Eduard Miralles is the president of the Board of Interarts Foundation (http://www.interarts.net/). He’s also the Cultural Relations Advisor at the Barcelona Provincial Council and a consultant on culture, cooperation and development for several international organisations such as FEMP (Spanish Federation of Municipalities), AECID (Spanish Cooperation for Development Agency) and the OEI (Iberoamerican States’ Organisation for Education, Science and Culture). During 2002-2004, Eduard Miralles was on the committee for the Agenda 21 for Culture and after 2004 he represented the Barcelona Provincial Council at the Culture Commission of the United Cities and Local Government (UCLG). Miralles is also a board member of Roberto Cimetta Fund. Since 2007 he takes part in the UNESCO’s international group of experts for development of the Convention for Cultural Diversity.
INTERCULT – CHRIS TORCH
Chris Torch is founder and Senior Associate at Intercult (http://www.intercult.se), a production and resource unit rooted in culture, ideas and the arts. Created in 1996, it is a publically-financed institution, based in Stockholm, managing both a designated Europe Direct office and Access Europa, a platform for Swedish organizations focusing on international collaboration. He presently serves as artistic director for CORNERS, a complex partnership of cultural organisations at the “edges of Europe”, co-financed by EU Creative Europe, 2014-2018. In september 2015 he was named Program Director for Rijeka 2020, one of four short-listed Croatian candidate cities for the title European Capital of Culture. Apart from large-scale project design, Torch plays a role in developing intercultural policies. He serves on the Board of Culture Action Europe, Europe’s political platform for policy development and earlier on the Boards of European Museum Forum and Platform for Intercultural Europe.
IRMO – ALEKSANDRA UZELAC
Aleksandra Uzelac is Head of the Culture and Communication Department and a Senior Research Associate at IRMO (http://www.irmo.hr). She holds a PhD (2003) in information science from the University of Zagreb and has over 20 years of professional experience in the area of cultural research related to issues of digital culture and cultural policies. Her research interests focus on the impact of information and communication technology on cultural issues, virtual networks and portals, digitization of culture, organization of knowledge in the cultural field, issues of public domain and cultural heritage, cultural policy and cultural cooperation issues. She has been a member of various cultural networks and expert groups that focus their activities in the field of cultural policies or digital culture, bringing into the policy mainstream issues related to the new context digital culture has brought to the cultural sector and cultural policies through international research and conferences.
ISIS ARTS – CLYMENE CHRISTOFOROU
Clymene Christoforou is a director and founder member of ISIS Arts (http://www.isisarts.org.uk/), a visual and media arts organisation based in Newcastle, UK and an executive committee member of Culture Action Europe. ISIS Arts undertakes an international programme of commissions, residencies and events revealing hidden stories and shared values. Recent projects include collaborations with artists from across Europe, India, South Africa and the USA. Christoforou is a NESTA International Cultural Leadership Fellow and is currently undertaking a British Council secondment with cultural organisations in Ukraine.
ISMU – SIMONA BODO
Simona Bodo is an independent researcher and consultant with a particular interest in the social agency of museums and their role in the promotion of intercultural dialogue. On these issues she acts as an advisor to public and private institutions, and has been involved as a team expert in a number of intercultural projects run by Brera Picture Gallery and the Museum of Peoples and Cultures in Milan. She is the Coordinator of the “Heritage and Interculture” Programme and website (www.patrimonioeintercultura.ismu.org) for Fondazione ISMU. She has taken part in several international projects and studies commissioned/funded by the European Union, and is national correspondent on the issues of intercultural dialogue, social cohesion and cultural policies for the “Compendium of Cultural Policies and Trends in Europe” (Council of Europe / ERICarts).
ECONOMIA DELLA CULTURA– ANNALISA CICERCHIA
Annalisa Cicerchia is an expert in cultural policy, strategic planning and evaluation. Research areas: cultural economics, cultural indicators, social impact of culture, culture and wellbeing, cultural and creative economy, cultural sustainability, cultural heritage, cultural participation, museums. Member of the Editorial Board of the journal Economia della cultura, Senior Researcher at the Italian National Statistical Institute, formerly Head of the Unit “Environment, Culture and territory” at National Institute for Economic analysis and Studies (1999-2010) and member of the Evaluation Unit of the Italian Ministry of Cultural Heritage (2004-2008). Italian member of the European Group for Museum Statistics (EGMUS), the Eurostat WG on cultural statistics and the Managing Committee of the COST ACTION IS1007 “Investigating Cultural Sustainability.” Professor of Management of The Creative Enterprise at the Faculty of Economics of the Roma University Tor Vergata, sh has served as expert for planning and evaluation of culture and tourism-based international development cooperation projects for the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Egypt, Lebanon, Syria). She has been Responsible for European Projects and Research at MAXXI – National Museum of XXI Century Arts Foundation (Rome) from 2013 to 2015 and is currently co-director of Culture Action Europe’s EU funded research project on measures of social impacts of culture.
ISTITUTO BENI CULTURALI / NEMO – MARGHERITA SANI
Margherita Sani holds a degree in Literature and Philosophy (University of Bologna) and an MA in Museums and Galleries Administration (City University of London). Since 1985 she has been employed by the Institute of Cultural Heritage of the Region Emilia-Romagna, where she is in charge of international projects, in particular on museum education, lifelong learning and intercultural dialogue. In the last 15 years she has designed and managed several international and EU funded projects, some of which have been identified as best practice by the EU Commission. The most recent one LEM, The Learning Museum Network (www.lemproject.eu), has brought together 85 organisations from 25 European countries, the USA and Argentina. As LEM coordinator, she has recently been invited to join the Museum Ed-AMECO network, which gathers museum education organisations and museum networks in Canada and North America. Ms. Sani is or has been member of various network boards and juries and has published extensively on the issue of heritage and heritage conservation.
JAMTLI FOUNDATION – HENRIK ZIPSANE
Henrik Zipsane is CEO of the Jamtli Foundation (http://www.jamtli.com/), A Museum organisation in Jämtland, Sweden. He holds an MA in History from Copenhagen University (Denmark) and a Ph.D. from the Danish University of Education. His professional interests cover the role of cultural heritage in sustainable regional development, cultural heritage learning and social cohesion. He is professor in the field of heritage learning at Linköping University (Sweden) and co-founded and co-directed the Nordic Centre for Heritage Learning in Östersund and was also a co-founder and the Chairman of the European network LLOAM (Lifelong Learning in Open Air Museums) and Vice president of AEOM (Association of European Open Air Museums. Zipsane is also a member of the Culture Action Europe’s Executive Committee.
KULTURA NOVA – DEA VIDOVIC
Dea Vidović is director of Kultura Nova Foundation (Zagreb, Croatia) (www.kulturanova.hr. She graduated in Comparative Literature and Indology from the University of Zagreb’s Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences. She earned a PhD in 2012 with a topic “The Development of Emerging Cultures in the City of Zagreb from 1990 to 2010”. For more than fifteen years of her professional engagement, she worked as project manager of numerous cultural projects as well as an editor and journalist. She authored articles on contemporary cultural practices and edited several publications. Vidović actively participated and delivered lectures at numerous conferences in Croatia and abroad. As an associate lecturer at the Academy of Drama Art at the University of Zagreb, Dea taught courses in cultural policy. Her professional and research interests include contemporary arts and culture, civil sector in culture, social interactions and cultural dynamics, public domain, new models of institutions, participatory governance, sustainability, local development and education.
LA LIGUE DE L’ENSEIGNEMENT – DAVID LOPEZ
David Lopez is the International policy officer in la Ligue de l’enseignement (http://www.laligue.org/). He coordinates the international sector (Europe and international solidarity) in link with general secretary of la Ligue and represents the organization in SOLIDAR and European Civic Forum. Born in Barcelona, holder of a bachelor’s degree in Spanish civilisation and language and a master degree in administration, economics and social studies and in urban geography, he works since 1981 in associations of non formal education, training and education sectors. Since 2003, he is the vice president and general secretary (since 2013) of CNAJEP (national committee of youth and education organisations) in France and vice-president (and president since 2014) of EUCIS-LLL (European civil society platform on lifelong learning that becomes Lifelong Learning Platform ).
LORD CULTURAL RESOURCES – NGAIRE BLACKENBERG
Ngaire Blankenberg is internationally recognized for her work planning innovative museums and revitalizing urban spaces. She is co-author, with Gail Lord, of Cities, Museums and Soft Power (AAM Press 2015) which urges museums to play a more vital role in creating equitable, inclusive and empowering cities. She is co-founder of the Museum of AIDS in Africa- a pan-African project which collects, preserves, interprets and remembers the history and impact of AIDS on the continent. As European Director and Principal Consultant at Lord Cultural Resources (http://www.lord.ca/), the world’s largest museum and cultural professional practice, Ngaire advises museums, the private sector and governments throughout the world on ways to develop their cultural assets for public benefit. Her clients include, among others, the National Museum of African American History and Culture (Smithsonian); the Canadian Museum for Human Rights; the Bihar Museum (India); the Parlamentarium of the European Parliament. Ngaire has also been a youth worker, jazz poet, cartoonist, documentary-maker and television producer.
MÅNGKULTURELLT CENTRUM – NINA EDSTRÖM
Nina Edström is a social anthropologist currently working as appointed Head Researcher at the Multicultural center in Botkyrka, south of Stockholm, Sweden. For the last 10 years Nina has executed several evaluations and studies of cultural institutions’ ways of managing the increasing challenges of diversity and intercultural processes. She has also engaged with institutions that want to learn more about how they can become more inclusive in regards to ethnic and cultural diversity in the different dimensions of their activities such as their organizational life, their audience development and their productions. Nina also has a special interest in policies of integration, diversity, multiculturalism and interculturalism, specifically related to the ambiguity of the urgent and popular concept of diversity while at the same time real change in established cultural institutions is very slow.
MERCAT DE LES FLORS – FRANCESC CASADESÚS
Francesc Casadesús es el director del Mercat de les Flors (http://mercatflors.cat/) en Barcelona, un espacio escénico especializado hoy en danza y artes del movimiento con un interés especial en el apoyo a artistas en todos los estadios de la creación, el acompañamiento a los públicos y la vinculación entre danza y sociedad. Es presidente de EDN, red europea de Casas de Danza, que tiene como objetivo principal promover y presentar la danza contemporánea y los artistas a través de las fronteras, promover el desarrollo profesional, las infraestructuras y la danza como forma de arte utilizando la experiencia y fortaleza de cada miembro. Anteriormente trabajó como director de comunicación del MACBA en Barcelona, gerente del Instituto de Cultura de Vic y como productor en diversos espectáculos. Es licenciado en Psicología y máster en Gestión Cultural, sus primeros pasos en las artes escénicas fueron como actor y bailarín. En 2008 recibió el Premio Nacional de Cultura de la Generalitat de Catalunya y en el 2014 el Ministerio de Cultura francés le nombró ‘Chevalier des Arts et des Lettres’.
MNAC – MUSEU NACIONAL D’ART DE CATALUNYA – PEPE SERRA
Pepe Serra is the Director of the National Art Museum of Catalonia (MNAC) (http://www.museunacional.cat/) in Barcelona since 2012. BA in Art History (contemporary specialty) from the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona. Since 2010 Serra is Co-director and professor of Museum Studies Graduate at Universitat Pompeu Fabra. His professional activity has been mainly focused on heritage and art museums management and direction, covering public administration institutions as well as private cultural foundations. Since 2010 he has been also involved in several academic and educational programs regarding Museums and Cultural Management. From December 2006 to January 2012 he was the director of the Museum Picasso Barcelona and previously he was deputy director of Museums and Cultural Heritage at the Department of Culture of the Government of Catalonia, Head of Public Programmes and Cultural Services at Foundation Caixa and Coordinator at the Exhibitions Department at Museum of Contemporary Art in Barcelona (MACBA).
NATIONAL MUSEUM OF MILITARY HISTORY – VALERIA BINEVA
Valeria Bineva holds an MA in Cultural Anthropology and Archaeology from Cornell University, and an MA in Prehistoric Archaeology from Sofia University. She is part of the team of the National Museum of Military History, where she is responsible for developing proposals for international collaboration on the presentation and reconciliation of the heritage of troubled and violent pasts, audience development, educational offers and knowledge exchange and training for the staff. Her previous experience includes interpretation of archaeological heritage for children; consulting in the development of interactive science exhibitions, research projects in the field of prehistoric archaeology – primarily concerned with politics of the body and approaches to the interpretation of imagery artefacts, development of study trip offers, mentoring, as well as translation of scholarly articles and numerous excavation projects in Bulgaria, Greece and France.
NETWORK FOR CHILDREN’S RIGHTS – MYRSINI ZORBA
Myrsini Zorba is a PhD in political science and cultural policy researcher. She graduated from the Athens University of Law and holds a postgraduate degree in Philosophy of Law from the University of Rome La Sapienza. She is currently the president of the Board of the Network for Children’s Rights” a Greek non-governmental and non-profit organization established in 2004. Their fields of activity are: Human Rights, Youth and Education, Research, International/Cultural Relations, Arts, Democracy and Community Development. Zorba taught theory and cultural politics in the postgraduate course “Cultural Organisations Management MSc” (HOU 2007-2012). She has also taught postgraduate courses at the University of Athens (1993-2006). She has been a member of the European Parliament (2000-2004), a Director of the National Book Centre in Athens (1995-1999), Director at the Industrial Museum of Syros (2008-2009). She is also the founder and director of the “Culture Lab”, a space for cultural programs for children in one of the most degraded areas of inner Athens. Zorba has also written numerous monographs, articles and books.
ON THE MOVE / DUTCH CULTURE | TRANSARTISTS – MARIE FOL
Marie Fol is the program manager of DutchCulture | TransArtists, where she has worked since December 2010. TransArtists is a department of DutchCulture, Centre for International Cooperation which aims at sharing knowledge and experience about residency programs worldwide for the benefits of artists, by providing various tools and services that come together in the TransArtists website (www.transartists.org) of which Marie has been the main editor since 2012. She was involved in the European cooperation projects ON-AiR and Green Art Lab Alliance. Marie collaborates regularly with several international networks, and joined the advisory board of TransCultural Exchange (www.transculturalexchange.org) in 2015. Marie has contributed to the work of On the Move (http://on-the-move.org/), a cultural mobility information network with more than 35 members in over 20 countries across Europe and beyond (among other: Move On guide, translation of Green Mobility guide, publication of news items). Their mission is to encourage and facilitate cross-border mobility and cooperation, contributing to build up a vibrant and shared European cultural space that is strongly connected worldwide.
PLAYS2PLACE – MARTHA BOUIZOURI
Martha Bouziouri is a multidisciplinary arts and humanities practitioner, working in 3 distinct but organically overlapping fields: direction of cross-media projects, ethnographic research and theatre. She holds a BA in Mass Media & Communication, a Diploma in Theatre Acting and a MA in Cultural Management & Human Communication. She is currently completing her PhD in Social Anthropology at Panteion University of Social & Political Sciences. As the co-founder and director of plays2place productions (http://plays2place.gr/), she applies a method that combines elements of participatory action research and artistic intervention in order to develop transnational projects concerning civic transformation practices, raising awareness and human rights advocacy across the Mediterranean. Her research interests and publications include methodological and ethical aspects of representation, transformations of grassroots solidarity in crisis-contexts and the cultural and political expression of transnational artists. She is a member of Cultural Innovators Network, Tandem / Shaml – Cultural Managers Exchange Program and European Alternatives.
POGON – EMINA VISNIC
Emina Visnic is director at POGON (Zagreb) (http://www.upogoni.org/wp/). She graduated in Croatian Language and Literature and Comparative Literature and also studied Theater Science at the Faculty of Philosophy Zagreb. Her areas of expertise are: cultural management, networking on local, national and international level, and cultural advocacy and capacity building in non-profit sector. She served as vice-chair of the Executive Committee of Culture Action Europe and serves as a chair of Management Board of Kultura Nova Foundation (Zagreb). She was a Fellow at Summer International Fellowship Program at the DeVos Institute of Arts Management (Kennedy Center. Washington, DC).
RAMALLAH MUNICIPALITY – FATIN FARHAT
Fatin Farhat, PhD researcher in cultural policy at University of Hildesheim (Communities Artistic and Cultural Mobilization/Expression in Times of Refuge- Jordan). She is the director of “Palestine Observatory of Cultural Policies” project by FilmLab: Palestine, expert for Med Culture on cultural policy (2015-2-16), member of UNESCO expert facility (2015-2017) on Convention 2005 (Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions), a member of the Arab Group for Cultural Policy initiated by the Cultural Resource, Cairo. Fatin has a long and intensive experience in cultural institutional development and management of cultural programs and has previously served as the director of the cultural and social affairs department at the Ramallah municipality and as the director of Khalil Al Sakakini Cultural Center in Palestine, and has actively contributed to the development and establishment of a numerous cultural centers in Palestine. Ms. Farhat has been involved in a series of cultural policy research and evaluation projects and interventions with the Young Arab Theatre Fund and the European Cultural Foundation, IETM, Danish Center for Culture and Development, Netherlands Government, and the EU.
REGION VÄSTERBOTTEN – CULTURAL AFFAIRS – BELLA LAWSON
Bella Lawson has Master degrees in Political Science and French and is an Officer of Cultural Affairs in the region of Västerbotten (in the northern part of Sweden). She is a specialist in diversity issues and has been working with these issues within the cultural field since 2003. Starting off as one of seven Multicultural Consultants in Sweden, a position at regional levels launched in 2002 by the Social democratic Government. Bella has always had a passion for human rights issues and founded in Umeå in 2005, together with two close friends, the Cultural Association Kulturstorm that aims to broaden cultural life in Västerbotten and engage underprivileged children and youth in culture, both as consumers and as producers. Bella has also been active in non-profit organisations such as Crossing Boarders that develops methods for gender equality and is today active in the Swedish Cultural Association TRYCK or PUSH in English, that consists of afroswedish cultural workers and humanities researchers and that aims at visualising experiences and stories that are missing today in Sweden.
RES ARTIS / BRIGDE GUARD ART / ART SCIENCE RESIDENCE CENTER – KAROL FRÜHAUF
Karol Frühauf graduated on the faculty of Electrical Engineering, curriculum Technical Informatics at RWTH Aachen, Germany. He is co-founder and president of INFOGEM AG in Switzerland and consultant in the field of software project and quality management (www.infogem.ch). He co-authored two books and is a frequent speaker, tutor and teacher in the field of software engineering. Karol is Initiator and founder of the Bridge Guard Art / Science Residence Centre in Štúrovo / SK (www.bridgeguard.org) opened 2004, member of the advisory board of the foundation “Künstlerhaus Boswil” in Boswil / CH, a music centre (www.kuenstlerhausboswil.ch), member of board of trustees of the Margrit and Yehoshua Lakner foundation in Zürich / CH, (www.lakner-music.org), board member of the Powerstation Art foundation supporting an 18 years long project that accompanies 14 children from CH and NL born 2004 with cultural pates with migration background from different art disciplines for two years each in both countries (www.powerstationart.ch), 2007-2015 board member of the Res Artis foundation in Amsterdam / NL (www.resartis.org)
RESEARCH CENTRE FOR THE HISTORY OF MINORITIES – REGINA WONISCH
Regina Wonisch (born at Vienna in 1965) is a free-lance historian, archivist and exhibition curator. Head of the Research Centre for the History of Minorities in Vienna. In charge of the photo archives of the former daily newspaper “Arbeiter-Zeitung” at the Labour History Society (VGA, Verein für Geschichte der ArbeiterInnenbewegung), Vienna; research associate at the Department for Science Communication and Higher Education Research, Faculty of Interdisciplinary Studies and Advanced Education, Klagenfurt University.
RÉSEAU CULTURE 21 – CHRISTELLE BLOUËT
Christelle Blouët is the coordinator of Réseau Culture 21 (http://reseauculture21.fr/), a platform of resources and exchange of good practices on culture and sustainable development in partnership with the Observatory of Cultural Policies. Cultural projects manager and artistic director for ten years, she holds a Master of Communication and a Master in management of cultural projects. She is the author of a thesis on the implementation of Agenda 21 for culture in France. In 2011, she coordinated “The workshops Culture 21” for the Observatory of Cultural Policies, a new program of action learning. Blouët also contributes to several working groups, including the laboratory culture and sustainable development initiated by Marie-Christine Dureault-Thomère at Culture O Centre, with whom she develops testing tools for participation and collective intelligence, building new forms of governance.
RESEO – ISABEL JOLY
Isabel Joly is the director of RESEO (http://reseo.org/). Following her MBA studies in journalism and communication at the University of Lille, France, she joined the European Commission as a consultant for the Culture unit. Working initially as editor for the newsletter, she soon went on to become project manager of the pilot programme, Kaleidoscope, the predecessor of the Culture 2000 grant scheme. Isabel took on a temporary role lobbying for the Health Food sector, but soon returned to join the European Parliament, realizing that her passion was culture rather than food! Working on the organization of European Parliament events, she was responsible for the EU pavilion in the Lisbon World exhibition, 1998. Enticed by the opportunity to further her engagement with culture and develop a ‘grass-roots’ arts network, Isabel joined RESEO in 2002 as coordinator – she has overseen tremendous growth in the network and the sector over the past decade and today, as director, she supervises a thriving network dedicated to the furthering of opera and dance education representing over 95 European and International opera and dance company members.
ROBERTO CIMETTA FUND – ANGIE COTTE
Angie Cotte (French/American) has been actively contributing to cultural networks, advocacy platforms and cooperation projects in Europe since the early 90s (Eurocreation Agency, European Pépinières residency programme, Policymakers meetings in ECOCs). Her role has often been to start up projects and develop them into cultural networks. She currently runs the Roberto Cimetta Fund (http://www.cimettafund.org/) is an international platform supporting artistic mobility and creativity and raises awarneness within institutions on artistic mobility practices and needs. She develops studies and advocates for more recognition of the role of arts and culture in the external relations of the European Union. She holds a Masters degree from Sorbonne University, Paris (Bachelors degree from Goldsmiths College, London). She lectures at the Universities of Bobigny and Senart.
ROYAL AFRICA MUSEUM – HEIN VANHEE
Hein Vanhee is a museum curator and academic historian at the Royal Museum for Central Africa (RMCA Tervuren, Belgium, www.africamuseum.be). Vanhee has served in diverse management functions at the RMCA. From 2006 till 2012 he was in charge of the division of Collection Management and for shorter periods also of the Library and of the division of Exhibitions and Educational Programs. He has recently moved back to research and curatorial work. He has co-curated the exhibition Kongo across the Waters which was on view at four venues in the US (2013-2015). He is deeply involved in the RMCA’s renovation project and also writing up a research project about the early colonial history of Mayombe, a region in Lower Congo (DRC), focusing on the development and reception of colonial policies and their long term impact on the political culture of the region.
SMARTBE – JULEK JUROWICZ
Julek Jurowicz is the co-founder and Managing Director of SMartBe Foundation (www.smartbe.be). He is a strong activist for artists’ status, and strives to assist designers in their administrative processes to help them focus on their core business: production. Jurowicz studied civil engineering and sales engineering at the Université Libre of Brussels. He is an expert in Artists’ mobility and is particularly involved in the EU’s open method of coordination (OMC). He is also a member of the Culture Action Europe’s Executive Committee.
THE AMSTERDAM-MAASTRICH SUMMER UNIVERSITY – STEVE AUSTEN
Steve Austen has been president and lecturer of the Amsterdam-Maastricht Summer University (AMSU) (http://www.amsu.edu/) since 1987. He started his career as an art entrepreneur when he set up the Shaffy Theater in 1968, which became the Amsterdam podium for innovating theatre performances. Austen left in 1978 and re-organized the Lantaarn-Venter-complex in Rotterdam. He has been active in cultural life of the Netherlands and Europe since 1966 and was co-responsible for “Amsterdam – The Cultural Capital of Europe 1987”. In 1981, he became the manager of the Theater Instituut Nederland, and 7 years later he became the manager of Felix Meritis, where he is currently a permanent fellow. Austen is also a member of the group of initiators of “A Soul for Europe”.
GABRIELE MAZZA
Gabriele Mazza is an italian expert in the fields of education, culture and youth. He holds several degrees in political science, sociology and education from Italian, French and US universities. He spent most of his professional life with the Council of Europe. Mazza has played a leading role in negotiating educational accords in post-war former Yugoslavia, particularly in Croatia (Eastern Slavonia) and Bosnia-Herzegovina. He has also played a key role in the creation and development of cultural networks and multilateral institutions dealing with education for democratic citizenship and human rights, intercultural learning and languages. More recently, he has pioneered efforts in support of Euro-Arab cooperation, with particular emphasis on the contribution of education to intercultural dialogue. He currently serves as a board member in several institutions (Intercultura, Eckerd College, Wergeland Centre for Human Rights, etc.) and his current interests comprise education for global citizenship and intercultural dialogue, including its religious dimension.
MARIE KOEFOED-GOUY
Marie Koefoed-Gouy is a consultant working in the field of European and international development of companies and associations. She holds a degree in management (International MBA, EM Lyon) and a degree in Modern History and Art History (DEA Université Lyon 2 et Cand.mag. Université de Copenhagen). She is specialised in management of European networks, creation and management of European cultural projects, and HR management. Marie taught management at ENSATT (Ecole Nationale Supérieure des Arts et Techniques du Théâtre) and worked on many training projects in the field of performing arts. She is currently focused on counselling in the assessment, orientation and implementation of policies for economic development, employment and training with branch organisations and public actors. She is a member of the “European House for Culture” and board member of the Festival Baroque de Pontoise.
JOZEFIEN DE BOCK
Dr. Jozefien De Bock received her MA in contemporary history at the University of Ghent. She worked on several projects dealing with migration, before starting a doctoral research at the EUI, where she defended her PhD in October 2013. Since then, she curated for the Ghent city museum the open-air exhibition ‘Sticking Around. Over 50 years of migration to Ghent’, in which the results of her PhD research were translated to a wider audience. In July 2014, she was appointed senior editor of the European Review of History. In 2015, she coordinated the writing of an H2020 proposal on migration heritage, and started a three year post-doctoral project at Ghent University dealing with return migration and mobility among postwar labour migrants. At the same time, she is working on a socio-cultural project dealing with food as migration heritage, as well as developing a permanent exhibition on labour migration for the Museum about Industry, Labour and Textile in Ghent.
