Institutions and Cultural Policies
Cultural policy is used to promote accountability and protect different forms of culture, including cultural goods that society promotes or receives as a legacy from previous generations, and which are the cumulative result of artistic creation, values and beliefs that the community shares.
In the second half of the 20th century, with the development of the welfare state, a new social challenge emerged, to improve and give access to culture; this manifested itself in the development of policies for the promotion of the arts and the protection of cultural heritage. The debate since then has been to find reasons and limitations on public action in the field of culture (who should receive public assistance), and also what the most appropriate procedure for the allocation of public resources must be. More recently, the debate has broadened: first, the very activity of artists and cultural agents now often requires a technical, administrative outreach and a more sophisticated support structure. In recent years, the cultural sector has become much more diverse (a process stimulated in many cases by new information and communication technologies, the globalisation of markets for cultural products and especially the rise in entertainment products) and has become a more important sector within the whole economy and society. Therefore, cultural activity increasingly needs the support of an organisational structure, rather complex logistics, and the involvement of different public and private actors - but above all, it needs to be integrated in an ambitious and clear cultural policy to be effective.
At the same time, global trends are showing much more interest for cultural operators to develop cross-border approaches to culture –understanding the political, social and economic climate of international engagement is an important step towards effective international cultural action.
In this changing context, the aim of this course will focus on identifying the institutional and organisational framework determining cultural action, studying how the industry involves different public and private stakeholders and analysing the planning process through which cultural policies meet targets and result in projects, programmes and concrete actions.
Course directors and coordinators
Director
Christoph Pasour
Mr Pasour is a TV Producer. He holds a degree in Art History and Media Studies from the Freie Universität Berlin (Germany) and also Edinburgh University (UK). He has authored articles for newspapers and magazines on media art and cinematography. He was the project manager and curator at the Museum for Cinematography in Potsdam, Germany; commissioning Editor in the film department of the 3sat cultural television channel (Germany/Austria/Switzerland). He has also been involved in script development (fiction/non-fiction) for production companies in Berlin and Hamburg. He has been a producer/author on documentaries since 2005 for production companies in Berlin, Hamburg and Barcelona for broadcasters such as ARTE, 3sat, ARD, ZDF, RAI, YLE, TV3. He currently is the director of the University Master's Degree in Cultural Management at UIC Barcelona.
Coordination
Claudia Balboa Salas
Degree in Conservation and Restoration of Cultural Heritage from the University of the Basque Country (2014) and University Master's Degree in Cultural Management from the Universitat Internacional de Catalunya (2015). She has worked as a cultural manager at the Cervantes Institute in Beijing and collaborated with various companies and institutions in the design of cultural projects and exhibitions. She also participated in the conceptualisation of the infrastructure development plan for Langyuan Station in Beijing, to transform this industrial area of Pekin into a space for Culture and Creative Industries in the country. After her experience in China she returned in October 2018 to Spain, as director of the Rioja Wine Cultural Centre, a historic building linked to wine tourism. As interim civil servant of the City Council she developed the Master Plan and cultural, social and training programme for the reopening of the facility. In 2020 Claudia established herself as independent cultural consultant and she collaborated with the Langyuan New Times Culture in the definition of the cultural development plan and a new urban space for the Music and Performing Arts in Wuzhen. She also provides services to mono office architecture studio production of artistic projects, such as “I Want to be the Future: The Anatomy of Technological Seduction,” developed together with the Chinese artist Cao Fei, for the Whitechapel Gallery in London and the Alserkal Avenue in Dubai. She currently coordinates the Postgraduate Studies in Cultural Management at UIC Barcelona.
Teachers
Diane Dood
Diane Dodd is President of IGCAT (International Institute of Gastronomy, Culture, Arts and Tourism) and co-founder of the European Region of Gastronomy Award that has grown into a World Region of Gastronomy Platform. She is also Regional Adviser for the global network IFACCA (International Federation of Arts Councils and Cultural Agencies). She has been an independent evaluator for the Cultural Routes programme of the Council of Europe and editor of a number of Cultural Policy and Cultural Management publications for the European Cultural Foundation (ECF). She provided expert advice to Plovdiv and Valletta in the preparation for their respective bids to be European Capital of Culture. Diane has worked in the cultural policy and management field for over 20 years and maintains relations with a number of important Global and European Institutions including UNWTO, UNESCO, European Commission, OEI, Commonwealth, Asia-Europe Foundation and many others. She obtained her PhD from the University of Girona in 2010.
Prerequisites & admissions
Request for information and admission
If you are interested in taking this Specialization course at UIC Barcelona, contact the Secretary of the Faculty of Humanities at the following email: secretariahumanitats@uic.es