What I will say in Catania - close dialogue between researchers, policy developers and practitioners in culture pays off!

I am very much looking forward to the 12th PASCAL conference in Catania where I am presenting in the cultural strand. I hope that I may be able to provide something there as my experience from PASCAL comes from my dual position – working both as a researcher for Linköping University and The Nordic Centre of Heritage Learning & Creativity, and as managing director for the Jamtli Foundation which primarily runs one larger and three smaller museums in the region of Jämtland in the middle of Sweden.
 
The unique network of people engaged with research, policy development and practitioners give some very special opportunities.
 
Let me just reflect on one of these opportunities which has had a major impact on my region. Jämtland region participated in PASCAL's PURE (Pascal Universities and Regional Engagement) programme, and was especially engaged in the work group on Cultural and Creative Industries. Through the reports from colleagues in regional management in Glasgow, Flanders, Botswana, Kent, Buskerud and Darling Downs we learned about the considerations behind looking on, for example, museums as an investment - in economic terms related to tourism – or as a resource for regional competence development and regional identity building. In Jämtland we learned that there are several ways forward from a political perspective on the museums. Our colleagues in Glasgow and, for example, in Newcastle are working with two different strategies which lead to absolute free entrance in Glasgow and high entrance fees in Newcastle. Both organisations are providing lots of educational and social programs, are hugely popular and attract thousands of visitors each year. In Glasgow the museums are close to the (cultural) political system and in Newcastle they are similarly close to the (business) political system.
 
That inspired the Jämtland region to attract studies to our region and “my” museums, and since 2012 we have with academic studies of our preconditions and the economic and social situation in our region introduced a management policy which are highly inspired by the Newcastle model. That has created a boost in visitor numbers by about 20% and new revenue for Jamtli Foundation, which is re-invested and has created 15 new jobs in the foundation. It has also created a new field of research in the Nordic Centre of Heritage Learning & Creativity about cultural heritage-based industry and especially how to bring new kinds of professionalism into the heritage sector.

I will be presenting a paper on that together with a colleague in Catania in October. In that paper we particularly focus on the potential of museums as a resource in formal education and the need for professionalization of the museums way to handle that potential. Our conclusion is that if the museums does not develop a more professional attitude the potential will disappear by itself!

 
Well! This is just an example of how the close dialogue between researchers, policy developers and practitioners with a shared interest in regional development pays off.
 
I look forward to see you in Catania.