these old houses need new stories conference on best practices€¦ · conference on best...

D.C.3.3 Minutes

Ljubljana, City Museum Ljubljana 21 March 2017

THESE OLD HOUSES NEED NEW STORIES CONFERENCE ON BEST PRACTICES

FORGET HERITAGE CONFERENCE ON BEST PRACTICES THESE OLD HOUSES NEED NEW STORIES How to Manage Cultural Heritage Sites Successfully? Greetings The Introductory greetings to the conference participants were given by Mrs. Lilijana Madjar, M.Sc., Directress of RRA LUR, Mrs. Mateja Demšič, M.Sc., Head of Department for Culture of the City of Ljubljana and Mr. Anton Peršak, Minister of Culture of the Republic of Slovenia. In her opening address Mrs. Lilijana Madjar pointed out that the decision to join the project was mainly of a strategic nature, because the Ljubljana Urban Region had many registered cultural heritage buildings, some of which have already been successfully refurbished and filled with innovative content, some being redesigned, many have still been waiting for their chance. Fully occupied conference hall with more than a hundred participants, mainly managers and owners of cultural heritage sites as well as decision- and policy-makers in the field, showed that the conference topic was very important. Mrs. Mateja Demšič pointed out that in Ljubljana, a city with an extraordinary history and rich cultural heritage, a particular attention has been given to the field, as it was already more than ten years since the City of Ljubljana has been actively and successfully facing the challenges of preservation of cultural heritage. She stated some examples of good practice, e.g. Vodnik Homestead, Plečnik House (renovated last year), which now has new content, and Švicarija, which would open its doors to artists in short time. Mr. Anton Peršak thanked for organizing the conference and pointed out that it was extremely important also from the perspective of the Ministry of Culture, as the latter has been preparing a strategy for cultural heritage, as in the past some cultural heritage sites were refurbished without any prior programming content, which have not been launched/brought into life after all. In the future it would be necessary to change the method and to address any restoration project with the exact knowledge about a program that would be held there after the renovation.

Presentation of Forget Heritage Project The greetings were followed by presentation of the Forget Heritage project given by Mr. Guido Gandino, Director of the Department of Culture of Municipality of Genoa, the Lead Partner of the project.

Making the Past Sustainable for the Future: Examples of Heritage-led Regeneration (Successes and Failures) in the UK – Tiva Montalbano (UK) The audience was very impressed by the lecture of Mrs. Tiva Montalbano, Director of Heritage Strategy in the organization The Prince's Regeneration Trust, who presented a number of practical experiences in the management policies of the cultural heritage sites. She pointed out that each case should be considered individually, taking substantial renovation into account, both, the historical heritage and the possibilities offered by the object’s location itself, as well as market opportunities. It was also pointed out that it has often been necessary to think out of the box (traditional frameworks), which has represented a particular challenge.

The lecture featured case studies from the UK which illustrated a variety approaches to Heritage-led regeneration that have given old buildings a new lease of life delivered enhanced wellbeing, jobs, and ‘sense of place’ to local communities. By looking at different funding models, uses, community engagement approaches and partnerships, it was identified what has worked (and what hasn’t) and considered a few suggestions for best practice. Top Tips given by Mrs. Montalbanao are as following:

1. Be strategic 2. Build in resilience; plan for growing and shrinking 3. Prepare for failure; and be ready to pick yourself up again 4. Keep an open mind – the project will evolve over time 5. Think outside the box

• fundraising; campaigning • meanwhile uses; pop-ups; events etc

6. Communication is very important! • Keep in touch with your stakeholders, funders, supporters – make people look

good and they’ll support you more • Make it visible – strategic communication and strong social media presence are

essential; • Celebrate even the little successes – they keep up morale

7. Make it pay Mrs. Montalbano’s lecture is available at the following link:

http://www.rralur.si/sl/node/362

Presentation of Best Practices

BP1/Cascina Cuccagna, a farm hold for ancients & new sustainabilities in the heart of Milan – Massimiliano Lepratti, partner Municipality of Genoa (IT) – Farmhouse, built in the year 1695, located in the centre of Milan; since its refurbishment in 2012 a number of very different activities have been carried out, such as: local market, restaurant, space for a variety of shows and events, voluntary associations, they also accepted refugees. BP2/Stara elekrarna (Old Power Station) – Alma R. Selimović, Zavod Bunker, partner RRA LUR, Ljubljana (SI) – Old power plant building, which is protected as a cultural, technical and historical monument, today operates successfully with new content, shaped by the cultural and creative associations, institutions and individuals. BP3/Prinzessinengärten (Princess Gardens) in Berlin – Maria Trunk, partner City of Nuremberg (DE) - A group of local residents transformed space between residential blocks (more than 50 years abandoned and unused space of 6,000 m²) in the urban garden for growing organic vegetables. BP4/International Youth Meetings Centre Toruń – Joanna Wilgorska, partner City of Bydgoszcz (PL)- A refurbished post-industrial mill has become a multi-purpose space, which includes recreation and sports centre, conference hall, a space for events, a playground for children, a large part of the centre is dedicated to tourist accommodation with all the necessary accompanying amenities, especially for young people. BP5/Zsolnay Cultural District - Márton Horváth, Crudus Ltd., partner CICC Association, Pécs (HU) – The district was created in the former porcelain factory. Today it represents a vibrant


space for the implementation of various cultural, educational, entertainment and gastronomic events. BP6/Hartera – Kristina Smoljanović, partner City of Rijeka (HR) - Buildings of the former paper factory Hartera have got a completely new meaning since the bankruptcy in 2005. A multi-purpose centre was created, which includes commercial space, space for entertainment and cultural events, a residential complex and also a centre of reuse; BP7/Castle Větruše – Tereza Lakyová, partner City of Ustí nad Labem (CZ) – The castle, a famous tourist destination, was built in 1897. It was closed in 1985 due to degradation and reopened in 2005. After the takeover of the private investor it has come into life with a new design and content in the field of tourism – it has become one of the main city sights with a restaurant and numerous events. BP8/Renovation of the historic villa - “Aldo Galli” IED COMO - Nadia Gussoni, partner Lombardy Region (IT) – After the reconstruction of its facilities the villa got another purpose; spaces are designed for education and research in the fields of design, fashion and visual communications. It has become Accademia Galli with various study programmes. BP9/Art Incubator, Lodz – Olgierd Domanus, partner City of Warsaw (PL) - The incubator, which emerged from a former warehouse, is now dedicated to different artists in the field of cultural and creative industries. The premises also host a business incubator, a theatre and a space for numerous educational programmes and events.

All presentations are available at the following link: http://www.rralur.si/sl/node/362

Transferable and Sustainable elements of Modern Cultural Heritage Management –

Maria Trunk (DE)

The lecture was given by Mrs. Maria Trunk, an independent specialised journalist in the area

of urban transformation with focus on the cutting sides of art, space and the public

sphere(s). Her lecture was based on the analysis of good practices in the management of

historical sites with diverse forms of Public Private Cooperations (PPC) in Italy, Slovenia,

Germany, Poland, Hungary, Croatia and Czech Republic focused on practices with cultural

and creative contributors. Each of them intended the re-use of cultural heritage such as

former factories, hospitals, schools and barracks that once have marked history and identity

of European cities. On the one hand they have been successful due to their uniqueness in

history, location and character of the buildings. But on the other hand there were

transferable elements that could enhance the hidden potential of cultural heritage sites in

the area of urban development in general.

Mrs. Trunk’s presentation is available at the following link:


Round Table/led discussion The conference closed with a panel discussion, which was attended by:



- Mrs. Tiva Montalbano, The Prince's Regeneration Trust and Prince’s Foundation for

Building Community, London

- Mrs. Maria Trunk, Nuremberg (Prinzessinengärten in Berlin)

- Mrs. Jerneja Batič, City of Ljubljana, Department for Culture

- Mrs. Alma R. Selimović, Ljubljana (Old Power Station)

- Mr. Massimiliano Lepratti, Milan (Cascina Cuccagna)

Participants spoke about the creatively designed renovations and reuses of cultural heritage sites- both in terms of infrastructure as well as in the field of content, about a role and integration of cultural heritage sites in the local environment and community, attracting new audiences and about different management models of cultural heritage sites in a way that allows the development of permanent facilities in the long term and in a financially sustainable way. It was Mrs. Tiva Montalbano, Director of Heritage Strategy in the organization The Prince's Regeneration Trust, who stressed that the renovation should be planned so that it could successfully adapt to market changes, but it was also necessary to prepare for a possible failure and take its advantage for improvements.

The round table was led by Mrs. Meta Štular, a freelance cultural manager with 20 years of professional experience. Some highlights from the round table: - Mrs. Tiva Montalbano: In her opinion a community or a private organisation would invest in heritage revitalisation

for community benefit. “I think the power station (NM: Old Power Station/Stara elektrarna, Ljubljana) we saw last night is a really good example where an NGO is actually supporting an entire network of other charities and NGOs that need the support in order to continue good work, so it’s almost like a house of cards if you will. Also I think it is important to bear in mind that sometimes we underestimate the power of community activity and community activism and it’s often that communities themselves who have the best idea for what to do with the building and for how to make that building survive in the future to make it viable and I think the concept of building partnerships between the community groups and private entities that have the business acumen to actually make those enterprises succeed is exactly the direction of travel because public funding is diminishing.” In the revitalization process an owner needs to think about the context first of all. It's really important to understand what the potential end uses are.The responsibility for that understanding can rest with the local municipality if they wish to foster that kind of environment or it can also come from the bottom up from community group. In Mrs. Montalbano’s opinion it is very important to find alternative sources of funding, alternative ways of making buildings to pay for themselves. About PPP: “It's really essential to ensure that if you do have a private-public partnership the contracts are really sound, because private industry is in this for short term and that's not why the rest of us are here. We are here for the long term survival of these assets.“ - Mrs. Maria Trunk:

The analysis of more than 30 Best Practices showed that open-mindedness was a common denominator to all of them – due to cooperation between the partners, the public and private partners and cultural and creative sector. Then she gave an example of an open mindedness from a guest's point of view – a different approach and guest’s experience in a commercial place, e.g. a cinema, or in your local independent cinema, e.g. Watershed in Bristol, U.K. About Transferable elements: “It is a good idea to look on elements which are already transferred. Elements which are obvious come again and again; some practices choose the same possibility for financing like others. And for example I've seen a lot of elements which I would like to name to gain property. We have seen a case of Stara elektrarna that is also a very interesting possibility or opportunity to run the program as the NGO and to be one of the contributors and a public-private partnership, but it's also possible to choose another one.”

- Mrs. Jerneja Batič: Revitalization process in the City of Ljubljana: A systematic work started 11 years ago, when numerous analyses were prepared. They were the basis for a strategy in the field of culture and for all further activities in the field of culture heritage. The strategy, on one hand, gives the insight on needs of individuals, artists, public institutions, and the public, on the other hand, the city actually has a range of cultural heritage sites and cultural monuments, that need to be revitalised. The combination of both leads to some basic ideas of what can be placed in a space. One of important issues when preparing a new project is the question of management of the site. There are roughly three variants - a public-private partnership, the non-governmental sector and the public sector. From the outset, it should be clear which programmes will be selected for a certain location, to then decide which of the three mentioned variants will actually prevail. About finances: With successful projects the City of Ljubljana dedicated higher budget to the Department of Culture. In parallel, the department always tries to acquire the European funds.

- Mrs. Alma R. Selimović: About what happens in the moment, when you get a building to manage?

As long as you do not have the infrastructure for your activities this is of course a bit of a dream, but when you get it, you have to change the mode of your operation/functioning. If earlier you act very tactical, so you've got some programmes that you fit in momentary, you can decide instantly, this infrastructure or space totally grounded you and you have to start working absolutely more strategic than before. “We sail between tactics and strategy and we sail also among a lot of stakeholders… One essential stakeholder for us, of course, is funders. As we manage with the space, and therefore receive grants from the Ministry of Culture and the City of Ljubljana. The other outstanding stakeholder, before I get to the audience, is the so-called scene. We manage the space that is available to others. So we do not have inside only our programme, as our programme represents perhaps 20% of the overall programme. So these are already two very strong players with a lot of interests. Then, of course, there is our key stakeholder - the audience…” - Mr. Massimiliano Lepratti:

About managing the revitalised farm with more than ten NGOs and private organizations:

“It was the most difficult part of our work, because we came from the volunteer and activist story…” Members of the Board of Directors took part in several meetings – with volunteers, managers of commercial activities, e.g. restaurants. At the beginning they had frequent meetings - each three or four months - in order to establish the common guidelines for managing all those spaces and also with the staff for day-to-day management. Nowadays they have an assembly twice per year and then they discussed about a say-to-day strategy. They have three ways of gaining the revenue: rent from commercial activities, farmers pay a certain fee (when present at a farm market), rent from non-commercial activities. The farm has a flexible model with the space (some permanent activities, but the majority changes on daily basis – constant transformation) and the staff. In Mr. Lepratti’s opinion the Cascina Cuccagna “… is a transferrable model, it means multi-level governance, a multi-purpose use and a multi-revenue model. This is, I think, the best.”

The Round Table discussion will be available soon at the following link:


A short video about the conference

The video is available at the following link: http://www.rralur.si/sl/node/362



PARTICIPANTS SATISFACTORY SURVEY All conference participants received a questionnaire “Participant Satisfaction Survey” in their Conference Material Kit. Almost a half of the participants answered to six (6) questions; five questions had a possibility to select one or more answers and one question was open - to give suggestions to improve future events. All together we received 43 answers from 103 participants, but we have to deduct at least 16 persons out of 103, being RRA LUR team & staff (6x), the Minister and the Head of Cultural Department of City of Ljubljana (2x), journalists (4x), British Council (2x), both moderators (2x), which means we received 43 answers out of 87, almost 50% response. The results of the survey are as following:

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

45

Attendance

Tiva Montalbano: Makingthe past sustainable forthe future

Presentations of bestpractices

Maria Trunk: Transferableelements of BPs

Round Table

74%

21%

5%

Where did you find out about the event?

Official invitation

Word of mouth

Internet

2% 2%

14%

45%

37%

Overall, how do you rate the event?

Poor

Fair

Good

Very good

Excelent

2%

7%

14%

51%

26%

Quality of the speakers

Poor

Fair

Good

Very good

Excelent

2%

7%

28%

33%

30%

Newness of the topic

Poor

Fair

Good

Very good

Excelent

0% 2%

9%

28%

61%

Organisation

Poor

Fair

Good

Very good

Excelent

Suggestions to improve future project events (an open question): From partners and (possibly) experts (in English):

- There should be more networking between the attendees for new people joining the FH project.

- It would be good to have a spotlight on the speaker to be able to focus on what is presented (especially when the speaker is not a native English speaker and it is quite crucial to be able to see the mimic and gestures of one).

4%

0%

18%

26%

52%

Translation

1 Poor

2 Fair

3 Good

4 Very good

5 Excelent

95%

5%

On the basis of this experience would you take part in a similar event?

Yes

No

- If you cannot choose speakers and their quality, please introduce more short breaks. Bad and boring speakers kill any topic, no matter how attractive it may (not) be.

- Introduce a break earlier in the morning. From the audience (in Slovene):

- Presentations: more pictures when presenting projects. - A booklet “Abstracts”: a booklet is necessary that affairs do not sink into oblivion.

Praise: substantial comparability (uniformity of presentations), speakers (best practices) and graphic design unity, reverence to the time limitations of the presentations.

- Coffee and water to be offered already in the morning. - Ventilation of the hall. - Next time: less “best practices” presented, but more in depth. - It would be good to have speakers’ materials printed or in e-version. - Printed lectures or longer abstracts, even more comparable presentations, e.g.

GDP, a size of the country… - I would like to get presentations and e-mail addresses of attendees. Perhaps also

other materials/literature suggested by speakers and organisers. Exchange of contacts would be appreciated for further cooperation. Thank you.

- Round Table: more time for discussion. ANNEXES

1. Conference Programme

2. Presentations: CVs and description of lectures

3. Round table participants: CVs

4. Tiva Montalbano - presentation

5. Best Practices (9 cases) – a joint presentation

6. Maria Trunk - presentation

7. Participant Satisfaction Survey

8. List of Attendees at the Conference

these old houses need new stories conference on best practices€¦ · conference on best...

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