On 10 October 2015, Roberta Piazza of Catania University and Associate Director of PASCAL, and its associates, Dermot Coughlan of University of Limerick together with Anna Hansen and Henrik Zipsane of Jamtli Foundation represented PASCAL International Observatory at a seminar in the old research library in the municipality of Acireale, a community just North of Catania with about 60,000 inhabitants and a glorious past with 17^th – 19^th Century churches and palaces as well as diverse museum collections.

The seminar was organised by the local authorities and was attended by approximately 40 people and among them the leadership of the municipality and several cultural institutions. The central issue at stake was the challenge of opening up the community to European and even international collaboration in order to establish sustainability for the cultural sector, but also fostering a new perspective on the cultural sector as a tool for development in the context of Acireale as a learning city.

The municipality has with the support of Catania University and Pascal Observatory produced already a brainstorm mapping of resources, challenges and ideas for the cultural sector and this was launched at the seminar.

Representatives from the hosting historical research library made the point of their lacking resources for maintaining and modernising the institution and also said that it was very difficult to get funding from the Region of Sicily and that this lack was not sufficiently compensated from the local municipality. The mayor from the municipality replied that it was regrettable but that the municipality itself had a very strained financial situation. It was the hope from both representatives of the municipality and the local cultural sector that it would be possible to get help to find funding from outside.

Roberta Piazza spoke about the process that had let forward in a relatively short period of time to a result in form of a catalogue of ideas and aspirations and a good analysis of the situation of the cultural sector in Acireale.

Dermot Coughlan presented how Pascal Observatory works and that especially within the Learning City 2020 there are good possibilities to find the inspiration for cities such as Acireale in order to identify and develop new dynamics for arts and culture, and for the city as such. The collaboration between academics, and the local or regional authorities was a winning situation for both sides as the local community gets access to knowledge and expertise from the academics and the academics get access to real life experiences, fulfilling an important part of the mission of universities and higher education.

Henrik Zipsane explained how it is possible to create growth and sustainability through changing the attitudes within and around a cultural organisation using Jamtli Foundation as an example. It is important to realise that cultural organisations – however important in their self-understanding – will not be able to develop or maybe even survive in the future if they are totally dependent on public financing. Combining public financing with private capital and self-generated income will be the basis for many cultural organisations in the future. In order to develop we also have to realise that development today is globalised and therefore is shaped and realised together with other organisations in for example Europe or internationally. Henrik presented the different financing possibilities open to a cultural organisation in EU and expressed the possibility and will of Jamtli Foundation to include Acireale in future collaboration projects.

Anna Hansen gave examples from how Jamtli Foundation works with different Nordic, European and international networks in order to have access to “the best” partners for development projects and other initiatives. An example is the EARLALL (European Association of Regional and Local Authorities on Lifelong Learning) where Jamtli Foundation can find engaged regional authorities on both political and civil servant level. Another example is PASCAL OBSERVATORY through which Jamtli Foundation finds academics internationally in the front of research in regional development. Finally Anna Hansen presented Culture Action Europe as an important contact as this organisation works with policy development and lobbying in Brussels and potentially deliver updated news about coming EU initiatives and possibility to influence.

The information was received positively by the representatives from both local authorities and the sector of arts and culture even though all agreed that it would be a long road to go for Acireale to open up for the European and international possibilities but PASCAL OBSERVATORY would through the initiative Learning Cities 2020 be a good starting point.

Henrik Zipsane