Cities of Culture: Exchanging Experience and Learning Lessons

This event is on 22 June 2016

Organised jointly by the Institute of Cultural Capital and Queens University Belfast, this two-day event, sponsored by the Leverhulme Trust, brings together those who have delivered and evaluated major ‘cities of culture’ programmes — either as part of Liverpool European Capital of Culture 2008 or Derry-Londonderry UK City of Culture 2013 — with representatives from upcoming host cities, to see how future title-holders can learn from the experience of previous incumbents.

As European Capital of Culture for 2008, Liverpool is widely regarded as a case study in how to successfully use major cultural programmes for the achievement of social, cultural and economic impacts — thanks in no small part to the role that the Impacts 08 research programme had in identifying and evidencing these impacts. Derry-Londonderry, meanwhile, has also been extensively researched, with a three-year Leverhulme-funded research project commissioned in 2013 to evaluate the success of the year in terms of peace-making and conflict resolution.

Representatives from Liverpool 2008 will include ICC Chair and former 08 Creative Director, Professor Phil Redmond; Director of Culture Liverpool, Claire McColgan; and ICC Head of Research and former Director of the Impacts 08 research programme, Dr. Beatriz García, who, as part of proceedings, will deliver presentations both on the impact and legacy of Liverpool’s year as European Capital of Culture, and also on the topic of ‘cities of culture’ and knowledge transfer.

Derry-Londonderry will be represented by former Chief Executive of the Derry-Londonderry Culture Company, Shona McCarthy; Oonagh McGillion, Legacy Officer at Derry and Strabane Council; Drs. Philip Boland and Brendan Murtagh of Queens University Belfast; and also Noelle Donnell (Hummingbird Café, Derry) and Dalton Kehoe (Rosemount Resource Centre, Derry), two local residents whose organisations have been affected by the event.

Also contributing to proceedings will be Professor Michael Parkinson, Executive Director of the Heseltine Institute (University of Liverpool) and leading academic expert on regeneration and urban affairs; Dr. Susan Fitzpatrick of York St. John University, a lecturer in human geography whose PhD examined community responses to formal cultural planning and policy during Liverpool 2008; and leading figures from three future cultural capitals: Marina Vryonidou (Pafos 2017), Rebecca Matthews (Aarhus 2017) and Martin Green (Hull 2017).