Who will be named the winner at the 2020 ENCATC Research Award on Cultural Policy and Cultural Management Ceremony?

Brussels, 23 October 2020 – The winner of the 2020 ENCATC Research Award on Cultural Policy and Cultural Management, the only international recognition for excellence of emerging researchers in cultural policy and cultural management research, will be unveiled on the evening of 11 November, during the 2020 ENCATC Digital Congress “Cultural management and policy in a post-digital world – navigating uncertainty”.

On 11 November ENCATC, the leading European network on cultural management and policy, will announce the winner of the 2020 ENCATC Research Award on Cultural Policy and Cultural Management edition at the occasion of the annual Ceremony being held during the 2020 ENCATC Digital Congress “Cultural management and policy in a post-digital world – navigating uncertainty” (3-11 November).

There are four recent PhD recipients in the running for this only international Award recognising excellence in cultural policy and cultural management research. Selected by an international panel gathering distinguish academics and researchers from six countries, the finalists are authors of a practical based research that sheds light on contemporary cultural issues and challenges by analysing them and offering policy solutions.

The winner will be chosen by the Award’s international jury from among the finalists: Ali FitzGibbon for her PhD “The Artist in the Room: An investigation of the independent artist as stakeholder in the decision-making of subsidised theatre in the UK” obtained from the Queen’s University Belfast in the United Kingdom; Eman Kandil for her PhD “The EcoMuseums: An Approach for the Preservation of Heritage Attributes in Egypt’s Historic Urbanism” obtained from the Menoufia University in Egypt; Rocío Nogales for her PhD “Social transformation and social innovation in the field of culture: The case of the SMart model and its adaptation across Europe” obtained from University of Barcelona in Spain; and Anastasiia Sedova for her PhD “Spaces ‘Out of Religious Use’  and ecclesiastic architecture as marketable real estate assets: A potential solution for Russia’s abandoned religious heritage artifacts”, obtained from the Politecnico di Milano in Italy.

Speaking on behalf of the jury as ENCATC President and Jury President, Francesca Imperiale said: “The quality of the work presented for the appraisal of the jury was tremendous. We must congratulate these four finalists of the 2020 edition of the ENCATC Research Award. They are the ones who carry forward and advance the area of policy and cultural management with their valuable contributions”

As for ENCATC’s Secretary General, GiannaLia Cogliandro Beyens, this year’s edition of ENCATC Congress and Research Award is a proof of the resilience and overcoming capacity of the cultural area. “This was a very challenging year also for the research community. ENCATC took seriously the need to maintain and nourish robust connections among the emerging and established researchers and thus to continue providing a space for the intellectual interaction among the different actors contributing to innovation in society. The ENCATC Research Award is one such crucial contribution,“ she said.

For this 7th edition of the Award, ENCATC is honored to count of the presence of Catherine Magnant, Head of the Unit in charge of Culture Policy, DG EAC at the European Commission. Her constant support to this initiative and to the young generation of researchers in the broad field of culture is extremely valued by the ENCATC community,GiannaLia Cogliandro Beyens underlined.

The winning PhD researcher will have her work published in the ENCATC Book Series on Cultural Management and Cultural Policy Education, by international publishing house P.I.E. Peter Lang. Launched in 2014, the ENCATC Award exists to stimulate academic research in the field of cultural policy and management, to explore contemporary issues at stake and possibly anticipate new cultural policy orientations through comparative and cross-cultural research. Moreover, it contributes to the process of creating an infrastructure, a network of researchers who are doing comparative research projects in cultural policy and management issues.

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