Call for Participants: Global Cultural Leadership Programme 2016 – Malta (Fully Funded)

Application Deadline: August 7th 2016 at 23:59 CET (Brussels) time.

The Global Cultural Leadership Programme is a programme designed to develop and strengthen cultural leadership skills of young practitioners emerging on the international scene. Through its framework, content and methodology, the Global Cultural Leadership Programme specifically aims to improve the skills of cultural managers as well as develop collaborative peer-to-peer learning and networking building. This will enable participants to develop fresh insights into international cultural collaboration practices.

The programme offers a set of learning modules, tools and manuals for practice-based learning, giving the participants opportunities to build meaningful collaborations at the global level and within the EU.

In March 2016, a new Cultural Diplomacy Platform was launched to support the European Commission with the implementation of a new ‘Strategy for international cultural relations’. This Platform aims to carry out activities in order to enhance the EU’s cultural engagement with third countries and their citizens. BOZAR Centre for Fine Arts, British Council, EUNIC Global, European Cultural Foundation and Institut français have formed a consortium, led by Goethe-Institut, to support the implementation of the Cultural Diplomacy Platform.

This new European Cultural Diplomacy Platform aims to promote cultural engagement and cooperation between Europeans and citizens from countries all around the world. Its activities will, inter alia, address the managerial practicalities of establishing sustainable cultural exchanges, build long-term collaboration based on people-to-people contacts, and engage in productive co-creation processes. To that end, the Platform includes a training component: a Global Cultural Leadership Programme that will support young cultural managers from the ten Strategic Partners of the EU,1 as well as from EU Member States, developing and strengthening their cultural leadership skills.

CONTENT
Participatory group discussions and educational workshops will explore a variety of current challenges and opportunities, and provide knowledge and working approaches into:

• The purposes, values and principles of international networking,
• Ways of achieving successful cooperation projects across border and cultures,
• How to identify new trends in international cultural management ,
• Strengthening intercultural management skills and developing leadership on a global scale,
• Improving soft skills for collaborating with peers in different social and cultural environments,
• Learning how to take risks and embrace uncertainty when collaborating with new partners,
• Develop practical communication and management skills on topics that enable young cultural managers to become new players of practice- and reflection-based diplomacy,
• Perfect organisational strategies to develop leadership in and through international work etc.

POTENTIAL PARTICIPANTS

The 40 participants of the Global Cultural Leadership Programme will come from different fields of relevant cultural practice in their countries and represent sectors that are specifically interested in reaching out with their work globally.
For the first edition of the programme, the European Cultural Diplomacy Platform will look specifically for applications from outstanding cultural managers who fill in the criteria below:

Geographical criteria:

• are nationals of (and are working for organisations in) Brazil, Canada, China, Japan, India, Mexico, Russia, South Africa, South Korea or the USA
  (a maximum of three participants from each of these ten countries will be selected),
• are nationals of (and are working for organisations in) the 28 EU member states
  (a maximum of ten EU participants in total will be selected, one per EU country)

Professional experience:

• work for a cultural civil society organisation (NGO), a cultural enterprise (social or for profit-making) or a public cultural institution (such as museums, libraries, or music venues that operate on local, regional and national levels)
• have (some) previous experience in international networking and cultural exchange and have relevant working experience in the field of 3 to 5 years
• are working in a field or position that allows them to act as local/national multipliers of new leadership knowledge and global cultural networking
• hold a relevant (leading) position in their organisation.

Thematic interest:

• are strongly interested in international cultural collaboration and wish to further develop professionally in a global working context
• show a strong awareness of intercultural sensitivities and are passionate about working on cultural issues and topics of global relevance.

Language criteria and age requirements:

• have a very good working knowledge of English
• are (preferably) 25 – 39 years of age

ORGANISATION

• The first cultural leadership programme will be realised in cooperation with IFACCA – the International Federation of Arts Councils and Culture Agencies. It will take place in Valletta, Malta from October 16 – 21 and – in order to create thematic synergies with a global outreach – will be organised in parallel to IFACCA’s 7th World Summit on Arts and Culture that will also focus on Cultural Leadership in the 21st Century and participants will attend selected sessions.

Benefits:

• All travel and accommodation costs for participants of the Global Learning Programme will be covered by the Cultural Diplomacy Platform.

Application Procedure:

APPLICATION PROCEDURE

• Candidates who wish to be considered for participation in the first edition of the Global Cultural Leadership Programme shall submit in one file the following:
  -up-to-date CV (not more than two A4 pages and using the attached format)
  -expression of interest (not more than 500 words) setting out their motivation to participate.
• Expression of interest should outline what participants can bring to the learning group for sharing with their peers during the training. They should also state what they intend to take away, from the training, to their own working realities back home.
• project description: in addition, candidates should provide a description of an ongoing or prospective cultural project (not more than 1000 words, pictures and media support are also accepted) that is being implemented/ is to be implemented in the near future. Candidates should specify the following:
• Background and context
• Strategic and specific goals
• Main activities
• Expected results and impact
• Individual implication

SELECTION PROCEDURE:

• Candidates will be selected by the project team of the European Cultural Diplomacy Platform and the 5 experts/tutors who will deliver the programme.
• Selected candidates (30 from the ten strategic countries, 10 from the EU) will be informed about their participation by August 20, 2016.
• The project team shall take care of all travel preparations (including visas) and bookings, in direct contact with all 40 selected participants.

Application:

• Applications (preferably in pdf format) and inquiries shall be sent by e-mail to [email protected] .
• The deadline for submitting applications is August 1st at 23:59 CET (Brussels) time.

For More Information:

Visit the Official Webpage of the Global Cultural Leadership Programme 2016