HOMEE sessions at the 5th Heritage Forum of Central Europe

The HOMEE research project (Politecnico di Milano is the leading partner) was featured in a dedicated session of the 5th Heritage Forum of Central Europe on September 19, 2019 in Krakow. After the introductory lecture by Prof. Franco Bianchini (University of Hull), the intermediate results of the projects were presented: the Literature Review Regarding Mega-events/Cultural Heritage as well as the Report Briefs of the National Case Studies.

 

A roundtable with Polish policymakers and scholars discussed the issues of mega-events and their consequences for cities rich in cultural heritage resources.

HOMEE WORKSHOPS IN MATERA

On June 24-26, 2019 the workshops part of the Living Lab took place in Matera. The four teams of the HOMEE project in collaboration with the Associate Partners University of Balisicata at Matera and the Institute for Heritage Conservation and Restoraion (MiBACT) interacted with local stake holders and decision makers of the Matera Basilicata 2019 European Capital of Culture Program.

 

The program of the workshops can be dowloaded here.

 

HOMEE – Literature Review Regarding Mega-events/Cultural Heritage

This document is the first deliverable (A1.2) of the “HOMEE – Heritage Opportunities/threats within Mega-Events in Europe: Changing environments, new challenges and possible solutions for preservation in mega-events embedded in heritage-rich European cities” research project, financed under the European call “JPICH Heritage in Changing Environments.” The research explores for the first time the relationships between the planning and implementation of mega-events and cultural heritage in European cities. The literature review provides background concepts and a sound critical framework for the analyses of the research and its case studies by carrying out an extensive trawl of the existing literature, identifying and teasing out key messages emerging from both academic sources and high-level policy documents. Exploring these relations is important because one can find abundant literature and longstanding debates both on mega-events and heritage topics. Yet there is also a clear gap in research about the relationship between the two. The HOMEE literature review not only describes these gaps but also explains the reasons why it is important to address them.

 

You can download the Literature Review file here: 

https://www.tau-lab.polimi.it/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/00-Lit-Review-FINAL.pdf

 

Continue Reading

HOMEE – National Case Studies: Report Briefs

This report of the five national case studies (Milan 2015, Genoa 2004, Hull 2017, Pafos  2017, Wrocław 2016) derives from the first set of actions of the HOMEE project. It provides new information on recent events and highlights important issues pertaining to cultural heritage. The information collected also provides valuable insights for academics and the APs connected to these events to show the far-reaching impacts and potential of their events in historic contexts and for their legacies. The aim of the National Case Studies Report Briefs is to present a broad overview of each case as well as highlight the key themes and findings.

You can download the Briefs here: 

https://www.tau-lab.polimi.it/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/Case-Study-Briefs-FINAL.pdf

What difference does democratic local governance make? Guggenheim museum initiatives in Abu Dhabi and Helsinki

Davide Ponzini, Sampo Ruoppila, Zachary M Jones

What difference does democratic local governance make? Guggenheim museum initiatives in Abu Dhabi and Helsinki

Published online: Environment and Planning C: Politics and Space

 

Recent debates regarding urban policy mobilities have shed light on the transfer and adaptation of similar sets of measures and projects. However, limited attention has been given to the local decision-making processes and to how democratic or autocratic modes of governance affect the adaptation. This paper focuses on the transnational spreading of brand museums and cultural institutions as part of leisure-and-tourism-oriented urban regeneration strategies. The Guggenheim Foundation has been most active in this regard since the late 1990s with the Bilbao narrative de-contextualised and circulating internationally, luring new localities to establish the museum. The paper compares two fairly similar Guggenheim museum initiatives in situations differing radically in political and planning terms in Abu Dhabi, UAE and Helsinki, Finland – respectively, the capital of a sheikdom and the capital of a democratic country – asking what difference the mode of governance has made in the re-contextualisation of the projects. The comparison shows that the democratic governance generated a high degree of collective intelligence, involved multiple stakeholders and allowed critical evaluations beneficial in decreasing the risk-proneness, emphasising the site-specificity and bargaining for the city’s benefit. The authors call for a more nuanced understanding of the local governance within the re-contextualisation process of such initiatives and for further research regarding the transnational strategies of ‘auxiliary institutions’.