Category Archives: News

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Validating the SYNOPSIS Project training course

The Royal Museums are at the forefront of the important European project called SYNOPSIS, aimed at identifying a new professional figure, absent in the European landscape: the storyteller and cultural fundraiser.

From May 10 to 12 2022, the partners of the project, from Italy, Belgium, Greece and Spain, met in Turin, in Musei Reali, to verify and validate the contents of the course, online and free, created during the two years of work.

case study mapOn the project Web site the training course and some good practices that emerged during the work have been made available.

There are some interesting examples mapped online, like the initiative “Art is a common good”.  Support Casa degli Artisti”, has been designed in order to find the funds to prevent the closure of the only public residence for artists in Italy, the Casa degli Artisti in Milan during the pandemic period.

At the end of this campaign, the goal – to collect 20,000 euros in 45 days – has been greatly exceeded! Find out more

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Learning and Training event in Turin

In May a learning and training event took place for the Synopsis – Storytelling for Cultural Heritage Fundraising project in Turin, Italy. Besides getting to know the city and visiting the amazing exhibitions currently on display in Musei Reali Torino

The participants worked through hands-on testing of the 4 modules of the training materials developed during recent months, in order to offer high quality training content on #storytelling and fundraising knowledge and skills for the SYNOPSIS target groups.

Check out the video to have a look at our experiences there!

The participants thanked Musei Reali Torino for hosting such a wonderful event and the project partners for developing useful professional development content.

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DIAZOMA Association: protecting ancient theatres

The DIAZOMA association was founded on the initiative of the former Greek Minister of Culture Stavros Benos and brings together three “families”: the archaeological community (archaeologists, curators, conservators, etc.), Greek artists and intellectuals and local authorities (mayors, regional administrations and citizens).diazoma image

Their fundamental goal is to shape vast social networks of synergies in order to protect and promote this unique category of monuments that are the ancient theatres. To this end, Diazoma cooperates on an ongoing basis with the Ministry of Education, Research and Religious Affairs as well as with the Ministry of Culture and Sports and seeks to bring together and engage all actors of Greek society (population, mayors, prefects, universities, cultural associations) around this objective.

Raising awareness among the populations about the colossal cultural heritage and the unique potential of ancient theatres for their regions, having them participate in their preservation and revival, creating cultural routes and archaeological parks, organizing cultural events, enhancing the natural environment, adopting a charter of quality involving all the local actors (from small producers to local tourist companies), these are all steps to take towards the realisation of the ultimate vision of Diazoma : the sustainable development of regions around their cultural heritage.

As a result, theatres are at the heart of two key encounters: the one with the people and the other with tourism economy, environment and culture.

Synergies for the Promotion of the “Ancient Theatres of Epirus” Cultural Route

Fifty businesses of the “Ancient Theatres of Epirus” Business Cluster having recently obtained certification and received the Route Logo, which signifies that the goods and services provided by the logo-bearer are of the highest quality, a most interesting gastronomy and food tasting event took place in October.

The event took place during the FAM trip organised for journalists and bloggers from Greece and abroad (England, Germany, Italy, Israel) by the Region of Epirus on October 14-16 as part of its “Networking and Promoting Tourism in the Region of Epirus” and the First Combined Campaign on “Culture-Gastronomy” initiatives.

The active pursuit of synergies between members of the Route’s Cluster is one of the certification prerequisites, as synergies encourage the fostering of links between businesses that have elected to cooperate in order to improve the quality of the goods and services offered, sharing the common goal of promoting the Route as a destination.
This event is an excellent example of the “Ancient Theatres of Epirus” Cultural Route Business Cluster’s potential and momentum and creates a solid foundation for the programme’s sustainability.

Find out more about the Cultural Route

 

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Storytelling for cultural heritage tourism

Cultural heritage professionals work a lot with different tourist organisations to promote their activities. Cultural heritage tourism is thus an important area for them to work with.cultural heritage tourism image

The National Trust for Historic Preservation defines cultural heritage tourism as “travel to experience the places, artefacts and activities that authentically represent the stories and people of the past and present, including cultural historic and natural resources.”

Cultural Heritage Tourism is one of the main tourism interests of the “Silver Tourist”, a tourist which is older of age and mostly looking for cultural related experiences when travelling. Being able to show potential donors and supporters, that “your” cultural heritage has raised interest from this target group can help you in your fundraising efforts.

Paying visitors are an important source of income for many cultural entities, and storytelling techniques can help you to capture this tourism segment. It is just 2 sides of the same coin.

Those working in this area can use the storytelling competences and skills acquired in SYNOPSIS training to help attract more silver touristssilver tour logo

If you want to know more on how to design a tourism experience for this particular target group (and use digital tools to do so), check out eSilverTour a project which aims to improve the quality of the tourist services promoted to this target group.

For more information, visit https://www.esilvertour.eu/

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Telling STORIES for rural businesses

The STORIE project is focussed on the development of capacities of rural businesses to design and promote sustainable tourism products based on intangible cultural heritage. As in SYNOPSIS, STORIE has considered Storytelling and Narrative Techniques as key for the development, sustainability and growth of their businesses. intangible unesco image

As such part of the training materials developed show rural businesses how to use creativity and storytelling to design and market their products and services which are based upon intangible cultural heritage. Materials also of interest for those active in the cultural sector.

According to UNESCO, intangible cultural heritage is the practices, expressions, knowledge and skills that communities, groups and sometimes individuals recognise as part of their cultural heritage. It includes traditions or living expressions inherited from our ancestors and passed on to our descendants, such as oral traditions, performing arts, social practices, rituals, festive events, knowledge and practices concerning nature and the universe or the knowledge and skills to produce traditional crafts.

While fragile, intangible cultural heritage is an important factor in maintaining cultural diversity in the face of growing globalisation. An understanding of the intangible cultural heritage of different communities helps with intercultural dialogue, and encourages mutual respect for other ways of life.

For more information about the STORIE project see: http://projectstorie.eu/

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What is digital fundraising?

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Digital fundraising is fundraising using digital technology, which usually means fundraising online.

Digital fundraising can take place over a variety of different sources, such as mobile phones apps, text, and social media.

Digital fundraising has become one of the most popular and effective ways for organisations to maintain their interaction with donors and prospects.

A number of online fundraising platforms are being used, such as JustGiving to produce personalised campaigns, which raise awareness of the cause. Social media can also help spread messages quickly, and help your campaign.

Fundraising campaigns need to be compatible with mobile technology

Some examples of digital fundraising trends include:

–  Your web site:  including a donation button on your web site can be a powerful way to engage supporters
– Crowdfunding: allows a lot of people to make a small donation.
– Online fundraising : web sites like Just Giving or GalaBid can be useful as they allow supporters and volunteers to fund-raise on your behalf.
Social media: offers online tools to fundraise, for example using Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube and Snapchat.
Text donations: a quick and easy way to give
Online gaming: research has found that 17% of gamers donated while playing online, while over half (58%) said they would be interested
Email: Email can be a very effective way to communicate with supporters. Tools such as MailChimp, Constant Contact and Salesforce allow you to track your emails, such as who has opened them, how long they have looked at them for, and which links they clicked on.

You will be able to find out more in the training course being developed by the SYNOPSIS project team.

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Defining a cultural heritage CV

SYNOPSIS project partners have been working on the second project output, defining a cultural heritage CV:  This includes a definition of competences, a set of hard and soft skills for an innovative professional role.cv graphic

For the purpose, interviews of managers and fundraisers in cultural organisations that employ best practices in Storytelling for Fundraising have taken place in each partner country. The results are a useful Handbook of the skill sets needed.

Download the SYNOPSIS cultural heritage CV – the digital fundraiser and storyteller for cultural heritage organisations 

Currently the project team is creating of the third project output, a training program providing soft and hard skills for cultural storytellers and fundraisers.

The SYNOPSIS project is co-funded by the Erasmus+ Programme of the European Union.

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NONTURISM: when the community itself tells about its territory

There are places in Italy so-called “marginal” because they are far away from the areas where the life of the country happens. The reason is that maybe they are outside the flows of mass tourism or because they have been victims of natural disasters. The communities of these places often need to rediscover their identity and start again to imagine a future.

On the other hand, some people are moved to travel not only by the desire to post photos on social media but by that of creating an intimate relationship with the territory they are exploring, people who experience the journey as an exchange and not as a simple consumption of a need.

Thus was born NONTURISM: an alternative tourist guide that combines these two aspects, proposing itself as a meeting point between communities and this kind of tourists.

Artists, historians, economists, sociologists, and botanists during a residency helped the inhabitants to regain possession of their heritage of memory by giving life to walkable itineraries that include stories, routes, structures, local food, and wine.

The result is a sort of little piece of art which holds and tells the identity of an entire territory.

The guide stems from an idea by Sineglossa and Riverrun and is published by Ediciclo Editore.

Discover more info here.

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World Creativity and Innovation Day – April 21st

The UN declared 21 April as the International Day of Creativity and Innovation, coinciding with the birth of one of the most influential figures in history, Leonardo Da Vinci, one of the greatest designers and inventors of all times.

Creativity and innovation are essential skills in the 21st century, applicable to starting a business, solving problems, devising new products or services, creating a marketing campaign or conveying a story. These skills or qualities are inherent to all people and can be developed through practice.

In this sense, the Da Vinci Technique to boost creativity can be applied to carry out a storytelling exercise to connect with the audience and target audience of a cultural organisation. This technique proposes that, first of all, curiosity must be awakened in order to then create different perspectives, refine the senses, accept the uncertain, discover balance, work body and mind and, finally, move towards the new and unknown, that is, innovate.

Find out more:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0pF-sovUO1c
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XDNiVfsFGZg

Cultural Storytelling and Innovation

Cultural storytelling is a good example of creativity and innovation. Find out more about cultural storytelling at https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/what-cultural-storytelling-wylie-rogers/

 

SYNOPSIS Project connects online

The SYNOPSIS project partners have been working on the development of storytelling and fundraising aspects among cultural heritage professionals. Case studies from different countries have been researched and now the project team are considering the curriculum necessary for training in these areas.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic and travel restrictions in Europe, face-to-face meetings of the partners are not possible at the moment. As a result regular partner meetings are being organised.

A project area has been created on ResearchGate where results of the project will be shared. Visit ResearchGate to find out more