Carlow County Council and VISUAL Carlow have jointly commenced an exciting new €400,000 European project which will place Carlow at the centre of an international partnership exploring sustainability, skills development and innovation in the arts and cultural sector.
The new E-ART project, supported through the European Union's Erasmus+ Programme, brings together seven partner organisations from six European countries and will run over a period of 36 months. Led by Carlow County Council through its Economic Development Unit, the project will see Carlow working alongside partners from Ireland, Greece, Italy, Bulgaria, Sweden and Spain.
The international consortium includes Carlow County Council and Carlow Arts Centre Ltd, which operates VISUAL Carlow, together with the Institute of Support and Studies on Entrepreneurship, Social Development and Cohesion Cube Non-Profit Organisation in Greece, Consorzio Materahub Industrie Culturali e Creative in Italy, OECON Group Bulgaria, Intercult Productions in Sweden and Lemon Grass Communication SL in Spain.
At the heart of E-ART is an ambition to explore how exhibitions can be planned, developed and delivered in a more sustainable and regenerative way, while at the same time ensuring that curators and other cultural professionals have the skills and knowledge required to respond to a changing cultural and environmental landscape.
Over the lifetime of the project, the European partnership will develop a new Green Curator Competence Framework alongside policy recommendations designed to support more sustainable approaches to exhibition design. This work will be complemented by the development of a Vocational Education and Training curriculum for sustainable exhibition-making, including the use of micro-credentials to support professional learning and skills development.
Importantly, E-ART will not simply be a research or training project. The approaches developed through the programme will be tested in real settings through residencies and Living Labs involving curators, artists and communities. The partnership will also work towards the development and delivery of sustainable exhibitions at both local and international level. Learning and resources generated through the project will be made more widely available through the further development of the E-ART digital platform and the creation of online learning materials.
Welcoming the commencement of the project, Cllr Tommy Kinsella, Cathaoirleach of Carlow County Council, said the project represents another important step in the Council's growing programme of European collaboration.
"We are delighted to add E-ART to Carlow County Council's portfolio of directly funded European projects, which now involves 34 partners across Europe and more than €1.2 million in direct EU funding," said Cllr Kinsella.
"Our European projects are ultimately about enhancing what we already do for our communities here in County Carlow. They allow us to bring additional expertise, new ideas, international partnerships and investment into Carlow, while also giving us an opportunity to showcase the very best of our county internationally."
Cllr Kinsella said he was particularly pleased that the new project brought Carlow County Council and VISUAL together as part of the international partnership.
"Arts and culture are at the heart of so much of what we do in Carlow and are an important part of the identity of our county. VISUAL is one of our most important cultural assets and having VISUAL working alongside the Council and our international partners gives us an exciting opportunity to combine culture, sustainability, skills and European collaboration in a very practical way," he said.
While Carlow County Council will lead the overall European project through its Economic Development and Enterprise Unit, VISUAL will play an important role within the consortium, bringing its experience of working with artists, curators and audiences to the development and testing of new approaches to sustainable exhibition-making.
Niall Scully, Interim CEO of VISUAL, said the project provides an opportunity for VISUAL to both contribute its own experience and learn from cultural and creative organisations across Europe.
"VISUAL is delighted to be part of the E-ART partnership and to be working with Carlow County Council and our European colleagues on a project which addresses a very real challenge for the cultural sector," he said.
"Sustainability is increasingly influencing how cultural organisations think about their buildings, their programmes, their materials and the way exhibitions are designed and delivered. E-ART gives us an opportunity to explore those issues collaboratively and, importantly, to test new approaches in practice."
Mr Scully said the project's emphasis on collaboration between curators, artists and communities would be particularly valuable.
"For VISUAL, this is also about learning and sharing. We can bring the experience of our team and our work in Carlow to a European setting, while bringing ideas, expertise and best practice from our international partners back to Carlow. That exchange of knowledge has the potential to create a legacy well beyond the lifetime of the project," he said.
The project will be led on behalf of Carlow County Council by Kieran Comerford, Head of Economic Development and Enterprise, who said that securing and leading international projects provided benefits for Carlow far beyond the financial value of the individual grant.
"It is a privilege to represent Carlow County Council internationally and to have the opportunity to promote Carlow on the European stage. We are particularly delighted to be working with VISUAL on this project and with an international consortium that brings together expertise from the arts, enterprise, education, sustainability and community development," said Mr Comerford.
"Direct EU funding is important to Carlow County Council because the benefits go much further than the value of the funding secured. It provides an opportunity for the Council to build specialist skills and experience within our teams, to develop long-term relationships with organisations across Europe and to bring international knowledge and good practice back into the work we deliver locally."
Mr Comerford said that participation in European programmes also provides an opportunity to complement locally and nationally available resources with additional expertise and investment.
"Our approach to European funding is about adding value. International funding can help us test new ideas, build specialist capacity and enhance existing local and national investment. At the same time, our European partnerships provide a platform for learning and development and allow Carlow to contribute to the development of best practice rather than simply adopting it later," he said.
"E-ART is a very good example of that approach. It takes something in which Carlow already has considerable strength, arts and culture, and connects it with sustainability, education, skills and economic development. It gives us an opportunity to learn internationally while creating practical benefits and opportunities locally."
Mr Comerford added that European cooperation has an important role to play in building Carlow's international profile.
"A key part of our work is promoting Brand Carlow and ensuring that Carlow is seen as a county which is ambitious, innovative and open to international collaboration. When Carlow County Council leads a project involving organisations from across Europe, it places our county at the table, creates new professional networks and gives us the opportunity to showcase what Carlow has to offer."
The E-ART project will run for 36 months and is funded under Erasmus+, the European Union programme supporting education, training, youth and sport. Through the programme, the Carlow-led consortium will seek to leave a lasting legacy of practical knowledge, training resources, professional networks and new approaches to sustainable exhibition-making that can be used by cultural organisations and professionals beyond the project itself.