Lessons learned from projects that generate alliances and strengthen cultural democracy

“Cultural Democracy. Conversations, meetings and shared knowledge” was a meeting that took place last November at La Casa Encendida and brought together 13 projects, which we have supported from the Foundation, in which various cultural agents generated alliances to promote initiatives to promote greater cultural democracy, allowing the full participation of citizens in cultural life. The purpose of this meeting was to generate knowledge and share it with agents, institutions, administrations and society as a whole with the aim of enriching the commons and collaborating in the change towards a paradigm that places cultural rights at the centre of public policies.

On November 29 and 30, “Cultural Democracy. Conversations, meetings and shared knowledge“, two days of work in Madrid whose objective was to collect and systematize the main learnings from 13 projects and entities that we have supported in recent years from the Foundation and focused on mediation, cultural democracy and the potential to generate alliances or lasting networks to make it effective.

Although the 13 projects brought together at this meeting are diverse and heterogeneous, they all have two common elements. Firstly, they work with art and cultural practice as a powerful engine of citizen participation to address the inequalities and challenges we face as a society. Second, they are all articulated through the establishment of alliances between very different cultural and political agents and actors in order to bring about the systemic change necessary to achieve a true cultural democracy, that is, to guarantee cultural rights to all people.

After a day and a half of internal work sessions on all the projects together, a session open to the public was held at La Casa Encendida, which was mainly aimed at presenting the lessons learned during the meeting. In addition, all these results, conclusions and proposals will be collected in a Carasso Notebook that will be published next year so that other similar initiatives can extrapolate and replicate these proposals and improvements to their own actions.

Lessons learned about projects that promote alliances for cultural democracy

Some of the projects participating in this meeting belong to our 2020 call for ‘Alliances for a Cultural Democracy’ (Inhabiting the palace, Convivial neighbourhoods in the face of the climate and social emergency, Erro(re)tik, Thinking of an H and The voice that no one hears). Others have support from the Foundation from our line of Mediation and cultural democracy of Arte Ciudadano (SEA, Remaking and expanding Cultural Mediation, Network of Spaces and Agents of Community Culture (REACC), Gravity 13, Cultural, IS OURS, Pediatric ICU, Strengthening community culture in Aragon).

All of them have the purpose of blurring the usual boundaries between cultural institutions, public administrations and civil society in order to contribute to greater cultural democracy and, consequently, a greater capacity of our society to face contemporary collective challenges.

During the reflection sessions, five working groups were organized, focused on different topics and made up of members of each of the projects with the aim of extracting common learnings in relation to the various visions and experiences lived.

The conclusions, results and lessons learned by all of them revolved around four axes: project design, budgets, alliances and team.

The 13 projects agreed that, in terms of the design of the project, before launching it, a series of questions must be asked regarding the community we are going to address: “Do we know the community with which we are going to work? Does that community really have that need that we intend to cover? Does that community exist or are we considering generating it? Is it a homogeneous or heterogeneous community?”

In addition, there are two fundamental questions that must be taken into account: “How to ensure the development of the project? What happens if you can’t fulfill what you initially designed?”

Once these questions have been answered and resolved, an exhaustive analysis of the possible unforeseen events and risks must be made. “Specify the real needs of the project and be flexible in its design, it proposes a design that is open to being modulated in the process,” commented those responsible for the different projects.

As for the team, the main lesson learned is that a good analysis of the internal context must be made. “What is the situation of your team? What energy does it have? Do you need more equipment or can you take on the challenge with what you have?” they explained from the different projects.

As far as the budget is concerned, it must be well anticipated and taken care of during the process. “If you need funding for your project, are you aware of what you really need?” they reflected from one of the projects involved.

A series of factors must be taken into account, such as the oversize of the budget so that it includes the most invisible work (dedicating, for example, an item to emotional management) or the valuation not only of economic resources but also of temporal resources, that is, how much real time can be invested in the project.

It is also important to study and look for legislative references in terms of agreements and salaries and to establish a transparent communication relationship with the administrations and institutions, that is, with who finances us.

Possible negative scenarios cannot be forgotten, they must be evaluated, leave room for unforeseen events and be open to readjusting the budget throughout the project. And, above all, to bear in mind that cultural work is work and, therefore, must be remunerated.

With regard to the alliances, the 13 projects agreed that they must have very clear qualities and characteristics: they must be healthy and healthy, transparent, sincere and committed and have a common language. In addition, there are three key moments in the execution of alliances (gettingto know each other, understanding each other and allying) and throughout this process there must be a good interlocutor, a person with fluid communication, who has decision-making capacity and who can talk with the allied institution with a common language that allows understanding and reaching agreements. Beyond having good support and a legal relationship, it is essential to be clear about what the institution expects and needs from us.

After delving into these four axes, all the projects agreed to point out some relevant issues such as the difficulty of working within the framework of those alliances that are built between agents from different fields and/or roles; the lack of legitimacy and recognition of these practices by administrations and public institutions and the need for projects to be long-term so that they can generate impact and real transformation.

All the projects, as a whole, concluded that taking into account all these axes on which they have reflected, the project must be scaled to have its real dimension, since “they are people, but projects should not depend only on people, and knowing how to retire on time is also a learning experience”.

This event allowed us to have a first approach to the learnings resulting from this space for exchange that will shape the Carasso Notebook, which will serve to share experiences and will be a guide for other agents in the sector, who will be able to replicate these experiences and extrapolate projects to other realities. Undoubtedly, this will be a way to continue contributing to a cultural democracy and access to culture for all people.