FINAL REPORT Ivana Kardum

PART 1

New strategy-ICA It was essential to define the main features of our interest in the master which represents specialisation of individual capabilities and acquisition and development of new strategies to be implemented in any initiative related to creation of added value to a specific territory. This Master was designed in order to create a network of Euro Mediterranean cooperation represented by experts of different nationalities and entrepreneurial, scientific, cultural and artistic specialization. Moreover it was essential to develop strategies of evaluation and promotion of systems of production whose high quality derives from cooperation and integration of processes between systems of enterprise, culture and art, artistic world and local community, competences and traditions and values represented in the territory by cultural, historical and ambient heritage. At the very beginning of the master we were introduced with the theme of industrial districts and their importance. But we went further because we wanted to create cultural interventions for greater social, cultural and artistic satisfaction. In this sense Sansepolcro represents a natural ambient for such interventions being the part of the southern Tuscany which has rich cultural heritage but not completely evaluated and promoted. The provinces of Siena, Arezzo and Grosseto represent the territory of such interventions. Systems of interaction in a specific region are of vital importance and new management of small and medium enterprises and evaluation of activities of local craftsman production can be utilized as new tools of promotion of a territory. We are here to realize this new strategy. We often say that we live nowadays in a global village. With all the possibilities that new technology provides, what is more significant is to avoid a uniform aspect of different cultures. Italy was not chosen at random to be the host of this master. The experience of Tuscan and Italian social and economic model can serve as a reference for integration, harmony and reinterpretation in the field of cultural system and local knowledge. The things that modern man should not forget are local traditions and values. It is not sufficient to have pieces of art if people are not aware of their value. We all recognize culture but we have to make it prosperous. Only if we can show that enterprises, culture and art can coexist, progress and become the model to follow, than we have reached our aim. If I ask myself these questions I believe that I can understand the meaning of the master Distretti Culturali - Impresa Cultura Arte. How can we create cultural districts? What are the ways of promoting and evaluating local values? Can enterprises, culture and art be integrated? Who is the speaker of the new strategies for local development?

ICA strategy in literature

If I asked myself about this new strategy and the way enterprise, culture and art were integrated in the process of local development, sincerely I was not completely aware of its credibility and possibility to implement it in any strategic plan. This was due to the fact that specific matters were not yet giving the overall view of the range that this new strategy can have. Fortunately after studying carefully all the topics discussed in this master and after reading all documents and materials, the outline of the future development was clear. Since literature is my natural inclination, I found a very useful source for deepening understanding of this strategy. Frances Mayes’ novel Under the Tuscan Sun was a bestseller in USA. It could have been a simple travel book that nobody reads. But, writing is not only a moment of inspiration transferred in a story. We could say that she made effort to imagine first design of the book in order to reach her target. What is more, she knew exactly her target-people like her. This is a very practical and maybe even simple strategy but it proves that emotions, desire for information can be designed and can act as a powerful tool to convey an idea. She wrote about the southern Tuscany and expressed her own experience of this region. The book analyses mostly positive aspect of life in this region and it acted as a promotion strategy. Even now, there are many Americans coming to these parts and wanting to discover and experience the things described in her book. True, mass tourism is not a part of territorial marketing, but nevertheless we can attribute to this book, traces of strategic design and inclination to achieve economy of experience.
Let us go back to development and implementation of this strategy. When reading a book it is clear that we follow the story and characters. We can also analyse the theme or whether it reflects author’s personal beliefs. We can even discuss what is fictional in it or stylistic figures. But I wanted to prove that even in literature it is possible to see this strategy along with a less sophisticated model of promotion. The book is clearly organised in a chronological way but I wanted to find visible examples of enterprise, culture and art integrated in a unique corpus of literary text. It was not easy to identify aspects of culture because it is in short the way of life in a particular region. It is the history, present and future of the people and territory. It can be closely connected with artistic production. But what about enterprise? What is the relationship between some social, cultural, artistic spheres with the world of business? Can there be an interaction between them? In a way, local values and traditions are represented also in production, which should serve in order to preserve them. We are not considering just profit from these activities but also added value that territory creates with its cultural and artistic production. All the mentioned aspects of the strategy that tries to bring together enterprise, culture and art are seen and presented in this novel. I followed this argument and developed it in the project Narratica(see appendix), which served as analyses of sustainability of this strategy but also as a challenging and amusing effort of the students to participate in design of their vision of the southern Tuscany. They had guidelines, which correspond to enterprise, culture and art. Nevertheless, they had the opportunity to play with their literary competences and the result was very satisfactory.

Understanding the goal of our master
Playing with the abbreviation ICA (Impresa Cultura Arte) we came to a catchy phrase “Do you speak ICA?” What we wanted to emphasize was the fact that we would like to promote the notion that interaction between enterprise, culture and art is the model to implement for local development and territory actors. The concept of cultural districts is not new but this master created high value of this intervention due to the fact that it integrated interdisciplinary approach to the theme of cultural districts. In the course of the master we had the opportunity to attend lessons of marketing, management, design, communication, planning, art and we combined theory with real projects developed in cooperation with other participants of the master and lecturers. Since this work requires wide knowledge and practical know-how, the structure of the students was of extreme importance. Coming from different professional backgrounds and work experience we managed to develop numerous projects which all reflect culture of cultural productive district with high-added industrial value. We achieved this working in-groups and so overcoming all the difficulties, which derived from complexity of projects. In synthesis, this is the goal of our master.

Role of regional and provincial authorities-sustainable projects of cultural production

What I really find extremely significant were interventions from various spheres of provincial and regional authorities. We managed to realize the importance of good ideas but also the necessity to have sustainable projects and people capable of carrying them out. We get acquainted with present projects that are being developed with the assistance from the EU and regional authorities. The visit to Santa Maria della Scala was an inspiring experience because we saw a real cultural district. Anna Carli, rector of Santa Maria della Scala presented us with the turbulent history and development of this institution and the long way that the administration had to go through. This artistic pole was transformed from the medieval monument into an open cultural production. Although not yet finished, we can say that the transformation into a museum complex was a successful one. They managed to diversify the offer and still preserve what is traditional but also encourage artistic production. We were welcomed by the local authority of tourism for Siena municipality represented by Ms D. Cinelli Colombini. After her lecture about local systems and tourism in Siena we discussed some of the problems that Siena encounters and the ways these problems can be solved. The ideas, which emerged, evidence the necessity for quality and sustainability of every project to be developed and presented to authorities.
We were addressed to by local authority of culture for province of Siena, Mr G. Resti. We discussed the quality of this district and the network of small museums that was created using public and private sources. Siena has become a cultural enterprise and certainly a model to follow. I tried to follow the example of Santa Maria della Scala in evaluation of projects that are to be developed in the fortress of St. Nicholas near Sibenik. It dates from medieval times and its specificity is that it is completely on an island but very close to the mainland. In the course of years it was used for military purposes but now the authorities are investing in its preservation. Cultural intervention is something that can animate the town and utilise the fortress’s capacity to the maximum. Transformation into naval museum, concerts, race of old galleys are only some of the possibilities to develop.

Analysis of particular themes, methods and results of lectures
I would like to start with significant arguments, methods and results developed in this master. I will also analyse the themes that contributed to my personal understanding of the new proposals and success of my work here.
The first encounter with other participants and future colleagues was significantly facilitated by psychological help, which contributed to team building and development of first contacts with people coming from different social and cultural backgrounds. We were given tasks corresponding to our future groups and divided according to preferences. My work was shared with other two colleagues in order to develop a jingle of the master. It was underlined that this jingle is important for communication of values of the master and should make a brand of it.

Economy and territory
Coming from non-economic sphere of specialisation I really appreciated the introduction which prepared me for all the following project stages and understanding of our participation in this course. I was introduced into the idea of industrial districts and the importance of a specific territory and its people in processes of production. Made in Italy has existed for many years now, and industrial districts are specific for this model. Local production systems define industrial districts. We identified despecialized manufacturing local systems, clusters and industrial poles in local production systems. Industrial district is a territory-social based entity characterized by an active presence, within a specific territory of a community or persons and of the population of production firms. The role of tradition, values and history is essential. People working there feel a strong connection to their companies and tradition. We discussed specificity, roles and typical problems of industrial districts along with management of local systems and roles that public institutions (met management) have in order to improve possibilities for entrepreneurs. This approach and new study could also be applicable in Croatia, which is now in a very specific and fragile moment and should preserve local production systems. We analysed the province of Arezzo and its economic conditions and developed entrepreneurial innovation opportunities. To be able to do this, we acquired necessary knowledge about balance sheet, income statement and other economic tools in order to evaluate economic and competitive performances of local systems.

Cultural production

Since the title of our master imposes the analyses of cultural districts, we had the privilege to attend lectures about cultural economics and different models of cultural districts (industrial, institutional, metropolitan or museum cultural districts). It is not true that people like simple things, they are just accustomed to that. If they can make a meaningful experience in sophisticated things, they will like them more. They can evolve in their preferences. Culture is transgressing and it can expand the domain of our experience and competence. New strategies should lead us into cultural planning because it can improve our lives and bring us quality of well being. Cultural development means: reducing social diseases, exploiting new fields of opportunities, constructing a chain of value that increases individual capabilities instead of reducing them. Cultural districts, as Becattini says, are different from industrial. We realized that from very vivid examples like Louisville in USA where cultural renaissance boomed after the initiative to help young playwrights whose plays were chosen according to their quality. A European example is Lintz, Austria which successfully transformed itself from steel giant into multimedia authority with permanent cultural dimension. Benefits from cultural districts are numerous, just to mention some: quality of life improves because of cultural supply, there is strong orientation to innovation and capability increases enormously. One of the examples here in Italy is Illy café, which is now a highly sophisticated product because of artistic intervention. What I find especially important for any kind of project is the definition of all the assets in cultural districts (physical, natural capital or human, information, social or symbolic capital). Taking actions on these assets and working on quality of cultural local activity, quality of local governance and knowledge production, on education, participation and capability of local community, on management of social criticalities, on development of entrepreneurship and local talents and finally on attraction of talent and external firms and investments, we can really develop potentials for creation of a cultural district. In my opinion this strategy is not easy because it supposes the effort in many fields and it is certainly not a short term process. Considering the long term benefits it is essential to direct our initiatives in such a way. How to manage cultural heritage and cultural projects is essential because no cultural sector is self-sustained. This is the reason why management of cultural sphere is not only a necessity but also an obligation. Different bodies are in charge of cultural projects and we discussed the necessity to separate property from management. Cultural heritage will then become more appealing for investment (foundations) and we will be able to define our target and adjust our interventions and ideas. We had the task to develop a project of promotion of cultural heritage and we chose to realize a festival of medieval renaissance music in Zadar, Croatia. Since I studied in Zadar and have been singing for the local female group called "klapa", it was not difficult to see what would be the weak or strong points of this initiative, external threats or inner opportunities. The title of the project was “ ZADAR AD FONTES”, Medieval and Renaissance Music Festival in Zadar, (see appendix). We planned to develop more activities such as concerts, replicas of traditional products made in workshops using traditional methods and materials, neo-ethno products, street performances, evoking the ancient ways of life. With this initiative we wanted to present the cultural identity of the three thousand-year old-city to tourists and guests of the festival. Moreover, we wanted to improve the cultural life of the city, which suffered in war. Through workshops we planned to preserve material and immaterial cultural heritage and bring it back to its natural environment and also to promote and affirm young local artists. It would put new lights on old cultural and historical links inside of this unique civilization circle through promotion of the medieval and renaissance culture. Renewing these traditional values would promote better understanding and tolerance in the future. What our project lacks is the focus on sustainability of the project itself. This is the most difficult part of the cultural planning because good ideas are not enough. The potential beneficiaries of this initiative could be the city of Zadar and the province along with university institutions. The financing could be expected from the same bodies and programmes of Euro Mediterranean cooperation and development. Similar project and cultural interventions could be implemented also in Sibenik, my home town. Although there are many events connected to cultural activities, there is not a unique plan for development of the cultural district. Activity itself is not sufficient. According to my opinion initiatives should be addressed to local community primarily and selected according to quality. In a long term, this strategy should provide development of local territory and bring benefits to local community in terms not only of profit but also of awareness of cultural values. One of the possible ways to follow in Sibenik could be development and support of young musicians because this town has a very long tradition of talented artists who leave their home city in search of better professional possibilities.

Role of strategic and cultural design

Design cannot be perceived and understood only in connection to objects because it transgresses into numerous spheres of human life. The role of strategic and cultural design for evaluation of places and cities and this topic of the master was new to me but extremely interesting. What is culture? We see it as the expression of history, cultural heritage, local traditions, architecture, art, craftsmanship, and events. Cultural design offers strategies for evaluation of identity and uniqueness of a city or place, strategies for development of cultural heritage and integration of economic and cultural resources. It has become especially important to communicate and promote a place and create urban marketing. Cultural planning as a discipline starts from cultural elements that are perceived as the most prominent values of a community.
Following this stimulus we were asked to communicate our city of origin and Sansepolcro by creating synthetic posters. When thinking about my home town, Sibenik with other colleagues, I was sure about which aspects to put in this poster. We had a very interesting and challenging idea about creating three instead of just one poster, which would be connected as a story and would convey the same idea of well being to the world. Fortunately we had in our group a colleague designer and her solutions proved to be the best. But before actually producing the poster we had to present our city with all values and possibilities to develop. After describing environmental, cultural, historical and artistic features of this Adriatic city, I proposed several activities for the evaluation and promotion of culture and art in this region. Some of them were connected with traditional crafts that could be used in fashion, or with creation of new museums as evidence of old ways of life that still exist on some islands.
The message of our posters was: Find yourself (in hectic times it is important to be true to yourself and to preserve your identity)-Get connected (community of Sibenik will make contact with you and make of you eternal visitors and friends)-Discover the secret (very symbolic since Sibenik is still undiscovered by great masses of tourists and has many treasures to discover). When deciding which features about Sansepolcro to put in the new poster, we found ourselves in difficulty because it was still for us a new experience and hidden from complete understanding. Following this sensation we used an allegory about a wailed territory that has yet to be discovered.

Economy of experience and promotion
Principles and concepts of territorial marketing were particularly well aimed and indispensable. The territory is considered as a system product inserted in social, economic and productive context. The aim of territorial marketing is to assure sustainable development of a territory. But in the modern times it is not important that you offer just goods and services. Modern user wants to experience the territory and all its values. In promoting a territory we should emphasise cultural heritage and the necessity to experience it. After classical lessons we were asked to develop a project that would represent territorial marketing and would guarantee sustainable development of the chosen territory.
Once again my group chose Sibenik and its possibilities to be evaluated. We decided to create a Cultural Heritage Promotion Agency (see appendix). The Agency for the promotion of cultural heritage should act as a non-profit organization whose function would be to design, develop and implement projects related to the promotion of different aspects of cultural heritage e.g. visual arts, performing arts, architecture, traditional crafts and skills. The Agency would consist of experts in marketing, public relations, conservation and restoration, design, and the history of art, who would develop interesting projects and present them to potential investors or sponsor (public or private). We also wanted to make aspects of culture closer for the local community.
Having realised swot analysis our proposal was "St. Nicholas fortress in the bay of Sibenik" (see appendix) which consisted of situation and potential analysis and cultural re-branding of the mentioned fortress in order to provide economy of experience. We also developed a strategy for transforming it into a functional cultural good and a number of activities that would be developed such as concerts, naval museum, race of old galleys, restaurants, cuisine, costumes and transport. We wanted to create a service that will assure experience to users. This is what territorial marketing should do.

Evaluation of food heritage

Food is not only part of somebodies tradition but colourfulness of a specific region. There are strategic food systems and solutions for food heritage and its evaluation. Food heritage provides new opportunities in a territory in terms of enhancement of the residual capabilities already present on this territory and creation of new resources.
Developing evaluation of food heritage in Tuscany we did a case history called La Strada dei Vini e Sapori with aims to preserve, valorise and present it as traditional mosaic of tastes and flavours. Further more we developed a project called Cacciaturismo-Castel Cinghialino (see appendix) where we planned to work on valorisation of food heritage and preservation of animal life along with promotion of hunting area.
This approach is valuable for development of local values and treasures. They just need the proper presentation to a consumer whether in the local community or visiting the territory.

PART 2

Expectations from the master

I graduated in English and Italian language and literature and my expectations from this master were great. Not only the exchange of different cultures but of expertise and professional background was expected. After years of scholar experience the possibility to develop and perfect research and project activities was particularly appealing and at the same time represented a digression from my present master of literature in Croatia towards more strategically designed actions in the field of economy, culture and art. When asked to synthesize the essence of this master my contribution was represented with the idea of prosperity of culture. Observed from many aspects this notion was fully developed and evaluated in order to realize an approach to exploit the resources of the territory whose knowledge, culture, values, traditions, workers' needs and artistic production become common advantage and competitive for the territory itself. If successful this new strategy could become model to follow and implement in other local communities and regions. Although we come form different countries an idea emerged during this course: Mediterranean without frontiers. In this atmosphere our odyssey, whose fruits you can grasp, started.

Elaboration of individual participation to the master
The model of this master was to make us work in groups, that can be a real challenge but also a difficulty if you are not ready to cooperate and accept other ideas. After the lectures we were to realise several projects, which summarize all that we had learned about cultural districts and integration of enterprise, culture and art. My work and contribution to this master can be divided into several groups (all the documents are in appendix):

a) Southern Tuscany (audio visual communication projects)
b) Southern Tuscany (Narratica-literature corner)
c) Rinascimentica (newsletter)
d) Laboratorio linguistico (course of Italian language)

Southern Tuscany-group

In the course of this master one of the groups identified from the very beginning was the south Tuscany (le Toscane del sud). The south (mezzogiorno) usually implicates a region not developed and maybe even depressed that is often on margins of any strategy concerning local, social, economic and cultural development. Tuscany as an Italian region is certainly one of the most recognized places that immediately evoke a number of images in the visitor’s mind. But what about the southern part of this very trendy area?

Communication of territorial optimisation of culture, art and tradition

Semiotics and rhetoric of multimedia communication is especially connected with the work of our group. Communication strategies of economy of cultural and artistic values are of vital importance for territorial optimisation of culture, art and tradition. We discussed the message of different segments of commercials and possible connotations that our products could have. They helped us to develop ideas for new film scenario that would be developed in the later course of the master. With several micro projects, we intend to create a new brand of the south Tuscany making the provinces of Grosseto, Siena and Arezzo recognizable all over the world. We are promoting the south Tuscany as a unique territory where this master takes place. Since creation of the model Enterprise-Culture-Art is one of the main objectives of this master, it could become a potential benefit for creation of network and cultural institutions, as well as for economic enterprise.
A strategy has been developed to achieve this aim. It could be described as communication for territorial optimisation of culture, art and tradition. A corridor that conveys the idea of quality of life, culture, art and entrepreneurship.

Multimedia projects
We realized two films. The first one was Master ICA-in diretta, which described the students and context of our master. I participated in the creation of music background, which follows the narration and represents a frame of this form of communication. We focused on modern music but also classical (Verdi) depending on the context we wanted to convey.
The second film was more formal and official. Our aim was to promote ICA Master and its contents to the audience. Since ICA Agency represents a vital feature of this master, we gave special attention to its development and coordination with other groups. The work and project of the groups were also included in the film along with the notion of our campus. I translated the narrative contexts (novels, stories, geographical maps) into film images and interpreted the master contents into meaningful gestures, scenes and subtitles which depict the essence of the master. Further more, with a colleague Lara Radic, I translated the storyboard and scenario which later served in creation of the film.
All the activities of the group were accompanied by reports, business plan, plan of activities and other documents where I also took part.

Narratica collection of stories
The project Narratica was conceived in order to present the idea of the Southern Tuscany but through literature. Together with Lara Radic I created the ideas and developed them into a presentation that was given to students. We called it “Invisible Southern Tuscany” and it was inspired by Italo Calvino’s novel “Invisible Cities”, which served as an example of the way and form of writing, and some other books, one of which is Frances Mayes’ novel “Under the Tuscan Sun” as the example of the content and goal of writing. These books were firstly presented, and afterwards the students were given the task of writing the similar composition connected to the general topic of the quality of well-being (la qualità del benessere), through different individual topics assigned to them. All that we have learned about the Southern Tuscany and cultural district can be connected to enterprise, culture and art that coexist. The students wrote about the things representing south Tuscany but not only in a documentary way but also describing their emotions and impressions.
At the end we made a book of these stories and they would be shown in Rinascimentica and on the web. Being a professor by my vocation, this project was particularly appealing and interesting for me because it gave me the possibility to analyse from a critical point of view several books and then interpret them according to my perception of Tuscany. A special challenge was to give each student a theme that could correspond to his or her preferences and guide them into creation of literary texts. These stories would represent a vivid evidence of the five months spent here in developing idea of the cultural district, which southern Tuscany defines.
Discussing from a critical point of view these stories when realised, are supporting the idea of cultural district where enterprise, culture and art are integrated in everyday life. It is their mission in the course of this master. But some of them have artistic value, which is another example how strategic effort and design can create added value. It can further be addressed to territorial marketing and optimisation of local values. The role of strategic design is also significant.
What I learned from this master is especially important to me because it gave me the new perspective on literature and new knowledge in fields that I did not encounter before. Integration between imagination and design can create added value and all can be related to the territory. The goal of our master has been reached.

Rinascimentica newsletter
RinascimentICA is a newsletter that will represent truly all the stages in the work of this master and its groups. This indispensable mean of communication will be on the web but the last number will appear in printed form. In this way it will be the real evidence of every activity developed by the Master. The task of the students involved in this group is to collaborate with colleagues from Milan in order to create a real source of information and interlocutor of activities developed in this master.

Articles and information work I joined this group because of my natural inclination to writing which I have nourished ever since my student days. The concept of the newsletter was arranged in cooperation with prof.Pizzati and my articles are following:

1. The goal of the Master Distretti Culturali-Impresa Cultura Arte where I analysed all the goals of the master which are directed primarily to the realization of a format of local evaluation that is based on creation of network of experts who, although coming from different disciplinary, professional, social and cultural sectors and experiences will succeed in forming new models of promotion of local values and particularities.
2. Professors and their contribution to this master where I described the subjects discussed during lectures and procedures carried by professors. It was also important to emphasise their effort in creating our projects. 3.The Southern Tuscany where I described the formation and work of this group and its projects.
4.Siena report where I described our visit to Siena cultural district and our itinerary and discussions there.

5. Translations since the coordinator of our groups was ICA Agency it was essential to follow its formation and progress. Together with another colleague I translated the ban of the Tuscan region and this document was the basic foundation for further development of this body because it represents all the functions and authorities of the Agency. Once established, it was important to construct the statute of this organisation and I translated it in Italian language with Lara Radic.

Laboratorio linguistico

In the course of the master, we had a suggestion by professor Pizzati to organize lessons of Italian language for our Moroccan colleagues. The course lasted for four months and it was attended by 9 students. At the end of it all the students acquired knowledge of grammatical and linguistic structures and gained profound ways of communication. I was particularly pleased with their cooperation and the level of perfection in this course. Since I teach at school, I found no problem in developing this project. The goal of this initiative was to facilitate understanding of all the themes discussed in the master and to make students acquainted with the territory and culture of this region.

BIBLIOGRAPHY
1. Clusters and the new economics of competition, Michael E. Porter
2. Industrial districts and inter-firm co-operation in Italy, F. Pyke, G. Becattini, W. Sengenberger
3. Il disretto culturale: mito o opportunità? , Pier Luigi Sacco, Sabrina Pedrini
4. Il marketing territoriale, Matteo G. Caroli-Angeli
5. Italo Calvino, Le città invisibili
6. Frances Mayes, Sotto il sole della Toscana
7. Andrea Rauch, Leggere a tavola Il Tesoro della Cucina Toscana nelle pagine della grande letteratura