Toolkitty is a resource created at the end of the Timișoara 2023 – European Capital of Culture, when the concern for what remains and the reflection of what could have been done better to ensure more continuity to the good works achieved was present. Raluca Iacob worked with Alex Boca, one of the curators of the Cultural Management Academy 2023, and together with designer Andreea Băban, they created this booklet.
It is a funny, yet serious, guide for cultural managers that are too consumed to read yet another publication that would tell them they can be better at what they do, but would likely rather indulge in cat puns and concise insights. Also, the authors really believe cats and cultural managers have a lot in common!
- What I Wish I Knew Sooner introduces practical concepts for cultural managers involved in an ECoC programme.
- What Everyone Gets To Know presents some collective takeaways from the ECoC programme.
- Paw-sitive Planning introduces a timeline for a minimalistic structured planning of cultural work, from immediate tasks to long-term goals.
- Questions to Keep Asking proposes some reflections to expand your managerial insights through learning about the self.
- Opposing Forces Which Work Together puts forward some dilemmas that can spark reflection in cultural management.
- Exercises and ideas train the awareness muscles, asking how you can better align your needs, wants and abilities in your work.
- What’s going on questions what can continue to have a positive impact after the ECoC program ends, and thus would make most sense to be sustained to continue.
Toolkitty is based on the Cultural Management Academy 2023 edition, and the experience of the authors with cultural projects, both as independents and in the frame of European Capital of Culture. CMA 2023 is a project by EUNIC Romania in partnership with EUNIC Greece, EUNIC Hungary and the European Capitals of Culture 2023: Timișoara (Romania), Elefsina/Eleusis (Greece) and Veszprém-Balaton (Hungary). EUNIC – European Union National Institutes for Culture – is Europe’s network of national cultural institutes and organisations, with 36 members from all 27 EU member states.