The goal of the project is to develop a new proposal of theater education and activities based on democratic, common and team principles (sometimes far from the traditional teaching model), responding to dynamic social transformations and changing working conditions in culture, also taking into account transformations that will take place in the theater environment after a pandemic of COVID-19. The assumptions of the project result of the thinking that conviction overlapping now crises of the ecosystem, the economy, the public sphere, social trust and solidarity affecting the entire European community with varying intensity, put specific obligations on culture and its leaders. Our answer cannot only consist of minimizing losses, but should be a constructive vision of building a new, open and democratic community and regenerating the public sphere. The partners of the project are: Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, Justus Liebig University Giessen, Conservatoire National Supérieur d'Art Dramatique. We will also cooperate with The Institute of Performative Arts in Maastricht, Studio Theatre, Powszechny Theatre, Nowy Theatre, Komuna Warszawa. Implemented in cooperation with European universities and theaters the project takes into account the most important areas that need to be changed and it's based on the synergy effect: exchange of good practices and mutual learning of all partners, each of which brings different elements of innovation, already developed and tested successfully at home universities and in institutions cooperating with them. We would like to develop a new education proposal in four basic dimensions: 1) a new theater production model and institutional transformation, 2) development of constructive feedback methodology supporting artistic self-development, 3) prevention of discrimination and strengthening of diversity, 4) prevention of harassment and abuse of power against students and work on changing awareness and social practices in this area. Project participants are both students and lecturers of the schools participating in the project, as well as outsiders: highly qualified theater practitioners, people open to social and cultural changes, aware scientific creators with integrated humanities tools and key competences that can allow developing of new models of communication and cooperation, shaping a new language for describing reality and rebuilding the logic of culture, verifying the primacy of productivity, competition and individuality for the purpose of valuing cooperation, solidarity, and striving to empower all entities involved in its creation and reception. Those goals will be achieved through a series of integrated actions, serving both the entire theater community and all participants of culture. The final project results will be:1.Setting up an international recruitment and selecting 16 participants of the masterclass course heads up by experts from AT and partners.2.Realization, production, exploitation and documentation of 4 performances staged by selected participants of the masterclass in Warsaw theaters.3.Realization, production, exploitation and documentation of small theatrical forms created by other participants, which will inculde the context of cultural ecology and possible to production in Europe struggling with the pandemic and its consequences.4.Organizing 4 open conferences combined with practical workshops for people participating in the project.5.Development of a new, democratic and team theater education proposal based on constructive feedback and equality measures, taking into account social and economic changes after / during the pandemic of COVID-19.6.Proposing new principles for cultural workers at European level, constituting a constructive vision of building a new, open and democratic community and regenerating the public sphere.7.Introduction (and refinement of existing) regular training in the new assessment method for lecturers in at least 4 European schools8.Introduction (and refinement of existing) regular training for students in the field of anti-discrimination, student rights, the possibility of obtaining assistance in problematic situations in at least 4 European schools9. Preparation, production and publication of two project books in English (online access) summarizing the entire project (including workshops and research part) also taking into part a set of proposed guidelines related to the procedure for implementing the new methodology for working with students.

Conservatoires are places of outstanding training excellence, in intense interaction with the national and international labour market, through the recruitment of highly qualified teacher-artists. They enjoy means that give them the possibility to carry out innovative actions, in connection with a research dimension on the one hand, and with the evolutions of the profession on the other hand. Their aesthetic and pedagogical choices reflect a strategic vision of the profession that the students graduating from these schools will then disseminate in the industry, of which they are often high-profile participants, and where they frequently work themselves as trainers, with other professionals, school and university teachers, or amateurs.The six conservatoires and superior schools of theatre involved in this project and operating in five European countries (France, Germany, Poland, Spain and Scotland) are aware of the various challenges this situation involves. They are constantly trying to open up to the diversity and the whole range of audiences in vocational training, and to adapt their courses to the cultural and economic changes in the sector, while taking into account major social issues, particularly from the point of view of the inclusion of disadvantaged audiences. Five of these schools are also members of the EUTSA network, where their dynamism and willingness to get involved in Europeanisation and international cooperation is reflected in their presence on the steering committee, where they were elected in 2016.However, the initial vocational training provided in these institutions is still very much marked by a more than century-old, national and monolingual teaching model. It needs to evolve, in particular by integrating a transnational and multilingual dimension, and thus contribute to supporting the internationalisation of the sector, which is desired by the stakeholders and the supervisory authorities, of training and vocational provision as a whole. This observation, shared by these schools and conservatoires, was further developed and quantified in a dialogue with a pair of researchers who are the authors of the attached study (ANNEX 1). Its main conclusions were shared in the course of intensive exchanges with several artistic and professional organisations in the performing arts and cultural diplomacy, especially focusing on issues of linguistic diversity and transnational cultural cooperation. All of these actors share the conviction that internationalisation, and in particular the increased mobility of professionals in Europe, supported by the introduction of multilingualism and cross-cultural skills, is a very relevant response to the economic and societal challenges that these schools, and the whole professional sector, are facing today.The overall objective of the project is therefore to strengthen transnational cooperation in order to create the conditions for a true European integration in the professional field of theatre. Which will be done through:-the development of training contents and skills (in particular language skills) which students and professionals in the sector need in order to be able to develop their professional life at a European/international level;-the pooling of practices, pedagogical and artistic approaches, and heritages, with a view to developing shared education and training programmes for professionals in the performing arts within schools and in particular via a dedicated platform E:UTSA Online Academie;-strengthening the mobility of European actors and directors, by acting on both the supply side (development of skills) and the demand side (creation of new opportunities for transnational collaboration).The target groups are:Current and recently graduated students, educators, relevant staff, associated artists and researchers in schools.Active members and users (artists, researchers, volunteers), staff (artistic direction, partnerships and international development) of partner arts organisations.Educators, users, audiences and relevant staff (cultural cooperation, language teaching) of cultural institutes.Trainers and users, national vocational training agencies.The whole sector and in particular actors and directors wishing to develop their activity internationally, production and distribution venues whose activity requires knowledge of the different European professional contexts, deaf artists, theatre or dance companies integrating sign languages.

The ‘Modernising European Higher Music Education through Improvisation - METRIC’ project wants to contribute to improving the employability of future music graduates through the artistic, pedagogical and entrepreneurial development of higher music education studies in the area of improvisation as a response to the rapidly changing employment situation in the music profession. In performance curricula of higher music education institutions all over the world, improvisation training is increasingly seen as a crucial component because of the following reasons: - Changes in the role of music in society lead to rapid developments in the music profession. The increased interest in a variety of musical styles by music listeners and a decrease of state support to arts generally are characterise these developments. The future music profession needs musicians that are flexible in working methods, musical styles and able to work in different professional contexts. Improvisation is seen as a significant skill in the music profession, giving the musicians better opportunities for finding jobs in a wider spectrum of music styles and contexts as artists, teachers and community musicians. - Improvisation is seen as a crucial pedagogical tool for the training of transversal skills, which are fundamental for future musicians. Reflective attitude, peer-learning and team working are basic principles for improvisation practice and these are exactly the skills that will support the musicians to prepare themselves to be reflective participants in their portfolio careers. Therefore improvisation is a vital tool for modernizing higher education in the area of classical music. To support this, strong courses on improvisation need to be developed in higher music education institutions. The project brought together students, teachers and leading experts from different musical backgrounds in 14 European higher music education institutions to develop new and effective approaches and methods on the teaching of improvisation, both from an artistic and pedagogical as well as a professional integration point of view. The teaching staff was updated or re-trained with information on innovative teaching and learning methods, leading to higher quality teaching. This resulted in an increased awareness and understanding of the potential of improvisation in the participating institutions and, through a set of targeted dissemination activities, the higher music education sector at large. Eventually, this will lead to improved employment opportunities for future music students. The project implemented the following activities: 1. A series of working group meetings twice a year to develop intellectual outputs in the form of new teaching and learning (online), and assessment methodologies in improvisation. 2. The organisation of 4 Intensive Study Programmes (ISPs) where students and teachers met around specific themes. The role of these ISPs was be central to the developmental function of the project, as they further helped develop and test the intellectual outputs developed in the working groups. 3. A joint staff training event for teachers took place in the first year of the project where different groups of teachers addressed new teaching and learning (online) methodologies and assessment approaches and compared international standards of educational and artistic outcomes. Teaching staff was also trained to become international external examiners for assessments in improvisation. 4. The development of joint European Modules in Improvisation through a series of working group meetings. These joint European Modules ensured that the expertise available in the partner institutions would be pooled into a programme of the highest educational and artistic quality, and provide future sustainability to the activities through a structured future use of ERASMUS+ KA1 funding. 5. A Final Conference to disseminate the project results to a wider audience of interest groups and to enhance the sustainability of the project results. The participant institutions are all leading music higher education institutions in Europe, making the impact of the project most notable.Through the involvement of the European Association of Conservatoires (AEC) representing around 300 institutions worldwide, the progress and results of the partnership was and is being widely disseminated as a model of curricular innovation through cross-border cooperation and expected to have a wide impact on the higher music education sector at large.The project created a stronger network of professionals in a higher music education sector, making it possible to implement new approaches to music teaching and learning through improvisation. The project developments enhance the institutionalisation of the participating institutions and the developed intellectual outputs are public and accessible to anyone interested in the developments of improvisation teaching/leanring.

"The project focuses on a specific area of higher music education within the jazz genre, larger jazz ensembles. At the same time, it aims at establishing better links between jazz education and working life.Ensemble training is increasingly seen as an important pedagogical tool for the training of transversal skills vital for the musician in the 21st century: team working, peer-learning and reflective practice are essential principles, which will support musicians to prepare themselves to be reflective practitioners in their future portfolio careers. It is an important objective to explore the didactic possibilities of working with large ensembles in an educational context in jazz performance study programmes, just as different formats of large ensembles play a very important role in music education within the classical music genre. At the same time, it is important to revitalize the large jazz ensemble format by challenging the traditional big band format. The financial challenges classical and jazz ensembles and institutions are facing creates a window of opportunity for innovation when it comes to the music itself as well as the relationship between the various stakeholders and the audience.The project will lay the groundwork for the provision of a sustainable platform for mobility an learning that doesn’t exist today . The project will also develop study programmes for conductors for large ensembles within the jazz genre. This is relevant both for dedicated jazz ensembles and for the many classical ensembles (eg symphony orchestras) that let different forms of ""rhythmic repertoire"" become an increasingly larger part of their activities. As far as the involved project partners know, there is no conductor education aimed at this type of repertoire anywhere in the world.The objectives of the project is to:- Establish sustainable collaboration between the partners in the areas developed through the project- Explore new didactic opportunities and methodologies through work with large jazz ensembles in the education of future jazz musicians- Explore and establish relevant blended learning methods for future collaboration between the partners- Develop closer collaboration between jazz education and the labour market, represented by important jazz festivals, in order to improve working life relevance of the education and the students' entrepreneurial skills.- Develop new repertoire for large jazz ensembles- Contribute to the revitalization of the role large jazz ensembles have on the professional music and art scene- Develop and launch specialized conductor education aimed at jazz and other rhythmic genres.During the project the following number of persons will be directly involved:-100 jazz performance students involved in Intensive Programmes -10 conductor students Intensive Programmes -5 teachers from higher music education and 5 managers/producers from jazz festivals in Working Group 1. -5 teachers from higher music education in Working group 2-10 leaders/managers from higher music education institutions and jazz festivals in the steering group-Administrative and support staff in all partner institutions. The objectives of the project will be achieved through a combination of several activities, two working groups that will work with specific topics and several intensive programmes for students and teachers, exploring and developing new methodologies and new music for large jazz ensembles.The results of the project will be presented on the project's web site and in a conference at the end of the project. The musical result will also be presented by student ensembles participating in the project at five concerts at five different European jazz festivals.The consortium behind the project believes the project has the potential to lead to significant development of methods and content in jazz education at all educational levels in the partner institutions and in other higher music education institutions"

Our research project is concerned with the economic and cultural value of the visual arts in both market and non-market terms: - Value to artists (including emerging artists, existing and up-market artists, art college students, artists of future generations) - Value to consumers as buyers or gallery visitors - Value to the platform provider, including the gallery, curators, programmers - Value to the community and other stakeholder groups Previously, the visual arts have largely been investigated from instrumental rather than intrinsic perspectives and our proposed research will adopt both qualitative and quantitative approaches so that both tangible and intangible dimensions can be acknowledged and understood more clearly. By undertaking a case study, we investigate several dimensions of value created by the RSA New Contemporaries Exhibition as a Platform for Emerging Artists. The RSA mission is to promote and support the creation, understanding and enjoyment of the visual arts through all-year programme of exhibitions and events. The Exhibition has particular importance as a way for newly graduating art students to commence a career in the visual arts. Each individual artist places a certain value on their work. This value can be viewed in both financial and non-financial terms. In addition, the visitors to, and the organisers of the exhibition will also have certain views on the value of the art work being exhibited as well as the exhibition itself. Our research aims to understand how this value is both shaped and understood by those involving parties of the exhibition. This cultural value, as well as economic value, is also of importance to art investors, as well as the RSA in terms of contributing towards its reputation. With a particular intention to enhance and enrich the existing cultural valuation methods applied by policy makers and economists, we will use a variety of techniques to identify and measure the cultural value associated with the RSA New Contemporaries exhibition. First of all, we apply a non-economic perspective in placing the experience of the individual at the centre of our evaluation. We will examine how emerging artists set their initial benchmarking price, given that there is no historical value of their own work as a reference point and how important this particular exhibition and role of cultural institutions are for them. A series of focus groups will be undertaken to gain insights from value creators and recipients. In-depth interviews will be mostly undertaken with practitioners and professionals. The gatekeepers are representative of a particular social sector, and their valuation approach will add further insights. Secondly, to evaluate how individuals perceive cultural value, we employ a behavioural economics approach, taking account of psychological effects. Based on the propositions of Prospect Theory Kahneman and Tversky, we will apply a randomised controlled trial (RCT) to a Contingent Valuation (CV) approach based on willingness-to-pay model. We will use the survey with gallery visitors and broader stakeholder groups to see whether the stated preference from individuals varies depending on the manner in which the questions are presented. Thirdly, the interpretation of our findings will adopt holistic approaches from compatibility and interdisciplinary viewpoints including auditors, investors, marketers and psychologists. In addition, we will use a number of accounting measurement methods to ensure that the process of data analysis is rigorous. We envisage that the findings from our research will influence other supporting organisations throughout the United Kingdom to adopt a similar approach to assisting career development. We believe that our findings can help Government and other public bodies to better understand how the arts in general are central to cultural value creation, with creativity and innovation being important drivers of successful practice.