Cultural heritage is a fundamental asset in contemporary globalised and knowledge-driven economies and is generally regarded as closely related to sustainable development concepts. Despite the financial crisis and the continuous reduction of public subvention for the conservation and valorisation of cultural heritage, the challenge is to find innovative ways to unlock and capture financially the economic potential of cultural and heritage assets, bringing together skills and knowledge, players and institutions, from the public as well as the private sector.
In the framework of a STAREBEI research, the EIB Institute and the Sorbonne University, organised a workshop on March 31st, 2014, at the Sorbonne Economic Center in Paris, which focused on:
- analysing the typologies of Unesco sites in Europe and for each of them identifying specific cultural goods and activities that can be sustained in part through financial mechanisms that can capture generated value and remunerate – although not necessarily at market rates- investors, and
- comparing a limited number of case studies where new financial instruments have been implemented to support identified cultural goods and activities, with a particular attention to self-sustaining revolving instruments as opposed or in addition to, grants or sponsorships.
These two objectives are the complementary components of the STAREBEI study methodology and the meeting was the occasion to share, discuss and validate it.
The agenda of the workshop can be found here. To see the presentations follow the links below.
Designing Investment Funds for UNESCO sites: demand, governance and structure, Gianni Carbonaro, EIB, Xavier Greffe and Francesca Cominelli, University Paris 1 Panthéon Sorbonne
Unesco World Heritage Fund, Vincent Defourny, Director, Unesco
The 7 Most Endangered List: Rescue Action Plans (Europa Nostra), Guy Clausse, EIB Institute
The Architectural Heritage Fund and HIWG, Ian Lush, Chief Executive, The Architectural Heritage Fund
The Prince’s Regeneration Trust, Ros Kerslake, Chief Executive, The Prince’s Regeneration Trust
Urban growth, infrastructure investment and cultural heritage: Lamu port-city, Francesca Medda, UCL Quantitative and Applied Spatial Economic Research Laboratory
Public and private cooperation for the rehabilitation of historic centers: the experience of Incité / Bordeaux, Jean-Noël Galvan, Director, Incité
