City in (policy) dialogues: Valencia and Jerez de la Frontera

In the coming months, Valencia, like the other MESOC pilot cities, will organise the “Policy Dialogues” workshop involving experts and local stakeholders to discuss in depth the main project outcomes and further develop the concept of transmission variables and their connected indicators. The Policy Dialogues pretend to validate the set of key variables and identify recurring dynamics in order to consolidate the knowledge on impact transmission pathways. 
On this occasion, Econcult will bring together the stakeholders of two cities developing their cultural policy based on the MESOC project approach, Valencia and Jerez de la Frontera.

Over the past few months, Econcult has collaborated with the Valencian Regional Secretary for Culture to develop the new strategic cultural plan inspired by the MESOC project. The proposal plans a set of extractive actions to strengthen the Valencian cultural ecosystem, aimed at the social, economic and territorial transformation of culture. The plan of action is built on three strategic dimensions: the health and well-being of citizens, social inclusion and the economic activity of culture. 

Meanwhile, Jerez is developing a strategic plan for culture and creativity, adopting an integral perspective of cultural transformation, including social aspects like health and well-being. The plan adopts a particular understanding of the concept of culture as a single strong potential cross-cutting system to give rise to more sophisticated development formulae concerning individual, social, economic and urban territorial development.

The workshop will bring together policymakers, top/middle managers in charge of culture at the city level and different stakeholders active in the cultural sector and the health and well-being impact from both the cities. The dialogue between them will be fruitful to better understand critical local dynamics and impact generation mechanisms.