By Gigi Guizzo, Senior Development Manager, Rinova, Spain
Introduction: A Personal Trajectory into Cultural Rights
Over the past two decades, I have had the privilege of working across different European countries on initiatives that connect the arts with education, social action, and community development. My professional path has taken me from local programmes in neighbourhood cultural centres to large-scale EU-funded initiatives. What unites these experiences is a conviction that culture is not a luxury or an optional extra, but a fundamental right that shapes how people see themselves, their communities, and their place in society.
Working alongside communities—often those facing overlapping forms of exclusion—I have also learned that culture cannot be understood without an intersectional lens. Gender, class, ethnicity, disability, age, and many other factors intersect to shape who has access to cultural spaces, whose voices are heard, and whose creativity is valued. This article grows out of that trajectory. It draws on my previous reflections in research and practice, including work with local community cultural facilities (Baltà; Guizzo and Mestres, 2023), on the IgualtatsConnect project (IgualtatsConnect, 2022), and most recently through the Motivate To Create (M2C) project (Motivate To Create, 2023). Together, these experiences have sharpened my belief that cultural rights and intersectionality must be at the heart of cultural management.
Connecting Disciplines: Intersectionality and Cultural Management
The concept of intersectionality, originally developed within feminist legal theory and sociology, has become an essential analytical tool across the social sciences for understanding how different axes of inequality overlap and reinforce each other. Applying this lens to cultural management offers a valuable way to reveal how barriers to cultural participation are not experienced in isolation but interact across gender, ethnicity, class, age, and ability.
In our co-authored article Incorporating an intersectional perspective into local community cultural facilities: identifying priority areas (Baltà; Guizzo and Mestres, 2023), we explored how this analytical framework could be applied to the governance and programming of local cultural infrastructures. The study identified key areas where facilities could adapt to better respond to overlapping inequalities, demonstrating how theoretical insights from social sciences can translate into practical guidance for cultural policy and management.
A further example is provided by the EU-funded IgualtatsConnect project, led by Terrassa City Council with academic support from the University of Vic. The partnership produced a toolkit, reflective materials, and video resources to help municipalities and cultural managers apply intersectional thinking in practice (IgualtatsConnect, 2022). Its outputs illustrate how cooperation between local government, academic research, and community practitioners can generate tools that are accessible, applicable, and scalable across contexts.
Taken together, these examples underline the importance of positioning cultural management within a wider interdisciplinary dialogue. By drawing on theories and methods from the social sciences and equality studies, cultural managers can not only recognise inequalities more effectively but also design strategies that address them through cultural rights frameworks.
The M2C project: A Transnational Approach
The Motivate To Create (M2C) initiative was conceived as a response to the growing recognition that cultural rights must be activated through practice, not only upheld in policy frameworks. Designed by Rinova and co-funded through the European Union Erasmus+ programme, M2C brought together six partner organisations across five European countries—Spain, the United Kingdom, Croatia, Italy, and Slovakia. The consortium included cultural organisations, training providers, and community development bodies, each contributing distinct expertise while working toward a shared vision: to bridge community-based art practices with social action activities that advance cultural rights (Motivate To Create, 2023).
At its core, M2C addressed the need to equip cultural managers, facilitators, and educators with practical methodologies to design and deliver arts-led interventions that could tackle local social challenges. The transnational structure of the partnership was essential in this regard. It allowed for the exchange of practices across diverse socio-political contexts, fostering dialogue between Western and Eastern European perspectives, as well as between urban and more peripheral community realities. This diversity enriched the results, ensuring that the methodologies developed were not overly specific to a single cultural context but instead adaptable across multiple environments.
The partnership also responded to the wider European agenda on social inclusion and lifelong learning. By embedding cultural rights into non-formal adult education, M2C positioned arts-led practice as a tool not only for creative expression but also for civic participation and empowerment. This was particularly significant at a time when cultural institutions are increasingly called upon to demonstrate their contribution to social cohesion and to respond to intersecting inequalities within their communities.
Therefore, the M2C project sought to go beyond producing abstract guidelines. Its aim was to co-develop and test resources directly with practitioners and community groups, ensuring that they reflected the lived experiences of those engaged in arts-led social action. The result was a set of methodological, digital, and hands-on materials designed for immediate use in community development and cultural work.
Methodological Concept: Arts-led Social Action
At the heart of the M2C initiative lies its Methodological Concept, a model designed to guide the development of Social Action Projects (SAPs). These activities combine community-based artistic practice with collective reflection and action, enabling communities to address shared challenges through creative expression. Rather than treating the arts as a symbolic activity, the concept positions them as a driver of social change, capable of activating cultural rights in tangible, everyday ways.
The methodology rests on three key principles:
- Participation and co-creation – cultural programmes are not delivered “to” communities but are developed with them, valuing the contributions and creativity of all participants.
- Intersectionality as practice – facilitators are encouraged to identify overlapping inequalities and design processes that create space for marginalised voices to be heard.
- Action orientation – arts-led collaborations are not an end in themselves but are linked to broader social goals, whether strengthening local networks, addressing community tensions, or amplifying underrepresented narratives.
The methodological guidelines provide facilitators with structured yet flexible methods to design SAPs. For instance, the model encourages practitioners to begin by mapping community needs and potential barriers to participation, then selecting artistic approaches that are inclusive and context-sensitive. Reflection is built into every stage, ensuring that both facilitators and participants can critically assess not only artistic outputs but also their social impact.
Importantly, the methodology situates cultural rights at the centre of its practice. It recognises that access to culture is not merely about attendance at events or use of facilities but about the ability to participate meaningfully in cultural life. By embedding this principle, the M2C approach extends cultural management beyond programming and resource allocation, toward an engagement model rooted in empowerment and equity.
Through this concept, M2C demonstrates how cultural managers and educators can operationalise complex theoretical perspectives—such as cultural rights and intersectionality—into applied interventions that strengthen social cohesion and community resilience.
Tools for Practice
A distinctive contribution of the M2C initiative is the range of applied resources it developed to support facilitators, educators, and cultural managers in putting the methodological concept into practice. These were designed with accessibility and adaptability in mind, ensuring that they could be used across diverse cultural and community contexts (Motivate To Create, 2023).
Rather than static courses, the online learning modules are designed as flexible tools, freely available in English, Spanish, Italian, Croatian, and Slovak. They cover three thematic areas:
- Frameworks for Engagement: strategies for initiating and sustaining inclusive community participation.
- Leadership for Social Change: skills and approaches for facilitators to guide arts-led interventions with confidence and sensitivity.
- Reflective Learning: methods for embedding critical reflection throughout the process, enabling both facilitators and participants to evaluate outcomes and adapt practices.
Complementing the digital modules is the Pocket Guide, a concise, hands-on resource tailored for use in the field. It offers practical methods for managing group dynamics, fostering inclusivity, and structuring arts-led action. The guide is particularly aimed at practitioners who may not have extensive prior experience in cultural rights frameworks but are looking for straightforward techniques to enhance their community work (Motivate To Create, 2023).
Together, these resources reflect M2C’s commitment to making intersectional and rights-based strategies both understandable and usable. They provide facilitators with immediate, adaptable materials to navigate the complexities of community-based cultural actions. By lowering barriers to access, the initiative ensures that cultural rights and intersectionality do not remain theoretical concepts but become everyday practices in the field.
From Theory to Practice: Contribution to Cultural Management
The M2C initiative shows how cultural management can move from theory to practice by grounding its methodology in cultural rights and intersectionality. Its accessible resources translate complex concepts into the daily work of communities across different contexts and languages.
This contribution is particularly relevant to ongoing debates in the field of cultural management, where there is increasing demand for evidence of the intangible value of the arts. Cultural rights perspectives provide a way to articulate this value beyond economic metrics, focusing instead on inclusion, empowerment, and democratic participation. M2C offers a tangible example that cultural managers can point to when asked how these principles can be enacted in real settings.
At the same time, the collaboration highlights the importance of interdisciplinary exchange. By drawing on insights from sociology, gender studies, and community development, M2C strengthens cultural practice with perspectives that are often underutilised in arts management. This approach not only enriches practice but also opens new avenues for policy-making, where cultural institutions can be positioned as actors in social innovation and cohesion.
M2C therefore contributes to the broader cultural policy discourse by showing how community arts-based collaborations can activate social change, particularly in marginalised communities. It suggests that the role of cultural managers is not limited to curation or administration but extends to facilitating spaces where cultural rights are lived and expanded.
Reflections and Questions for Debate
Looking back on M2C, I find myself returning to some of the same questions I have grappled with in earlier collaborations and publications. One of the most persistent issues is sustainability. EU-funded programmes like M2C create space for innovation and experimentation, but what happens once the funding ends? In earlier work, I reflected on the risk that intersectionality can remain confined to time-limited projects unless it is embedded structurally into cultural policy and practice (Guizzo and Alldred, 2024). The experience of M2C has only reinforced this concern. While the partnership generated valuable methodologies and resources, ensuring that these approaches continue to shape practice requires longer-term commitments from institutions and policymakers.
Another recurring challenge is local adaptation. Working across five countries was enormously enriching; it brought fresh perspectives and revealed common ground. Yet I also observed how easily a transnational framework can feel distant from local realities if not carefully mediated. Each community holds its own histories, priorities, and social dynamics, which means any model—no matter how flexible—must be translated into the language of place. This has reminded me that cultural managers are not just facilitators of process, but also translators between structures and lived experience.
Finally, there is the issue of measurement. Over the years, I have often been asked: how do we capture the impact of arts-led interventions in ways that go beyond numbers? M2C provided practical guidance for facilitators, yet I am still left asking how we can better articulate the intangible value of empowerment, belonging, or the sense of being recognised as a cultural subject. This tension remains unresolved, but it is also one of the reasons why this work feels both urgent and alive.
From these reflections, I would like to leave readers with some open questions:
- How can we move intersectionality beyond temporary collaborations and embed it as a structural principle in cultural policy and institutions?
- What strategies might help sustain arts-led social action once initial funding is gone?
- And how can we, as a field, develop ways of recognising the intangible value of cultural participation without reducing it to simplified metrics?
These are questions I continue to reflect on, and I hope they will also resonate with others working at the intersection of cultural rights, community practice, and social change.
Final Reflections
To me, the M2C initiative demonstrates that cultural rights and intersectionality are not abstract ideals but practical frameworks that can shape everyday cultural practice. By combining community arts with social engagement, and by producing resources that are freely accessible and adaptable, M2C offers a model that cultural managers, educators, and community practitioners can draw on in diverse contexts.
Yet, M2C has reminded me that advancing cultural rights is an ongoing process. It requires sustained reflection, collaboration across disciplines, and a willingness to address the complexities of inequality in cultural life. Programmes may come and go, but the principles they advance can continue to inform practice if they are taken up by institutions, policies, and—above all—by practitioners working closely with communities.
Looking ahead, I see opportunities for cultural management to further embrace this intersectional and rights-based perspective. Doing so can strengthen the sector’s contribution not only to culture itself but also to broader goals of social justice, inclusion, and democratic participation.
Image index
Photo 1. Arts-led community workshop in Barcelona, Motivate To Create (M2C) project. © M2C partnership, 2023. https://www.motivatetocreate.eu/training-days-barcelona/ (Accessed: 5 September 2025).
Photo 2. Urbani Separe consultation in Rijeka, Croatia, Motivate To Create (M2C) project. © M2C partnership, 2023. https://www.motivatetocreate.eu/local-consultations-topic-arts-led-sap-croatia/ (Accessed: 5 September 2025).
Photo 3. Community engagement artist tour in Rijeka, Croatia, organised by Urbani Separe,, Motivate To Create (M2C) project. © M2C partnership, 2023. https://www.motivatetocreate.eu/motivate2create-introduction/ (Accessed: 5 September 2025).
References
BALTÀ, J.; GUIZZO, G. and MESTRES, A. (2023) Incorporating an intersectional perspective into local community cultural facilities: identifying priority areas. Debats. Journal on Culture, Power and Society, 7, 173–188. Available at: https://revistadebats.net/article/view/5518 (Accessed: 30 August 2025).
GUIZZO, G. and ALLDRED, P. (2024) Tackling Gender-Related Violence: How Can Theory Inform International Professional Education Collaborations? Social Sciences, 13 (1), 61. https://doi.org/10.3390/socsci13010061
MOTIVATE TO CREATE (M2C) (2023) Motivate To Create website. Available at: https://www.motivatetocreate.eu (Accessed: 30 August 2025).
MOTIVATE TO CREATE (M2C) (2023) M2C Learning Resources. Available at: https://www.motivatetocreate.eu/results/ (Accessed: 30 August 2025).
IGUALTATSCONNECT (2022) Toolkit and resources. Available at: https://igualtatsconnect.cat/en/toolkit/ (Accessed: 30 April 2025).
Gigi Guizzo, Senior Development Manager, Rinova, Spain
Gigi Guizzo is Senior Development Manager at Rinova (https://rinova.es/), based in Barcelona, Spain. She holds a degree in History of Art and an MA in Cultural Memory. Over the past two decades, she has held diverse management roles in museums, cultural centres, EU collaborations, and the creative industries. Her expertise includes intercultural partnerships, with a strong focus on applying intersectional perspectives in fundamental rights programmes and cultural management. She has worked extensively on programmes and initiatives addressing LGBTQI+ and gender equality, environmental justice, and tackling cyber-discrimination. Fluent in six languages, she brings an international outlook shaped by living and working across different countries. Alongside her professional practice, she is interested in artistic creation, intangible cultural heritage, cultural memories, and placemaking through community engagement, and is committed to advancing cultural rights and practice as drivers for inclusive and democratic societies.
