By Gerald Lidstone, ENCATC President
As we look beyond 2030, one thing becomes increasingly clear: the future is cultural. The theme of this year’s ENCATC Congress — The Future Is Cultural: Policy, Practice, and Education — captured a crucial moment in our shared work. Around the world, we are confronting intersecting crises: ecological fragility, digital disruption, and political polarisation. Yet amid these challenges, the Congress in Barcelona reminded us of culture’s unique capacity to connect, encourage dialogue, and to reimagine.
ENCATC’s mission has always been to bridge education, research, and practice — not as separate silos, but as interdependent sources of renewal. At the heart of this issue of the ENCATC SCHOLARS you will find examples of this regenerative interplay: how the classroom becomes a laboratory of change, how teaching connects with lived practice, and how research translates into cultural and social transformation.
From the Best Teaching Method Award winners Cleopatra Charles and Margaret Sloan, we learn how the FACE framework reframes evaluation in arts management as a process of reflection and shared learning, making visible the intangible value of the arts. Their approach moves us away from numbers alone and toward understanding meaning, belonging, and joy as legitimate measures of success.
In the article by Carla Figueira and Aimee R. Fullman, we see how regenerative pedagogy can take shape through Case Clinics and Cultural Autobiographies — methods that invite students and practitioners alike to bring vulnerability, reflexivity, and empathy into cultural management education. These are not just techniques; they are ways of rehumanising how we learn and lead.
Likewise, Antonia Silvaggi’s account of the OFFICINA CHANGES initiative shows how interdisciplinary research can be transformed into entrepreneurial and socially responsive practice. Through peer learning and co-design, cultural researchers are equipped to navigate the complex boundaries between academia and society.
Gigi Guizzo’s piece, drawing on the Motivate to Create (M2C) project, situates cultural rights and intersectionality at the core of arts-led social action. It reminds us that culture is not a luxury but a right — and that managing culture is, fundamentally, managing equality and inclusion.
Together, these contributions reflect ENCATC’s broader commitment to nurturing the next generation of cultural professionals who are reflective, ethical, and capable of leading transformation within their communities. They embody the spirit of our Congress, which gathered more than 200 participants from 38 countries to explore how education and policy can respond creatively and responsibly to global challenges.
As I said during the opening of the Congress, the storytellers — artists, educators, researchers, and cultural leaders — are essential to how we make sense of our world. Without them, we would lack not only imagination but the means to understand ourselves and each other. Culture gives us the language, metaphors, and values through which we can engage with issues from artificial intelligence to climate change, from social justice to peacebuilding.
Yet there is also a call to action. In our sector, there is often talk of what they — governments, institutions, or funders — should do. But it is we who must lead. Culture does not wait for permission; it acts, inspires, and persuades. The work showcased in this issue is evidence of that leadership — a collective demonstration of how teaching, research, and practice can co-create futures that are inclusive, equitable, and regenerative.
Let us continue to tell the stories that matter, to nurture learning that transforms, and to build the futures that culture makes possible.
The future is cultural — and it is ours to create.
Gerald Lidstone, ENCATC President
Gerald Lidstone was the Director of the Institute for Creative and Cultural Entrepreneurship at Goldsmiths, University of London and founder of the MA Arts Administration and Cultural Policy and co founder of the MA in Creative and Cultural Entrepreneurship programme and the MA in Cultural Policy, Relations and Diplomacy, the first of a kind worldwide. Previously he was HOD of the Department of Theatre and Performance in Goldsmiths, having originally trained as a scenographic and lighting designer as well as a production manager with extensive design and touring experience in Eastern Europe and the USA. For the British Council and other agencies he has also taught Arts Management courses including, Arts Marketing, Arts Education, Fundraising, Copyright and Strategic Planning in over 20 countries.
