Tourism Research Centre delivers Festival Academy for British Council in Western Balkans
The Tourism Research Centre at Edinburgh Napier has excellent working relationship with the British Council, the United Kingdom’s international organisation for cultural relations and educational opportunities.
In February 2025, Professor Jane Ali-Knight travelled to Belgrade, to lead a week-long Festival Academy, working with festival organisations from across the Western Balkans under the European Union funded project “Culture and Creativity for the Western Balkans” (CC4WBs) that aims to foster dialogue in the Western Balkans by enhancing the cultural and creative sectors for increased socio-economic impact.
“The week was definitely momentous, as festival professionals joined from all over the region to discuss key opportunities and challenges, they face collectively,” explains Jane. “This was a highly engaged audience, who listened to sessions from festival and cultural experts from the UK, and from across the region. Each session sparked fantastic discussion and debate, and we owe a huge thanks to British Council for making this event happen.”
The Festival Academy ran from 3 to 5 February and explored issues including:
- business models
- sustainability for festivals and festival organisations
- festival logistics
- festival marketing and digital technologies
- financing, budgeting and risk management
- audience development
- sponsorship
- EU collaboration
With Professor Ali-Knight joined by Dr Gary Kerr, a visiting Professor at the Edinburgh Napier Tourism Research Centre, and local experts, the collaborative approach ensured that ideas from the latest research were effectively contextualised for the Western Balkans.
The sessions benefitted from the co-creation of content, ensuring each session was highly specific and effective for the local organisations participating, which was crucial to reflect the legislative framework in the region. “That breadth of expertise was invaluable in identifying what is feasible within the Western Balkan setting”, added Jane. “The exchange of experience and examples from the UK, EU, and Western Balkans provided a comparative perspective, which truly enhanced the depth and relevance of all the sessions.”
Following the Festival Academy, British Council teamed up with the UNESCO and collaboratively hosted a networking day on 6 February, which focused on cultural leadership for inclusive growth, and cultural governance and inclusion, before culminating in a ‘World Café’, which explored challenges and opportunities for festivals in the Western Balkans. This event gathered different CC4WBs streams beneficiaries, bringing together industry professionals and creative minds from the Western Balkans to share ideas, spark innovation, and strengthen collaboration in the festival and cultural sectors.