MEAC Pilot Project

Dynamics, Causes and Consequences of Transborder Mobility in the European Arts and Culture

The ERICarts Institute has finalised a pilot project on the dynamics, causes and consequences of the mobility of persons, goods and services in European arts and culture. The project was undertaken 2005-2006 for the European Cultural Foundation (Amsterdam) and its LabforCulture. It includes a list of areas requiring more extensive comparative research.

The conceptual analyses of the pilot project focused mainly on clarifying the phenomena of brain drain, brain gain and brain circulation and classifying their potential causes. Comparative statistics and case studies were used to map the current European policy problems and to develop typologies of the motives, strategies and consequences of artists' mobility and entry restrictions and career restraints of mobile artists in their receiving countries.  They also indicated that there is a need to assess these drains, gains and circulations not only in economic terms (like wins and losses in educational costs), but also in two further respects: first, in terms of their impacts on creativity and the accumulation of intangible assets; and, secondly, in terms of the competitive edge of European culture industries in the global trade arena.

The MEAC pilot project was steered by a scientific committee and its results are reported on by Ilkka Heiskanen, Andreas Wiesand and Danielle Cliche; making up the core responsible team within the ERICarts Institute.  Members of the MEAC scientific committee were Lluís Bonet (Barcelona), Ritva Mitchell (Helsinki), Luca dal Pozzolo (Turin) and Veronika Ratzenböck (Vienna).    

Download:
MEAC Pilot Project Paper
MEAC Case Studies