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Jordi Pardo takes over Segimon Borràs as president of Cercle de Cultura

Jordi Pardo is the new president of the Cercle de Cultura, replacing the hitherto president Segimon Borràs, who ends his term at the head of the entity. Pardo, who served as vice president in the previous Board, headed the only candidacy that had been presented.

Jordi Pardo has a degree in Geography and History, UB; FGAP and EMPA by ESADE, and cultural manager. Since September 2013 he has been the general director of the Pau Casals Foundation. He has directed and advised projects of culture, development and urban regeneration in different countries of Europe, America and Asia. He has been director of the Barcelona Design Museum Project, manager of the CCCB, and director of the Empúries Archaeological Park. He has been a member of the UNESCO expert group (2011-2015), and of the European Commission’s Cultural Capitals of Europe jury (2011-2016).

The new board is made up of the vice-presidents Eva Faustino, Jordi González Moltó and Segimon Borràs, Agustín Fructuoso who continues as Treasurer / Secretary, and the members who were already part of the previous Board, Laura Bertran, Montserrat Bou, Belén Latorre, Esteve León , Alfons Martinell, Marta Puigderrajols, Fèlix Riera, M. Ángeles Torras and Ferran Audí. And Jordi Montaña, Miguel Ángel Barrabés, Mireia Mayolas, Pau Carrió and Carmen Fenoll join.

The outgoing president has highly valued his four years at the helm of the Cercle de Cultura, which he has defined as “a place for reflection and cross-sectional exchange of ideas, both from an ideological and sectoral point of view, especially in the relationship between economy and culture. , highlighting everything that culture contributes to the economy “. During his mandate, the Culture 2020 Forum has been promoted, coordinated by Jordi Pardo, the relationship with the Cercle de Economia has been maintained and an Action and Governance Plan has been drawn up, on the organization and participation of the entity’s partners .

The new president has shown his satisfaction and enthusiasm to continue working in a plural, independent and diverse space, which can help improve and raise awareness of the various sectors of culture. Pardo thanked Segimon Borràs and the entire board for their trust and the task of joining forces, and wanted to highlight the fact that during the last year of his mandate he had to face a situation as difficult as the pandemic. Regarding the objectives of the new mandate, Pardo sets himself as a challenge to join forces, connect the Cercle with other initiatives with which they share objectives, and strengthen the role of the Cercle in the debate on governance and public and private management of culture and culture. in relation to the economy.

Objectives of the new board of directors

In this sense, during the Assembly, the new Board has developed these objectives of the mandate, ensuring the will to work to make visible the task and the stable programming of the Cercle de Cultura, thinking of its partners and of all the sectors of the culture, in order to become a plural and independent space that represents artists, creators, mediators, professionals and representatives of the private business sector, professionals from the public sector and community work and the third sector.

It has also been set as a challenge of this new stage to strengthen ties and cooperation with the Cercle de Economía, with various initiatives, and especially with the organization every two years of the Congress of Culture and Economy, and place the Cercle as a meeting point with other similar institutions of the Spanish State and the European Union, open to international initiatives and especially from the Ibero-American sphere.

Likewise, the new Board of the Cercle has announced that the main elements of the new programming, framed in the Strategic Plan drawn up in 2020, should be the launching of the Cultural Barometer, the organization of the “Culture and Economy” conferences, of a nature biannual and in collaboration with the Cercle de Economía and other institutions, as well as promoting conferences and round tables on topics of high interest in the field of governance of large infrastructures and cultural projects, legislation on patronage, sponsorship and social participation, the analysis of culture in its metropolitan dimension, as well as to host specific debates focused on cultural policies during the electoral period, and all those that are of general interest to the cultural sectors.

The will to review the objectives and priorities collected throughout the participatory process of the Culture Forum 2020 has also been announced, as well as the establishment of a priority agenda to establish a dialogue and follow-up with those responsible for the competent public institutions with matters of culture. , and with organizations and companies related to culture, creative economy and associated sectors such as tourism, education, and the audiovisual industry or territorial development.

In the news presented at the Extraordinary Assembly held today, the Cercle has presented the new head of Communication, the journalist Joan Safont, who from today will be in charge, among other functions, of putting into practice the lines of communication established in the Communication Plan of the entity.

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Press release from Cercle de Cultura on the culture sectors and the European Recovery Funds

Strategic value of culture in post-Covidien-19 economic transition and recovery

From the perspective of the management of European recovery funds, the Cercle de Cultura raises the need for these funds to reach the cultural sectors, to guarantee their capacity to create value and competitiveness, reconversion and diversification of traditional economic activities , and promoting innovation in other sectors. Public spending on culture in Spain is around 1.2%, generates an impact on GDP of more than 3.4%, and employs close to one million people directly. ” Impact of culture and cultural industries on European GDP is 4.7%, and employs more than 7.4 million people. But beyond the direct impact on GDP and employment, they are an engine of change and transition towards sustainable models of economic activities, in very diverse areas ranging from tourism, the agri-food sector, the world of services, design and activity. industrial, or digital development. The European Commission has considered culture and cultural industries as one of the 14 priority ecosystems for the post-Covidien-19 economic recovery. It is essential that the State and Catalan public administrations also prioritize the cultural sectors due to their strategic and transformation value.

With the pain of the loss of many lives and the impact of the health and social effects, the economic effects of the pandemic crisis have been felt in all sectors of activity. But without a doubt in the cultural sectors the effect has been catastrophic. Never in the history of the last two hundred years, nor in the context of the warlike conflicts of the First and Second World War, nor the Spanish Civil War, nor at any other time is there evidence of the total stoppage of cultural activity, such as the that occurred when the confinement measures were declared. The subsequent and current restrictions have lengthened the agony of many companies, institutions, entities, artists and creators and professionals of culture, making the effects of the Covidien-19 crisis devastating for the arts and culture.

Culture is a right and a key element for quality of life, but it is also an investment. Public spending generates a much higher impact on GDP, which is also transferred in terms of employment and three other positive effects that have to do with general economic activity. The construction of the tourist offer would not be possible without culture. On the other hand, culture is essential for attracting talent and is a key factor in the development of the creative economy and related cultural industries. And thirdly, culture has a very important capacity to generate innovation and competitiveness, improving the positioning of cities and territories.

Neither the tourism industry, nor the major events and economic manifestations such as the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, ​​or the concentration of companies with great capacity to create added value, would not have been possible without the ability to create attractiveness and competitiveness of culture . In this close and global context, we must reclaim the role of culture in the recovery process that we must urgently undertake in Catalonia within the framework of the European consensus.

We will consider that the cultural sector in all its breadth and complexity is a value to take into account due to its contribution to economic growth, the generation of an important sector that contributes to GDP and the maintenance of employment with a lot of tradition and resistance. Take advantage of this crisis for a transformation of cultural public policies to adapt to the new present realities and in anticipation of the future. Propose profound reforms in the cultural institutionality that we have endowed ourselves to place them in the scenarios of the needs of the recovery and resilience plans.

In this framework, we consider it essential to deepen culture as a fundamental right and maintain a tension to promote equal access to culture and compensate for structural imbalances to promote true cultural citizenship.

In accordance with these considerations, we consider it essential to incorporate culture into the Recovery Plan agenda as an active agent with many potentialities:

• So that culture and diversity of cultural expressions are a fundamental element of the project of the European Union. We must promote the cultural development of all EU Member States and ensure that none is left behind due to lack of resources and investment in culture.

• So that the relationship between creativity and social and economic innovation processes is an alliance demonstrated by its effectiveness.

• So that culture, cultural and creative industries contribute so added values ​​to other sectors related to digital transformation that it has an unquestionable cultural dimension.

• Because interaction between innovation and digital transformation and culture, cultural and creative industries is strategic for strengthening the preservation, dissemination and global development of the European cultural offer.

• So that the challenges we have as a society cannot be faced without considering the importance of the cultural ecosystem as an essential factor to define new sustainable social and economic models.

• So that the economic development and quality of life of Catalonia is related to the attractiveness and cultural offer of cities and territories. Because culture is a factor of social cohesion and inclusion. Because culture has been key to the international positioning of Catalonia and to attracting talent.

• For Europe to be a shared idea, and culture is essential to build it together. For all these reasons, we ask the State and Catalan public administrations that culture and cultural industries form part of the real priorities with which the European recovery, resilience and transformation funds are managed.

Barcelona, ​​January 13, 2021