Course description
Culture and cultural heritage (both tangible and intangible) are playing a growing role at national and international levels to foster local development, increasing social cohesion and inspiring creativity. “Heritage constitutes a source of identity and cohesion for communities disrupted by bewildering change and economic instability. Creativity contributes to building open, inclusive and pluralistic societies. Both heritage and creativity lay the foundations for vibrant, innovative and prosperous knowledge societies” (UNESCO).
To ensure that culture takes it rightful place in development strategies and pro-cesses, UNESCO has adopted a three-pronged approach: it spearheads worldwide advocacy for culture and development, while engaging with the international community to set clear policies and legal frameworks and working on the ground to support governments and local stakeholders to safeguard heritage, strengthen creative industries and encourage cultural pluralism.

The course will combine an initial part dedicated on the main theoretical and operational frameworks in cultural domains and the role of UNESCO, with a series of modules, each of them dedicated to a specific cultural sector and its relevance in international relationships.
For each module, a key expert will be invited to participate and bring her/his international experience to be shared with the students.

Structure of the course
The course duration is of 36 hs of lectures (displayed on 12 weeks) and 4 hours of co-curricular activities; it is structured in weekly modules, each of them dedicated to a specific topic.
After a general introduction on the main principles of the Cultural Diplomacy, UNESCO functioning and its main set of international Conventions (first 2 weeks modules), a specific part of the lessons (the following 10 weeks modules) is dedicated to the analyses of the main aspects related to individual sectors, such as : (1) World Heritage (2) Intangible Heritage (3) Creative Cites (5) Capitals of Culture and (6) the role of Music

Course organization and supervision
The overall structure of the course and its thematic organization have been developed by Prof. Giorgio Andrian (University of Padova), who is the coordinator of the course; he will be assisted by Ms. Ilaria Foroni (University of Venice - Ca Foscari). Invited speakers will be contributing to the various modules with ad hoc presentations.

Course Requirements
Students will be expected to do the required readings and to attend class regularly. Attendance is compulsory for all students. Required readings will be designated on a weekly basis according to the themes listed in the course outline. Students will be also encouraged to find additional material for their final project by searching the Internet and accessing suggested websites. The final part of the course is dedicated to the students’ presentation of their group projects.

Co-curricular activities: A public seminar will be organized on the case of Venice and its Lagoon UNESCO World Heritage site will be organized by the participants in cooperation with the Municipality of Venice and the UNESCO Venice Office.

Evaluation method
Class participation – Overall class participation, in terms of both attendance and interaction, will count for 40% of the final grade.
Quiz – at the end of each weekly block students will be given a set of questions to be answered – 20% of the final grade
Final project – There will be a group project to develop, to present in a written group report and through an oral presentation in class – 40% of the final grade.

Syllabus
MODULE I – CULTURAL DIPLOMACY THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK

Week 1 – September 12 – 16, 2022
Lecture 1
Introduction to the Course, its Program and Structure
Prof. Giorgio ANDRIAN (University of Padova)
Lecture 2
Introduction to UNESCO and its role in Cultural Diplomacy
Invited speaker from UNESCO
Required Readings:
https://www.unesco.org/en

Week 2 – September 19 – 23, 2022
Lecture 3
Culture and Sustainable Development 1
Prof. Giorgio ANDRIAN (University of Padova) and and Ms. Vittoria Rosin (expert in cultural economics and consultant at Deloitte)
Lecture 4
Culture and Sustainable Development 2 – the case of Padova Urbs picta
Prof. Giorgio ANDRIAN (University of Padova) and Ms. Vittoria Rosin (expert in cultural economics and consultant at Deloitte)
Required Readings: https://www.padovaurbspicta.org/

MODULE II – UNESCO WORLD HERITAGE CONVENTION
Week 3 – September 26 – 30, 2022
Lecture 5
The World Heritage Convention and its Operational Guidelines
Mr. Matteo Rosati, UNESCO Venice Office
Lecture 6
The case of the Venice and its Lagoon World Heritage site: the challenging of the management
Arch. Katia Basili, Municipality of Venice
Required Readings:
The World Heritage Convention: https://whc.unesco.org/en/convention/
The Operational Guidelines of the World Heritage Convention: https://whc.unesco.org/en/guidelines/
The UNESCO Venice Office: https://en.unesco.org/fieldoffice/venice

MODULE III – THE INTANGIBLE CULTURAL HERITAGE
Week 4 – October 3 – 7, 2022
Lecture 7
The World Intangible Heritage Convention and its Operational Directives
UNESCO WHI expert
Lecture 8
The case of the Celebrations of big shoulder-borne processional structures
Dr. Patrizia Nardi, international WHI expert
Required Readings:
https://ich.unesco.org/
https://ich.unesco.org/en/directives
https://ich.unesco.org/en/RL/celebrations-of-big-shoulder-borne-processional-structures-00721

MODULE IV – THE CREATIVE CITIES NETWORK
Week 5 – October 10 – 14, 2022
Lecture 9
The Creative City Network
Ms. Francesca Merloni, UNESCO Creative Network Goodwill Ambassador
Lecture 10
The case of Fabriano
Rapresentative of Fabriano Creativa
Required Readings
https://en.unesco.org/creative-cities/home
https://www.fabrianocreativa.it/

MODULE V – ARMED CONFLICT AND HERITAGE
Week 6 - October 17 – 21, 2022
Lecture 11
Introduction to the Convention of for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict
UNESCO expert
The case of Ukraine
Representative of the Cultural Strategy Institute
Lecture 12
The case of the Restoration of the Nativity Church of Bethlehme (Palestine)
Representative of the Piacenti Rastauration Company
Required readings:
https://en.unesco.org/protecting-heritage/convention-and-protocols/1954-convention
https://isc.lviv.ua/en/

MODULE VI – THE CAPITALS OF CULTURE
Week 7 – October 24 – 28, 2022
Lecture 13
The European capital of Culture: concept and development
Ms. Cristina Loglio, international expert
Lecture 14
The case of Nova Gorica – Gorizia
Prof. Andrian and Mr. Miklavic, Mayor of Nova Gorica
Required Readings:
https://euro-go.eu/it/programmi-e-progetti/capitale-europea-della-cultura-2025/

Mid-term break: October 31 – November 4, 2022

MODULE VII – CASE STUDY 1: THE EUROPEAN CAPITAL OF CULTURE
Week 8 – November 7 – 11, 2022
Lecture 15
The case of Nova Gorica – Gorizia (1)
The preparation of the Bid Book
Lecture 16
The case of Nova Gorica – Gorizia (2)
How to design a common strategy
Required Readings:
https://euro-go.eu/it/programmi-e-progetti/capitale-europea-della-cultura-2025/

MODULE VIII – CASE STUDY 2: THE RESTORATION OF THE NATIVITY CHURCH
Week 9 – November 14 – 18, 2022
Lecture 17
The case of the Restoration of the Nativity Church of Bethlehme (Palestine)
Representative of the Piacenti Rastauration Company
Lecture 18
The case of the Restoration of the Nativity Church of Bethlehme (Palestine)
Representative of the Piacenti Rastauration Company
Required Readings:
https://www.piacenti.org/en/nativity-church-restoration-bethlehem/

MODULE IX – THE CASE OF MUSIC
Week 10 – November 21 – 25, 2022
Lecture 19
M.to Dragan Sredojevic, University of Belgrade (Serbia)
Lecture 20
M.to Dragan Sredojevic, University of Belgrade (Serbia)

MODULE X – FINAL SESSIONS
Week 11 – November 28 – December 2, 2022
Lecture 21
Students working group – part 1
Prof. Giorgio ANDRIAN and Ilaria Foroni
Lecture 22
Students working group – part 2
Prof. Giorgio ANDRIAN and Ilaria Foroni
Week 12 – December 5 – December 9, 2022
Lecture 23
Students working group – part 3
Prof. Giorgio ANDRIAN and Ilaria Foroni
Lecture 24
Students working group – part 4
Prof. Giorgio ANDRIAN and Ilaria Foroni

Week 13 (exams) – December 12 – December 16, 2022
Lecture 25
Students working group – presentation and discussion 1
Prof. Giorgio ANDRIAN and Ilaria Foroni
Lecture 26
Students working group – presentation and discussion 2
Prof. Giorgio ANDRIAN and Ilaria Foroni