Cultural Leadership International is generously supported in Georgia by the Open Society Foundations

The Creative and cultural sector has a unique and vital socio-economic role in our rapidly-changing times. It is crucial that future leaders develop ideas, skills and networks to drive the sector forward and ensure its relevance to the changing societies around it. International dialogue and knowledge exchange will give them vital access to international opportunities and networks where they can share solutions, learn from successful models, and develop partnerships and common platforms to tackle similar challenges.

Cultural Leadership International (CLI) is a programme of activities which facilitate networking and exchange in the cultural and creative industries. The programme focuses on supporting a new generation of cultural leaders to:

					Understand the political, social, and economic power of culture.
					Act internationally in their work
					Better understand the challenges affecting the cultural sector globally
					Encourage flexibility of thought and action to adapt to these new challenges
					Strengthen the influence and position of the cultural sector
					Develop and active, international network of future cultural leadres

Cultural Leadership International (CLI) 2011

The programme for 2011 involves the following components:

Leadership Development Workshop. Istanbul. 23-27 October 2011 and Cultural Management Workshop. Tbilisi. 5-6 March 2012

Leadership Development Workshop

After the tough selection process, winners of the CLI award including three Georgian participants were invited to take part in a 4-day Leadership Development Workshop in Istanbul from 23-27 October 2011 (during the Istanbul Biennale). This event involved training sessions on leadership skills and networking opportunities with the other participants.

The selected participants were asked to design their Professional Development Plan, identifying their professional needs and goals and coming up with a plan to achieve these based on opportunities in the UK and around the world. These opportunities will take the form of courses, placements, mentorship schemes, etc. The individual plans were approved before 31 December 2011 and now the CLI winners are to implement them until the end of December 2012.

Participants received a grant of £3,000 to implement their plan as well as support from the British Council in identifying suitable opportunities in the UK.

Georgian Winners of CLI Award

Medea Metreveli, Program in Support of Georgian Book and Literature Ministry of Culture  Nino Orjonikidze, Artifect Productions  and Zviad Eliziani, Batumi International Art-House Film Festival

Cultural Management Workshop (CMW)

On 5 and 6 March 2012 the British Council in Partnership with the Open Society Georgia Foundations and Georgian National Film Centre held Cultural Management Workshop (CMW) for thirty-two leading and forward-looking representatives of the Georgian arts and cultural industries sector. Ministry of Culture and Monuments Protection is an official partner of the initiative

Aim of the CMW was

• Exposure of the Georgian arts and cultural industries sector to international standards in cultural management and to successful models that could be replicated locally.
• Development of a more skilled cultural sector: more entrepreneurial, reflective, outward-looking, confident and receptive to further development and wider social engagement
• Access to networking opportunities with other colleagues working in the sector: development of partnerships and collaborations
• Greater awareness of the need for skills’ development