Fitzcarraldo Foundation
Project for a museum network of Walser culture
Feasibility Study
2 Project for a museum network of Walser culture
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Project for a museum network of the Walser culture 3
Fitzcarraldo Foundation
Research undertaken by the Fitzcarraldo Foundation
The Fitzcarraldo Foundation is an independent research and training centre in the fields of management and cultural policies
Research group: Alessandro Bollo, Luca Dal Pozzolo, Alessandra Gariboldi, Laura Marasso
MAY 2007
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CONTENTSCONTENTS
1. INTRODUCTION AND REASONS FOR THE STUDY...... 6 2. ANALYSIS OF COMPARABLE NETWORK MODELS...... 8 3. GOALS AND GUIDELINES OF THE PROJECT ...... 15 4. ORGANISATIONAL ASPECTS...... 19 4.1 The museums involved ...... 21 4.2 Management of the Network ...... 24 4.3 The role of the Language desks ...... 26 5. THE STEPS IN THE CREATION OF THE MUSEUM NETWORK...... 29 5.1 Stage I: the Work Group ...... 31 5.2 Stage II: formalisation of the Network...... 34 6. HYPOTHETICAL COST OF CREATING THE NETWORK...... 36 BIBLIOGRAPHY ...... 41
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1. INTRODUCTION AND REASONS FOR THE STUDY1. INTRODUCTION AND REASONS FOR THE STUDY
As part of the Walser Alps Project, which is financed with PIC Interreg III B funds, the Town Council of Rimella has commissioned the Fitzcarraldo Foundation to study the definition and structure of a “Network of Walser Museums”.
Consistent with the goal of harmonising the various initiatives covered by the Walser Alps Project, which the Vercelli Provincial authorities have entrusted to the Fitzcarraldo Foundation of Turin and the R&P Ricerche e Progetti company, the Museum Network of Walser Culture will interact with and supplement the project for an Itinerant Exhibition on Walser Culture, which has also been commissioned from the Fitzcarraldo Foundation, and with plans for a Walser Tourist Agency and a possible portal, entrusted to the R&P company.
Together with the other projects, the study for the Network of Walser Museums therefore meets the general need to find strategies able to promote the cultural and environmental heritage of the Upper Valsesia, and in particular to identify the most effective ways of coordinating existing museums in the territory of the Walser communities, in order to bolster activities and services, and make them more visible and more easily exploited.
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The six local museums identified as part of the Network share common features such as strong specialisation, a lack of personnel and a resulting deficiency in terms of services to the public and of museum and scientific activities.
The museum network has been identified as an organisational model that meets the museums’ need to offer and communicate an overview of Walser culture to its public, and can help to optimise the use of resources so as to improve organisational aspects and guarantee basic museum services.
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2. ANALYSIS OF COMPARABLE NETWORK MODELS2. ANALYSIS OF COMPARABLE NETWORK MODELS
In Italy, from 1990 to the present day, numerous proposals have been put forward for the creation of a network and system of museums and cultural heritage; these projects share a similar goal, and each one has tried to identify the best operating structures for the specific nature of the parties involved, the territory and the heritage in question. One feature of the network models is that they do not have predefined, rigid structures, but an extremely flexible organisational set up.
In recent years, the need for local entities to rationalise their approach to the promotion and management of the Italian museum heritage was set out in Law 142 of 1990, which regulates Local authorities, then in Law 4 of 1993, the so called Ronchey Law, and finally in the recent Leg. Decree 112 of 1998, which introduced the principle of subsidiarity and the concept of minimal standards (a way of enabling museums to guarantee “an adequate level of collective enjoyment of the heritage, its security and risk prevention” 1). This legislation therefore encouraged regional, provincial and municipal
1 Legislative Decree no. 112 of March 31, 1998, Distribution of administrative functions and roles of the State among the Regional and local authorities , Chapter V H eritage and Cultural assets, Art. 150 Management. The contents of Leg.Dec. 112 are summed up in the Code of Cultural and Landscape Heritage.
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authorities to try to find the most suitable organisational and management forms to enhance the cultural heritage.
There are numerous cases of museum networks and systems in Italy today, which we could look to for a comparative analysis of the organisational forms employed. Three examples were chosen for this study, both regional and national, because they contain elements that are comparable with the future Network of Walser museums (as well as a number of specific features underlined as they emerge) and which offer elements for consideration both regarding the widespread interpretation of cultural heritage, and because they represent cases of good practice for the coordination of the parties involved and the achievement of common goals.
Below we will discuss networks and systems, although the two terms indicate two conceptually different approaches, with common elements in terms of operating practice and distinctive features that vary more where the organisational systems are concerned. The term system refers to a coordinated model that is structured so that it forms an organic whole and therefore, in the case of museums, is able to generate a strong relationship between the individual units that often extends to the operating context too, with capital spending and the creation of specific operating and service structures, that could not be sustained by individual museums. A network forges a link between the individual units with shared activities and projects, but maintains broader margins for autonomy and does not
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usually envisage centralised management, nor the creation of organisational and management structures in addition to those of the individual museums.
The Val di Susa Diocesan Museum systemVal di Susa Diocesan Museum systemVal di Susa Diocesan Museum system was created in the Susa Valley in 2001, and comprises 5 museums: the Diocesan Museum of Sacred Art in Susa, the Museum of Alpine Religious Art in Melezet, the Chapel of San Lorenzo in Susa, the Museum of Alpine Religious Art in Giaglione, and the Museum of Alpine Religious Art in Novalesa. The Susa Museum acts as the hub of the network, and the various museums coordinate their management, scientific activities and services to the public.
Comparable elements: the system set up in the Val di Susa has a strong territorial dimension and is very thematically based like the Walser network, the common element between the museums is easily recognisable, and the cultural context that they aim to transmit to visitors is readily perceptible.
Specific features: the system has a high level of standardisation, envisaging a single management structure, the Diocesan Cultural Centre, which acts on behalf of the other components. The Diocesan Cultural Centre, which owns the museum in Susa, has drafted special agreements with the parish priests in charge of the other museums and collections.
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Another Piedmontese experience that is of interest for this analysis is the Ecomuseum Ecomuseum ofofof Lake Orta and Mottarone (Ecomuseo Cusius)of Lake Orta and Mottarone (Ecomuseo Cusius) Lake Orta and Mottarone (Ecomuseo Cusius). It was created in 1997 by an association of local authorities, small museums and visitable sites, an agricultural cooperative, laboratories, a botanical garden and outdoor itineraries, and is an example of how networks can be broad, inclusive organisational instruments, drawing together very different types of assets and entities, all of which are equally involved in the process of raising the cultural and tourist appeal of the territory. The Ecomuseum has acted as an efficient network organisation for the small museums that belong: in recent years, it has enabled them to start cataloguing their collections, it has defined a coordinated image, it has encouraged museums to adopt similar opening hours during peak tourist periods, it has drafted educational programmes with schools, and launched research and publications, meetings and network events. Not only has it had a multiplier effect for the activities and projects of individual museums, but it has also attracted economic resources that would not be accessible to separate museums, but has responded to the demands of a tourist target and public looking for a comprehensive cultural proposal and “genuine” exploitation of the territory.
Comparable elements: the main characteristic of this network is that it draws together museums and assets that are not formally structured (it comprises the Umbrella and Parasol Museum in Gignese, the Museum of wood art and turning in Pettenasco, the Museum of the tap and tap technology in San Maurizio d’Opaglio, the Hoteliers’ Museum in Armeno, the Ethnographic Museum of Wind instruments in Quarta Sotto, the Forum
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Museum Foundation of arts and industry in Omegna, and the Calderaia Collection of Sacred Art in Ameno) which together convey some important aspects of local culture, while safeguarding the specific features of each one.
Coordinating their museum facilities has enabled these structures, most of which are managed by volunteers and cultural associations, to attract the attention of tourists and day trippers already present in the area to visit the more important artistic attractions.
This network is not managed by a single organisational structure; each museum is managed autonomously and the Association coordinates the mutual activities and projects.
And finally, the Lake Orta museum network does not respect existing administrative boundaries, but extends to more than one province (some of the sites in the Ecomuseum are in the Province of Novara, and others are in that of Verbano Cusio Ossola), but expresses its uniqueness in its cultural references.
Specific features: the Lake Orta museum network is part of the broader Ecomuseum project, which considers heritage in its broadest, cultural and environmental, tangible and intangible sense, linking it to sustainable development targets in the territory and above all to the direct involvement of the community in decision making.
Regione Piemonte has earmarked part of its budget to the regional ecomuseums (Regional Law 31/95), but this is not destined directly to the museums or museum
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networks; in this case the Ecomuseum contributes to the network coordination expenses, but also carries out fund raising for investments in the structures and outfits.
Outside Piedmont, the Province of Macerata has created its own museum system, the Decentralised Museum System of the Province of Maceratarata, which involves a wide variety of different entities. In 2002, a project was launched to coordinate the cultural heritage of the province, managed by a specially created Association that groups together Town Councils, the Diocese and private owners of museums or cultural assets. The goal of the Museum System is “to promote and achieve the coordinated management of museums, archaeology parks and anything related to the Decentralised Museum System, to offer members technical and scientific consultancy and tourist promotion services in order to create the conditions necessary to allow members to reach minimum quality and quantity levels in terms of equipment and services. The Association will also organise and manage artistic, historic, tourist and cultural itineraries, designed to promote the culture of the province as a whole. It also aims to prepare activities to monitor and control standards, to evaluate and analyse demand and supply and to perform promotional activities” 2.
Comparable elements: like that of the Ecomuseum, the approach that distinguishes this system focuses on a widespread conception of heritage that is not limited to museums, but comprises scattered assets and testimonies. In this case, like the Susa Valley, the standardisation of relations is of a high level and includes joint management. 2 Cf. http://www.sistemamuseale-mc.it/chi_siamo.aspx
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Specific features: the Provincial government is the force behind the creation of the System, and as a result, the territorial boundaries are drawn on administrative rather than purely cultural lines.
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3. GOALS AND GUIDELINES OF THE PROJECT3. GOALS AND GUIDELINES OF THE PROJECT
A museum network is the “sum of inter organisational relations between parties to reach goals that would not be achievable by each one separately” and a “combination of services […] in a context that envisages the exchange of the professional experiences and skills developed” 3.
The goals of the Walser Museum network project are to sustain the development of the museological and museographic project of each one in order to achieve minimal operating standards, for the scientific activities and services to the public, and to give interested visitors a different approach to the local heritage, linking the existence of a museum to the territory whose culture and traditions it presents. To reach these goals, networks adopt the principle of programming coordinated activities, encouraging economies of scale and purpose, and attracting new resources.
The type of network applicable will be decided when the various subjects have been identified: however, it may be useful to point out that the museum networks can have
3 Cf. Sistemi Museali in Italia: analisi di alcune esperienze , edited by Centro Studi Touring Club Italiano, Milan, TCI, 2000, pages 5-7.
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certain salient features that regard both the criteria for the identification of components and the standardisation of relations between them.
Generally speaking, we can distinguish between thematic museum networks, around a theme that is common to all participants, and territorial museum networks, when the component linking them is the fact that they belong to the same territory; at least initially, and during the start up stage, the Walser Museum Network will have a mixed form, i.e. with both thematic (Walser culture) and territorial features (the communities of the Upper Valsesia) and will therefore be extremely homogeneous and congruous.
Where their territorial nature is concerned, we must underline that a network will not necessarily respect the administrative boundaries and may therefore be of an inter town, sub or inter provincial nature. The territorial “limits” are established by the will of the participants to respect the administrative boundaries, or to ignore them and to consider one or more cultural aspects as the leitmotiv that defines the catchment basin of a project.
The Walser museum network would be more effective and comprehensive if it were inter provincial and were, in future, to include the towns in the Formazza and Anzasca Valleys on the province of Verbano Cusio Ossola; this would really make it possible to include all the evidence of Walser society in the Piedmontese Alps
Where the themes are concerned, the proposal contained in this study is to create an integrated cultural proposal and to strengthen the thematic link between the museums by
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including in the networks non museum sites such as villages, churches and assets of demographic, ethnic and anthropological interest, which can help to reconstruct the characteristic features of the Walser community. A model that embraces both museums and non museum sites, with a similar approach to that of the cases mentioned above (paragraph 2), of the Ecomuseum of Lake Orta and Mottarone and the Decentralised Museum System of the Province of Macerata, is also consistent with the cultural features of the Upper Valley and the legacy that Walser society has left all over the territory, which still represents its identifying traits.
This observation emerged as a result of a visit made to the territory during the preparation and planning of the Network; for example, one characteristic that has emerged is the scattered nature of the local heritage. Of the museums identified as components of the Network, four have a specialist approach, examining in detail a single historical or artistic aspect, and they have difficulty in conveying the overall value of the Walser culture unless they are seen in conjunction with the other museums and cultural heritage in the territory. It could be useful to adopt an interpretative slant, proposed in the project for the Itinerant Exhibition, in order to create this link between the museums:
1. Mobility and Migration: from a nomadic society to a high altitude society
2. Technology and Knowledge
3. Traditions and Spirituality
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Recourse to an interpretative slant makes it possible to read the Walser legacy from different angles; the museums each communicate a specific message and the cultural attractions act as complex signs in the territory, or as portals to narrate the history of this population.
What is more, these interpretative slants can be used to establish links between different towns, elements around which itineraries can be designed and proposed to visitors. It is useful to underline that the characteristics of the territory and the road links do not make it easy to reach all of the towns, certainly not in one day, so careful planning of the itineraries may help visitors to select the sites to include in a visit.
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4. ORGANISATIONAL ASPECTS4. ORGANISATIONAL ASPECTS
For the organisation of the roles and functions and the definition of the internal relations, we can consider two network models: informal and formal.
An informal network is based on an agreement between the parties to perform some of the museum functions together; it is suitable for the sharing of activities such as communications and promotion, and is extremely flexible. This type of organisation does not envisage structural costs, it allows interested parties to be involved gradually and it is particularly suitable to test how projects can be shared between partners.
The other possible organisational form is the formal network, which is based on an official agreement (association, consortium of municipalities, convention) and envisages the creation of a management and coordination structure/party to carry out centralised functions. The latter solution is suitable when a number of complex functions and activities are shared, but it entails dedicated personnel, higher operating costs and less autonomy for the individual parties.
In any case, the network plans and coordinates all the activities that museums are unable to perform autonomously, with the result that the level of standardisation, and
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therefore the organisational set up, depends on the level of collaboration that one can and intends to establish.
There is currently no systematic collaboration between the parties identified (whether these are Municipalities or Walser Museums), and as a result the Walser Museum Network could emerge as an informal network with the characteristics of an open Work Group, sharing and coordinating communications and promotional projects, and gradually “putting together” museums and cultural assets that convey the character of the area and make it more attractive for tourism. The goal of a gradual approach to the network is to stimulate and create the habit of working together, a fundamental condition for a project of this type.
A Formal Network could be created after the start up stage, with a service centre and personnel of its own; it would also be possible to share more activities, with the aim of adapting the museums to certain minimal operating standards.
In a hypothetical second stage of the Network, it will be possible to coordinate the main museum activities:
- Communications, promotion and marketing - Didactics - Planning of itineraries and events - Research and documentation (publications, meetings, congresses) - Personnel training
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- Inventories of collections - Fund raising
It will be necessary to analyse the expectations, needs and level of interest of the parties that wish to belong to the Network during the feasibility study, in order to define the activities of the Network.
4.1 The museums involved4.1 The museums involved
An initial map identifies the following museums and permanent exhibitions in the six Walser communities in the Upper Valsesia:
- Walsermuseum - Alagna Valsesia, Fraz. Pedemonte
- G. B. Filippa Museum – Rimella
- Walser Ecomuseo– Rimella (opening soon)
- Pietro Della Vedova Museum and Plaster Collection – Rima San Giuseppe
- Museum-Laboratory of Artifi cial Marble Rima San Giuseppe
- Permanent photographic exhibition “Il costume di Rima” - Rima San Giuseppe
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Most of them tackle the common theme of Walser culture with a highly specialist approach.
The Walsermuseum in AlagnaAlagna and the new Walser Ecomuseum Ecomuseum in Rimella are the only demographic, ethnic and anthropological museums which, thanks to a highly disseminated museographic approach, based on the reconstruction of scenes from traditional life, using aspects of daily life as the key to understanding local culture, give an overall anthropological view.
The G. B. Filippa Museum in RimellaRimella is a “curiosity box”, a collection of different articles (books and documents, stamp collections, stuffed animals, minerals, etc.) which Giovanni Battista Filippa received as gifts from his fellow citizens who had emigrated abroad to work, or which he collected himself during his life. The value that a museum of this type has for the Network is closely related to “mobility”, one of the main characteristics of the Walsers, and the entire collection on display reveals the links between this community and its emigrants all over the world.
The Artificial MarbArtificial MarbArtificial Marble Museum in Rimale Museum in Rimale Museum in Rima has the same interpretative slant; this museum is a testimony to a craft of great economic importance for the inhabitants of Rima, particularly in the first half of the 19 th century, when their output could be found in all the major European courts, from Vienna to the Balkans, Germany and Russia. Artificial marble,
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used to decorate courts, churches and noble palaces, made the fortune of families from Rima. This technique is still alive today, thanks to an active Laboratory.
Rima is also the home of the Pietro Della Vedova MuPietro Della Vedova Museum and Plaster CollectionPietro Della Vedova Museum and Plaster Collection, seum and Plaster Collection a precious collection of the moulds, sketches and plaster models of the sculptor’s work. Dalla Vedova donated the moulds to the people of Rima who created this museum in his memory; the link between Rima and the rest of Italy and of Europe, between the “local” and the “global”, is evident in this collection.
The “Il Il costume di Rima” permanent photographic exhibitiexhibitiononon has a specific interpretative slant that is complementary to that of the other museums; it considers the history of traditional Walser costumes in a gallery of photographs from the 19 th century to the present, in which the costume is seen as one of the characteristic elements of a community’s traditions.
Where access to the museums is concerned, it is important to note, in the information available, that the Walsermuseum of Alagna and the Della Vedova Museum have set opening hours at least at weekends and in the Summer, while visits to the Il costume di Rima exhibition and the Artificial Marble Museum in Rima must be booked (the Walser
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Ecomuseum in Rimella and the G.B. Filippa Museum are temporarily closed to the public for outfitting). One of the goals of the Network will be to coordinate access, bearing in mind that the museums are managed by volunteers and not by dedicated staff.
4.2 4.2 Management of the Network Management of the Network Management of the Network
The characteristics of the proposed Network, which does not aim to be a conventional museum but would also embrace the assets of the territory, allow us to make some considerations about the operating structure and the parties that might join.
There are 6 Walser communities in the Upper Valsesia:
- Alagna Valsesia - Carcoforo - Rimella - Rima San GiuseppE - Rimasco - Riva Valdobbia
As we have seen in our analysis of the museum structures, only 3 of these have collections in their own territory to include in the network; it is therefore clear that choosing
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the museums as the components of the Network would automatically mean excluding some towns, thus rendering the presentation of Walser culture even more partial and fragmentary.
The Municipal authorities often own the Museums; the Town Council of Rimella owns the Filippa Museum and the new Walser Ecomuseum, while the Town Council of Rima San Giuseppe owns the Artificial Marble Museum and Della Vedova Museum. The only museum not owned by the local council is the Walsermuseum in Alagna, which belongs to the Unione Alagnese.
In the light of these considerations, the Walser communities of the Upper Valsesia are the best able to represent the artistic and cultural heritage of their areas, both at an initial informal stage, and possibly at a later, more formal stage. In the first stage, they can take part in the Work Group, helping to select the assets to be included in the network project and to plan the organisational structure and the activities to be performed. In the second stage, they will be given a policy making role entailing political and institutional tasks.
What is more, some Municipalities have Language Desks, offices created to safeguard the language with special initiatives, which have become important interfaces for the organisation of cultural activities (the museums in Rimella are already managed by the Language Desk). The competence of some of these offices, which are located in the Council offices, extends outside the municipal boundaries and can represent an operational tool both at the planning stage and for the coordination of the Museum Network.
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Next to the Town Councils and Desks are a number of local cultural Associations which guarantee the opening of the museums and guided tours of the territory (for example the museums in Rima San Giuseppe are managed by the Pro Loco and the Marble Association of Rima, and the museum in Alagna belongs to the Unione Alagnese).
As a result, one important condition for the realisation of the project, is that the Work Group and the Network must envisage a specific role for the Town Councils, Desks and Associations.
4.3 4.3 The role of the Language desksThe role of the Language desksThe role of the Language desks
Under Bill no. 482/99 “Standards to protect historical linguistic minorities”, four language desks were set up in the Walser area of the upper Valsesia specifically to safeguard the Töitschu and Titsch language variants. The Desks’ specific area of competence is therefore language, which is recognised as a strategic identifying element, but in time the services provided by these offices have been extended to embrace tourist information and cultural activities, as well as the coordination of the various Walser desks.
The Desks operating in the Province of Vercelli with dedicated resources are:
- Rimella Desk – Manager Paola Borla
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- Alagna Desk – Manager Federica Cairo - Riva Valdobbia Desk – Manager Elena Ronco - Rima, Rimasco and Carcoforo Desk - Manager Federica Reale - There are also three Walser Desks in the Province of Verbano Cusio Ossola - Ornavasso Desk - Manager Valerio B. Cantamessi - Formazza Desk - Manager Federica Antonietti - Macugnaga Desk - Manager Cristina Tomola-Villa
The Desks have “strong points” that make them strategic resources for the coordination of the Network:
- Human resources chosen and trained in the context of the cultural heritage of their territory; - Organised premises; - A network of relations with the Municipalities and with the local Associations that allows a good level of interaction.
The “weak points” that will have to be tackled during the first informal stage of the creation of the Network, and during the second, formal stage (during which the
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organisational and management aspects of coordination between the museums will be developed) are:
- the need to increase the opening hours of the Desks and therefore the dedicated economic resources;
- the training of Desk staff in basic museological and museographic skills.
The Desks should support the Town Councils and cultural Associations, both in the planning of the Network, and in the management and promotion of the local cultural heritage.
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5. THE STEPS IN THE CREATION OF THE MUSEUM NETWORK
The project proposal taking shape has two main characteristics around which the integrated cultural network for the Upper Valsesia must be based: the gradualness of the planning and development of the Network and the inclusion of all the parties that can contribute skills and expertise making it possible to achieve the outlined goals.
Defining the Network with a gradual approach, which is more suitable where there is no consolidated relational base, entails first creating a Work Group, which will then design a Network, which must be structured and formalised at a later date.
The parties considered necessary for the implementation of this project are the Town Councils, Desks and cultural Associations. The level of interaction between the parties in the two stages of the project will differ: at the planning stage, the parties will establish a joint working method to identity the characteristics of the future Walser Network; in the second stage, the specific functions of each one will be established as well as the inter organisational relations between them.
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Stage I: Work Group to plan the NetworkStage I: Work Group to plan the Network
PartyParty Subject of the project Subject of the projectSubject of the project Town CouncilsTown Councils Selection of components of the cultural heritage (museums and cultural assets)
DesksDesks Identification of activities to be performed jointly
AssociationsAssociations Sharing of roles and definition of organisational structure
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Stage II: Formal network Stage II: Formal network PartyParty Role and function Role and functionRole and function
Town CouncilsTown Councils Political/administrative role Relations with entities, institutions, project partners DesksDesks Organisational coordination Planning of activities AssociationsAssociations Access and visitor reception
5.1 Stage I: the Work Group5.1 Stage I: the Work Group
The Work Group will define the organisational structure of the Network, and it will also start to plan coordinated activities to test the collaboration between the parties.
One necessary step to improve the exploitability of the museums is the training of the Desk staff who currently do not have the minimal museological or museographic skills to
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guarantee the coordination of a museum network. Training will focus on the process to define the minimal Standards for the management and development of the Museums, introduced by Regione Piemonte in 2003, which envisage indications for the achievement of quality goals, even for small museums and local territorial networks. The standards regard the main operating contexts of the museums, i.e. relations with the public and the territory, structures, security, access, collections, the budget and personnel. Proposing training activities on this topic means trying to include this process to improve the local museums into a more general context of capital spending on the quality of the cultural heritage introduced by Regione Piemonte and the local authorities.
The training of Desk staff will take the form of 2 meetings of 8 hours each (or alternatively, 4 meetings of 4 hours each), led by a lecturer who is an expert in museums and the enhancement of the territory; the training will focus on the manuals on the standard published by Regione Piemonte, and the guidelines being defined for the contexts not yet published. The skills acquired will enable the Desk staff to coordinate the Museum Network, to improve the products offered to the public, to propose and plan museum activities, to highlight possible inefficiencies or deficiencies in the structures and to propose possible solutions to the Town Councils.
Another project to develop in this stage is a self training and joint planning process, which is needed to structure the Network. Self training involves the Desks and Associations and helps to strengthen internal communications and the exchange of information,
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establishing good practices for lasting collaboration: the parties involved will be offered a “place” where they can verify the expectations, skills and roles of each one, to define the assets to be included in the Network and linked together by the interpretative slant (paragraph 3) and to exchange information regarding the cultural heritage of each municipal territory. The entire process will be monitored and assisted by a facilitator/moderator with specific expertise in this type of activity, who will coordinate the various stages of the process.
This self training and joint planning process will be spread over 6 days including:
1 meeting1 meeting to agree on the concept of the Network and the goals to work on in the short and long term;
1 meeting1 meeting to acquire the contents of the “volunteer kit” created by Regione Piemonte, in order to provide the volunteers who manage museum collections with basic public relations tools;
3 meetingsmeetings to exchange knowledge and information in a cultural context and in reference to the territory, to select the demographic, ethnic and anthropological assets to include in the Network, and to define the thematic itineraries that link the assets, using the interpretative slant;
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1 final meeting 1 final meeting to decide and verify the results of the work with the Town Councils, future managers of the Network, and to approve the contents of the guide to the Walser cultural heritage, which will be published after the Network has been formalised.
5.2 5.2 Stage II: formalisation of theStage II: formalisation of theStage II: formalisation of the Network Network Network
The steps outlined by the Work Group must result in the formalisation of the Network which will concentrate its initial efforts on organisational coordination by the Desks, and on promotion through visit packages and the publication of a guide.
When they have acquired the necessary skills, Desk staff will be asked to coordinate the Network on behalf of the Councils and must be dedicated partially to this function. This means that their weekly workload must be extended by a specific number of hours to dedicate to museum coordination (which could be calculated as 4 hours a week for each Desk), and that supplementary funds will be needed to cover the costs arising.
The volunteers of the Associations, who already guarantee access to the museums and who have already completed the self training, must coordinate with each other to offer the public guided visits in the territory. The organisation of the visits, which must be booked and in groups, must be entrusted to an in coming agency (for example the future Walser Tourist Agency) or to a Desk. In the case of itineraries and visits that use existing paths to
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link the various parts of the cultural heritage, visits may also be organised by nature guides from the Upper Valsesia Natural Park or CAI – Italian Alpine Club.
The printed Guide to the Walser cultural heritage (but other digital literature will also be envisaged) will be the other tool for the coordinated awareness and promotion of the Network, and will supplement the guided tours, providing visitors with information and an introduction to the local cultural heritage. The Guide is structured as the main promotional instrument of the Network, and must therefore be distributed extensively, through tourist agencies and tour operators, fairs and information points in the territory, and intended for an Italian and foreign audience (with versions in at least three languages: Italian, English and German). It will be a short publication, more than a leaflet but light and distributed free of charge, to illustrate to the visitor what the territory has to offer by way of cultural heritage.
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6. HYPOTHETICAL COST OF CREATING THE NETWORK6. HYPOTHETICAL COST OF CREATING THE NETWORK It is possible to envisage the hypothetical cost and possible funding for the activities outlined, which regard the planning stage and the creation of the Network. For the planning stage and the activities of the Work Work Group the following costs can be envisaged: 1) Training to museum standards 1) Training to museum standards Creation and planning Teaching staff (total 16 hours) Materials and educational aids (publications on museum Standards) Estimated cost: from 3,000.00 to 4,500.00 Proposed funding: 5 Museum and Cultural Heritage department of Regione Piemonte (as part of the programme to adapt museums to recognised standards) 5 Vercelli Provincial government
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2) Self2) Self training and joint planningtraining and joint planningtraining and joint planning creation and planning facilitator (6 days’ work) materials (“Volunteer Kit”) Estimated cost: from 5,000.00 to 8,000.00 Proposed funding: Valsesia Ecomuseum (in line with the goal of stimulating shared planning in the territory) The overall cost of the Work Group (activities 1 and 2) will be between 8,000.00 and 12,500.12,500. In the second stagestage, during which the Network will be formalised, coordination activities will start, which will regard organisation and promotion. 3) Organisational coordination of the Network through the Desks gh the Desks Cost items 4 Desk staff (possible 4 hours/week each, in addition to normal working hours currently remunerated)
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Estimated cost: between 11,000.00 and 12,000.00 per year Proposed funding: Valsesia Ecomuseum 6 Town Councils in the Walser area (Alagna Valsesia, Carcoforo, RImella, Rima San Giuseppe, Rimasco, Riva Valdobbia)
In the museum Network management, it means in the ordinary costs, it is not indicated the cost of the officesoffices, since in this project the Desks will be in charge of coordinating the Network and they will then use the already dedicated offices in the Town Halls of Alagna, Rimella, Rimasco and Riva Valdobbia (chapter no. 4.3).
4) Short Guide to Walser cultural he4) Short Guide to Walser cultural heritage ritage ritage Editing of texts Translation (English and German) Creation and preparation of artwork for printing Printing and distribution (hypothesis of 25,000 copies) Estimated cost: from 10,000.00 to 15,000.00
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Proposed funding: Valsesia Mountain Community Vercelli Provincial government The envisaged guided tours in the territory, organised by guides from the local Associations, the Alta Valsesia Park or CAI, will be charged and must be booked, so they will be self financing with no additional costs for the network. Since a complete range of Internet websites on Valsesia and Walser is already present, in the promotional activities on the Web, the construction of a brand new websitewebsite is not scheduled, instead one specifically dedicated page will be hosted on an already existing institutional website. The Valsesia and Vercelli’s Tourist Office website seems to be the most suitable for hosting the web page of the Network, according to the Local Tourist Offices’ institutional tasks of promoting local resources for helping the tourist development of the territory and according to the Networks’ aims of increasing the value of the local cultural offer also from the tourist point of view. The Local Tourist Office could also manage the guidguided tours bookingguided tours booking, for a fixed fee or for a ed tours booking percentage on the guided tours
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The overall cost of the second stage of the project comprises extraordinary promotional activities, which consist in the publication of the Guide, and of ordinary operating costs for coordination and guided tours. It doesn’t include costs for operative headquarters, website nor the booking service for guided tours. Overall, once concluded the first step (start up and activities of the Work Group), the first year of activity of the Network will cost approximately from 21,000.00 to 27,000.00 Euro, while it should cost between 11,000.00 and 12,000.00 Euro per year when fully operational.
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BIBLIOGRAPHYBIBLIOGRAPHY
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De Varine H., Le radici del futuro. Il patrimonio culturale al servizio dello sviluppo locale, D. Jalla (a cura di), Clueb, Bologna, 2005.
Ferrari S., Modelli gestionali per il turismo come esperienza. Emozioni e polisensorialità nel marketing delle imprese turistiche, Padova, Cedam, 2006 Gruppo di lavoro sulla definizione degli standard (a cura di), Materiali per i musei. 1: Rapporti con il pubblico , , Centro Studi Piemontesi, Regione Piemonte, Torino, 2005. Gruppo di lavoro sulla definizione degli standard (a cura di), Materiali per i musei. 2: Strutture e sicurezza, , Centro Studi Piemontesi, Regione Piemonte, Torino, 2005. Luraghi S., Stringa P. (a cura di), Marketing culturale : valorizzazione di istituzioni culturali, strategie di promozione del territorio, F. Angeli, Milano, 2006.
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Maggi M., Macchine culturali : reti e sistemi nell'organizzaz ione dei musei, IRES Piemonte, Torino, 2006. Maggi M. (a cura di), Museo e cittadinanza. Condividere il patrimonio cul turale per promuovere la partecipazione e la formazione civica , in Quaderni di ricerca n. 108 , IRES Piemonte, Torino, 2005.
Rizzi E. (a cura di), Lingua e comunicazione simbolica nella cultura Walser, Fondazione Enrico Monti, Anzola d’Ossola, 1998 Roncaccioli A. (a cura di), L'azienda museo : problemi economici, gestionali e organizzativi, CEDAM, Padova, 1996. Sibilla P., Una comunità Walser delle Alpi, Olschki, Firenze, 1980 Togni R., Per una museologia delle culture locali, Trento, 1988. Walser Gruppe Rima, Storia di Rima. Die Walsergemeinde Rimmu , Fondazione Enrico Monti, 2006.
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WebsitesWebsites www.ecomusei.net www.sistemamuseale mc.it www.lagodorta.net www.centroculturalediocesano.it
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