After three years the international project EMPHOS, led by the Reinwardt Academy’s Bob Crezee, Marjan Otter and Marc Pil, has come to an end. The objective of this Erasmus+ project was to develop the entrepreneurial skills and attitude of museum professionals and cultural heritage organization’s staff. The training course pilot is now available online.

In the fall of 2015, the Reinwardt Academy, Landschap Erfgoed Utrecht, Glodsmiths University, CIAPE and the University of Bologna started the EMPHOS project. The objective was to develop the entrepreneurial skills and attitude of museum professionals and cultural heritage organization’s staff. In these times of decreasing subsidies and funds, cultural entrepreneurship is becoming increasingly important for museums and cultural organizations to sustain themselves.

Training materials online
After in-depth research, a framework was developed for cultural entrepreneurs in Europe containing general knowledge and skills. Based on this framework, an innovative training course pilot was custom-made for both the Netherlands and Italy. The Dutch course involved fourteen professionals from ten cultural institutions, mostly from the Utrecht region. With group discussions, brainstorming sessions and international best practices participants were inspired and challenged to improve the entrepreneurial attitude of themselves and their organizations. If you would like to learn more about cultural entrepreneurship, then please consult the training materials.