Alicante’s Cultural Model: Vision, Realization, and the Role of Social Actors
Alicante and its wider province are exploring a cultural model that shapes how communities grow through arts, heritage, and creative industries. The aim is to map how a shared framework can guide social development, empower cultural agents, and align public and private investment with the lived realities of residents. The focus is to identify the core drivers of culture in the city and province, the existing strengths that can be scaled, and the gaps that require targeted action. This inquiry also looks at how culture can contribute to social cohesion, economic vitality, and a high quality of life for people across counties and neighborhoods. The central question remains how to turn a theoretical model into practical policy and everyday cultural activity that benefits diverse communities in Canada and the United States markets where Alicante’s example resonates with urban cultural planning and inclusive programming.
This ongoing discussion is framed within the new Es-Culture cycle, an initiative coordinated by a contemporary artist and a respected art critic. The cycle has carried forward momentum from its first year and is now returning with two additional sessions. Each session is set to begin at 19:00 and is hosted in the heart of the city’s cultural district, UA Downtown in Alicante on San Fernando street. The cycle seeks to connect artists, curators, cultural workers, and members of the public in a collaborative space to review current models, share practical experiences, and consider future pathways. The goal is to move beyond theory and toward concrete steps that bolster Alicante’s cultural ecosystem and inform similar efforts in North American cities with comparable cultural ecologies.
Participants include a constellation of leaders and practitioners from different corners of the cultural sector. They bring experience as cultural administrators, educators, performers, and researchers who are invested in the city’s cultural future. The gathering is designed as a forum for exchanging ideas about how cultural institutions can evolve in response to social change, technological shifts, and evolving audience expectations. Attendees will discuss the virtues of existing structures, as well as their limitations, with the aim of outlining practical recommendations that can guide policy making, funding strategies, and community programs for Alicante and similar urban centers.
The discussion will be shared publicly through a live broadcast, allowing audiences to engage from anywhere. The event will be streamed as part of the cycle’s outreach and will be attributed to the official producing organization. This approach reflects a commitment to transparency and broad participation, inviting observers, scholars, and practitioners to follow the debate and contribute their insights in real time. For those who cannot attend in person, the broadcast serves as a gateway to a broader conversation about how culture can be structured to serve a city’s social and economic agenda, and how this model might inform cultural planning in other regions within North America.