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This chapter examines the impact and influence of the visual and performing arts in sustaining thriving communities and highlights the essential role of libraries in providing access to arts and cultural programming and services. Creative and artistic intervention has become the imperative of our time. Creativity is required not only in design studios and workshops, but in all areas of work and life, both professional and personal. Places of artistic and cultural production are strongly correlated with strong local economies and sustainable communities. Libraries are public spaces that promote and maintain community, not only civic institutions. As such, the library plays a key role as incubator for the arts. Libraries advocate freedom: of ideas, communication, and information. Arts programming in libraries provides an avenue for people to communicate ideas and feelings through visual, auditory, or kinesthetic forms. But more than that, libraries are also about education, safe and welcoming spaces, community, and entertainment. Libraries support and promote the value of multiple perspectives and voices. Libraries can shape patronage of the arts and engage future generations by addressing social diversity and inciting inclusive participation in the arts. Many libraries are participating in the creation of new forms of understanding through arts programming, services, and resources. In an age where many of society’s most important challenges are related to our relationship with information, it is vitally important to include visual and performing arts professionals in the intersection between artistic practice and critical engagement with information.

Although there exists a rich literature on fisheries traditional management systems in North and South America, Caribbean, Asia and Pacific islands, much less information is available on inland African fisheries. Presents the first regional‐scale survey of traditional management systems operated within the Lake Chad Basin. The survey focused on the status and organization of the local (de facto) management systems and their interactions with the modern (de jure) regulations. The results show that fishing activities within the whole Basin are still largely under the control of the traditional local authorities. The few open‐access fishing grounds are areas that traditional authorities have never controlled or water‐bodies that they have had to “give up” in recent times due to the presence of armed groups. These areas are also areas where illegal taxation systems operated by non‐legitimated governement agents have developed, essentially as a consequence of the remoteness and political instability of the whole Basin.

In this chapter, we develop a conceptual framework on how cultural value can be lost in conflict and created by the arts, artists and arts organisations again and how the arts may also help victims of conflict. We explore examples of the different ways that the effects of cultural engagement are manifested and articulated in the depiction of armed conflict, especially looking at the civil war in Syria (2011–present as of 2020) and discuss three stages in the life-cycle of cultural value. Our conceptual framework of cultural value in the depiction of armed conflict is based on the multifaceted private, public, intrinsic and instrumental benefits of the arts as well as the cultural value created by arts, artists and arts organisations. We discuss universal value at the first stage of a potential loss of cultural value. The second stage addresses the politics of aesthetic value, as the cultural value created by artists and artistic activities which may evolve during armed conflict with examples of two international war artists, John Keane and Ben Quilty. Finally, we review social value as the impact of the cultural value created in overcoming armed conflict as well as restoring and transforming impaired individuals, communities and societies. Within this context, we reinforce the notion of cultural value as an alternative framework for understanding the value constructs surrounding the creation of art in this chapter.

This chapter examines cultural value creation through the 24 Carrot Gardens Project. Initiated by artist and curator Kirsha Kaechele of the Museum of Old and New Art, the vision of 24 Carrot Gardens is to ‘sow seeds of lifelong learning’ in the areas of health, well-being and sustainability across school communities in Tasmania, Australia. What has eventuated over its five years is a complex relationship between the artful ‘gold standard’ delivered by professional artists and a contemporary art museum with an integrated teaching and site-based learning across the arts and sciences. Designed in response to the local environmental, cultural and socio-economic context, 24 Carrot Gardens has contributed to a growing sense of community engagement, interdisciplinary learning and a strong foundation of networked donor investment. With these multilayered interests across a diversity of stakeholders and partnerships, many competing systems of value are at play, with the potential to contribute a new value creation. Firsthand accounts of project contributors are situated amongst the scholarly literature to produce an examination of value exchange and creation including the cultural values identified in 24 Carrot Gardens: artistic and creative, economic and industrial and education and environmental. Following this interrogation of the expressed values in this case study, we offer a foundation for a new framework for understanding local cultural value.

There is a long association between the arts and mental well‐being, but this can also be an area of contest and debate. In this commentary on the issues raised by the papers in this special arts and mental well‐being issue of the journal, James Oliver and Paul Murray question the attempt to impose scientific measures of outcome on arts participation, and ask if we should not, instead, regard access to opportunities for creative expression as a legal right and moral duty owing to those whom we, as a society, have excluded from the mainstream through incarceration or labelling.

This study aims to explore the challenges in the Jordanian health-care system and the potential solutions for these challenges.

A narrative literature review was conducted.

The challenges of the health-care system in Jordan related to geriatric care are the new emergence of nursing homes; the limited health-care services and supplies; the growing aging population; the dramatic change in the family structure. There are many credible approaches used to solve those challenges, including social networking, advocacy, education and research, lobbying and financial support.

There is a lack of research studies examining the perceived barriers and facilitators of geriatric care in Jordan from the perspectives of health-care professionals, health-care managers and older adults themselves. Future intervention studies are recommended to target the challenges in the Jordanian health-care system concerning geriatric care.

Contemporary art organizations play a key role in driving cultural tourism, offering visitors memorable experiences. Among the segments of visitors, young adults represent a key target because they are the most interested customers in contemporary arts and they represent 23% of the international travelers. Despite their relevance, little is known about their customer experiences in contemporary arts, and the resulting arts engagement. Although their contemporary arts experiences are expected to generate great benefits in terms of social, ethical, and economical values for the entire society, the relationship between young adults and contemporary arts is typically difficult to understand and, consequently, to facilitate. To address this issue, we run a complex qualitative research project. Distinguishing young adults between those who are familiar with contemporary arts and those who are not, we conduct four research projects by applying two qualitative techniques: the in-depth interview and the Zaltman Metaphor Elicitation Technique (Z-Met). Further, we extend the in-depth interviews to the contemporary arts experts. In total, 70 consumers and 10 experts participate in the research project providing cognitive and emotional insights by exploring barriers and benefits of consumption in contemporary arts. Our findings show that arts engagement is the key concept, linked to three levels of consumer reactions – cognitive, emotional, and social responses – and that it is caused by three antecedents, namely – involvement, sharing, and comprehension. Implications for the actors in the world of contemporary arts and cultural tourism are discussed to obtain higher levels of arts engagement among young adults, and, consequently, their attractiveness.

The purpose of this paper is to review the concept of audience development, analysing differences between a number of countries and identifying common elements that underlie the concept regardless of the context.

In addition to the literature review, fieldwork has been conducted in the UK, Denmark, Italy, and Spain applying qualitative methodology. The study has been structured in two phases. The first phase comprised 26 in-depth interviews with European experts in audience development while the second phase consisted of six focus groups with European experts.

The paper reveals differences between countries, ranging from the definition of the term audience development to the approach undertaken. Despite this, a number of aspects, independent of the context and considered key to a successful audience development, are identified. These aspects are related to the consideration of the development of audiences as a transversal long-term strategy supported by the top management of the organisation.

The value provided is twofold. First, thanks to the empirical data used, the paper analyses the socio-cultural aspects that affect the emergence of country-specific approaches to audience development and it individuates general features and ideas that contribute to the better understanding of the concept itself. Second, it is one of the few academic works carried out in Spain on this issue.

El propósito del artículo es revisar el concepto de desarrollo de audiencias, analizando las diferencias existentes entre diversos países e identificando los elementos comunes que subyacen al mismo independientemente del contexto.

Además de una revisión bibliográfica, se ha llevado a cabo un trabajo de campo en Reino Unido, Dinamarca, Italia y España. El estudio, de carácter cualitativo y con finalidad exploratoria, se ha estructurado en dos fases. En la primera se han realizado 26 entrevistas en profundidad a expertos en desarrollo de audiencias europeos, mientras que en la segunda se han llevado a cabo 6 grupos de discusión con expertos.

El artículo evidencia diferencias entre los distintos países que oscilan desde la consideración del propio término desarrollo de audiencias hasta el enfoque desde el que se entiende el desarrollo de audiencias. A pesar de ello se identifican una serie de aspectos, independientes del contexto, y considerados clave para un desarrollo de audiencias exitoso. Dichos aspectos están relacionados con la consideración del desarrollo de audiencias como una estrategia transversal de largo plazo, apoyada por la dirección general de la organización.

El valor aportado es doble. En primer lugar, gracias a los datos empíricos utilizados, el artículo analiza los aspectos socio-culturales que afectan a la aparición de enfoques de desarrollo de audiencias específicos para cada país y al mismo tiempo identifica aquellas características generales e ideas que contribuyen a una mejor comprensión del concepto en cuestión. Por otro lado, se distingue por ser uno de los escasos trabajos académicos realizados en España sobre este tema.

The purpose of this paper is to review and compare the implementation of “arts inclusion” policies (AIPs) by 14 different public administrative systems around the world. It aims to provide a consolidated source which informs further studies in this field, and to develop a framework to compare AIPs at a global level.

Using “arts inclusion policy” as the search term, academic journals from a wide spectrum of fields were reviewed. A data set was extracted from the Compendium of Cultural Policies and Trends’ online database which provided real-time information of national cultural policies. Another data set is from the United Nations’ Inequality-adjusted Human Development Index, as the geographic scope of the review – largely focussing on UK, US, Australian, Scandinavian and Asian contexts. Using existing policy-making literature as benchmark, the authors designed and applied a comparative framework dedicated to AIPs which focussed on “policy-making structures” as the main ground of comparison.

An important finding is that the policy development and implementation of AIPs often underscore inter-sectoral involvement in many public administrations in this study. With policy leadership and financial incentives pivotal to effective AIPs, central governments should take a more concerted leadership role to include AIPs in national inter-sectoral policies, encourage evidence-based research, expand funding and advocate the recognition of the impacts of arts inclusion. It is concluded that AIPs in western countries remain more developed in targeted scopes and programme diversity compared to those of Asian countries and regions. Continued studies in this field are encouraged.

This review is the first of its kind to include a number of Asian and western countries within its research scope, allowing it to offer a more holistic outlook on the development and implementation of AIPs in different countries and regions. A common critique with all relevant existing literature was usually their lack of concrete comparative grounds, and the present study’s all-encompassing review of literature from across different levels and sectors of respective public administrative systems contribute to a unique and comprehensive perspective in the arts and health discourse.

Assessing performance art has shifted toward an audience-centric approach, with various factors impacting audiences’ holistic experiences in a theater. Existing theater marketing research has predominantly focused on servicescapes, leaving a research gap regarding audiences’ spatial experience within theater buildings.

To address this gap, this case study collected crowdsourced data from mainstream social media platforms, including rating scores, textual reviews and reviewer-uploaded photos. The aim was to explore to what extent the theater architecture design impacted audiences’ theatrical experience. The old and new facilities of the case study theater were compared, and a series of quantitative and qualitative techniques were applied for data analysis, including statistics, content analysis, sentiment analysis and thematic analysis.

The study identified five major themes in social media review: the show, architectural design and attributes, staff and service, neighborhood and amenities, and financial consideration. Comments about theater architecture constituted a substantial portion of reviews, with seating comfort, intimacy and stage visibility being frequently discussed features. Seven subthemes related to architectural design emerged as key contributors to audiences’ spatial experiences, including aesthetics, design and spatial configuration; the bar and lobby; the new facility; seats; sets and stage; acoustics; and intimacy and atmosphere.

The study places the individual experiences of audience members as central and uses an inductive approach to analyze their self-generated data. The research results offer valuable insights into theater design and confirm the belief that architectural design has a significant impact on the overall theatrical experience of audiences.