Alumni Masterclass of the MA in Intercultural Studies for Business – Culture as Business and Development |17 March

The Centre for Intercultural Studies invites the academic community to attend the Masterclass of the MA in Intercultural Studies for Business “Culture as Business and Development” given by alumni of this Masters.
The Masterclass will take place next Friday, 17th March, in room 011 of ISCAP.

Ana Margarida Silva

From culture to business: An analysis of the Project Aldeias de Montanha

The Master’s Degree in Intercultural Studies for Business combines the notion of culture with business and entrepreneurship to enhance the abilities of its students in distinct ways, providing the tools to succeed in various areas. We can choose from a wide range of options because when the three notions come together there’s an immense spectrum of possibilities. In my case, it led me to work on something I had already a special interest in: the development of local communities.

With this in mind, I did my internship in the Association for the Integrated Development of the Aldeias de Montanha Network (ADIRAM) with the Project Aldeias de Montanha. The internship report analyses the nature of the work developed through the Association in the 41 villages, located in Serra da Estrela and Serra da Gardunha. It also presents three case studies examining real life settings: the soap operas, the Burel Factory and finally, photography.

The report highlights the importance of empowering local communities and valuing their respective cultural territories. Besides, it refers the need to value the resources and endogenous wealth existing in these territories in order to preserve them The results lead to the conclusion that with practice and concrete results, culture is in fact one of the greatest drivers of development and business.

Magda Cardoso

The Project Porto Ad Aeternum: a railway journey through Douro’s legends
By examining the rich intangible heritage residing in the identity, the memory, and the culture encapsulated in local legends, and giving it a formal marketing narrative, the project “Porto Ad Aeternum: a railway journey through Douro’s legends” and its extensive research aims to demonstrate that there is much more to explore in the Douro’s landscape than just the wine tourism and its amazing vineyards.

The project’s purpose was to increase awareness of the places that the Douro line passes through by highlighting some of the local legends. They can be viewed on a website and magazine created for this initiative, and they were also indicated on a Google My Map created by the author.

Ana Rita Magalhães 

Project CultureWise: Analyze, Recognize, Maximize

Culture is a concept which is in constant evolution and, therefore, a concept that must be studied, understood and its development must be monitored, to recognize the inherent changes and transformations to this progress. Living in an increasingly globalized world, we are gradually confronted with more and more challenges related to globalization and its technological advancements. Globalization, inherent to the evolution that we witness every day, is a decisive factor when it comes to the business sector in international terms. Regarding both culture and entrepreneurship, evolution must be actively observed, and expertise, competence and mastery must be achieved in these two areas, in order to be inserted, without errors, in the intercultural business sector. These days, startups must internationalize from the moment they are established, and internationalization processes must be pondered, in order to be well achieved. This document serves to show that intercultural competence is something gradual and a long learning process. It also aims to contemplate the understanding of what it is and the importance of understanding the subjectivity and constant progression of the concept of culture and its associated notions. By learning about intercultural communication, intercultural competence and intercultural awareness and combining this learning process with intercultural know-how in the business sector, it is highlighted the importance of a well-achieved internationalization process in a start-up company, since its inception. The project “CultureWise: Analyze, Recognize, Maximize”, being innovative and didactic aims to deal with the cultural diversity present in Portugal, in a creative, inclusive and flexible way with greater incidence in the context of the Portuguese market, specifically in the niche of market of Portuguese startups. Through an innovative project like the one presented, recognizing, analyzing and offering sustainable solutions to some sociocultural issues can maximize the performance of the targeted businesses.

Ana Sousa Silva

The territory through the eyes of literature: promoting cultural and creative experiences. A ‘Bairro dos Livros´ case study

Tourism trends show the growth of cultural tourism, an increase in interest in both tangible and intangible heritage, cultural attractions and events, as well as the need to create memorable touristic experiences that are tailored to customers’ individual needs. These experiences should engage them emotionally and intellectually, namely through the use of storytelling in cultural product marketing and experience. The creative economy and the role of human creativity and innovation are highlighted as generators of wealth and value in general. Within this context, literary tourism is gaining popularity as a source of innovation and added value to touristic destinations, as well as having a positive impact on regional development and preservation of cultural capital. This internship report covers the internship completed at Bairro dos Livros, conducted within the framework of the Master’s Degree in Intercultural Studies for Business (MISB). Bairro dos Livros is the commercial brand of CulturePrint, a cooperative based in Porto that communicates and creates innovative experiences through arts and culture, such as artistic programming, artistic installations and book publishing. The internship involved my participation in the research for projects related to literary tourism (literary guides, literary tours and exhibitions), communication and social media management for a literary festival, text revision and editorial coordination, and assistance in the production of cultural events. This report uses bibliographic research and first-hand experience acquired during the internship at Bairro dos Livros to provide a case study of how culture and creativity can be employed by a business to create engaging experiences, promote heritage and improve social cohesion. It presents an in loco analysis of the internship experience and tasks completed.

Leave a Reply