Organised by arts charity Saltaire Inspired and focussed on their annual Saltaire Arts Trail this bank holiday weekend, the visit has been arranged with Be.CULTOUR (Beyond Cultural Tourism), an EU-funded project aimed at working with communities across Europe to create sustainable, community-led cultural tourism opportunities.

Visitors from local authorities and tourism organisations in Belgium, Finland, Portugal, Netherlands and Italy visited the Saltaire Arts Trail, including the Open Village and Makers Fair; Salts Mill; Shipley; Cartwright Hall; the Industrial Museum and Haworth.

They also attended a reception to celebrate the first anniversary of Bradford being awarded City of Culture 2025. And on Tuesday 30 May they were back at Cartwright Hall for a workshop and networking event involving discussions about Bradford 2025 and sharing ideas they can take back to their own regions. Saltaire Inspired is a regional representative in the Be.CULTOUR community and Chair Dr Julia Calver was instrumental in organising the visit. She said: “Saltaire Inspired was invited to join Be.CULTOUR because of the way we work and engage with the local community across Saltaire, Shipley and Bradford to create cultural events and opportunities. Our visitors want to learn about how we create annual events like the Living Advent Calendar and the Open Village at Saltaire Arts Trail, where local people allow their homes to be used as exhibition spaces.

“And of course they want to find out more about Bradford 2025, the bid leading up to it and what is planned for that amazing year. We also have two guests from cities that have been European City of Culture – Leeuwarden-Friesland in the Netherlands and Basilicata in Italy – so we will all be hoping to learn lots from them too.”

Bradford Council and Bradford Cultural Voice – a network of more than 300 artists and arts organisations – have supported the visit, added Julia, helping to give the visitors a brilliant experience of the cultural tourism expertise and opportunities in the district.

One of the visitors is Lisa van der Lem from the Municipality of Leeuwarden in the Netherlands, which was European Capital of Culture 2018. She said: “Bradford, as a whole district, has a lot of similar challenges as Leeuwarden is experiencing; Bradford is a lot bigger, but it’s a city within a large rural area, with marginalised lower-income population, and trying to become more inclusive in terms of culture. And culture is for everybody, not only for some. So that’s what I'm really looking forward to learning from here, as that’s a really big part of Bradford as City of Culture 2025.

“And also with Saltaire and Saltaire Inspired, it's such a great local community initiative and it's very extensive in terms of sites. It’s great, and I've enjoyed learning more about that, and seeing how it works in real life.”

Serafino Paternoster, journalist, press office of Apt Basilicata, partner of beCultour and editorial director of EcocNews, also participated in the visit.

"We had the opportunity, at different times - says Paternoster - to exchange information and experiences, enriching our skills. We made our territories known and the work we are doing in tourism promotion around some key words such as innovation, sustainability, culture and circular economy, also bringing some innovative examples of tourism promotion such as 'The Atlas of Emotions' created in the context of Matera, European Capital of Culture for 2019. We found very interesting the work being done in Saltaire, which, like Matera, is a World Heritage Site. A work that focuses very much on social innovation by putting people, relationships, and creativity at the centre. An experience that can give rise to a true model of social innovation. I believe that interesting collaborations for the future can be born out of this visit".

The working group: Serafino Paternoster (APT - Basilicata, Italy), Valentina Apicerni (CNR - Italy), Lana Moorhouse (Saltaire Inspired), Mary Dowson (BCB Radio), Alison Levett (Saltaire Inspired), Daniel Breeze (Saltaire Inspired), Sonja Kietly (Bradford Metropolitan District Council & Saltaire Inspired), Julia Calver (Saltaire Inspired), Chiara Dall’Aglio (Sviluppumbria, Italy), Lisa van der Lem (Municipality of Leeuwarden, Netherlands), Francesca Pozzebon (ERRIN, Belgium), Mariana Calaça Baptista (CREATOUR, Portugal), Veera Kolehmainen (City of Savonlinna, Finland).

SALTAIRE INSPIRED
Saltaire Inspired is an ambitious arts charity, creating quality contemporary arts events in unique settings of Saltaire and beyond. With an annual programme that includes Saltaire Arts Trail in May, Makers Fairs in May and September, and the Saltaire Living Advent Calendar in December, Saltaire Inspired deliver exciting and memorable events as a contribution to Bradford as an internationally recognised centre for the arts.
www.saltaireinspired.org.uk

Be.CULTOUR
Be.CULTOUR, “Beyond Cultural Tourism” is an Horizon 2020-funded project engaging local communities all over Europe to co-create and test sustainable human-centred solutions for circular cultural tourism, through innovative methodologies and improved investment strategies.
www.becultour.eu