I love questions.
What is yours?
Let's talk!
How I can support you
Research, Facilitation and Evaluation
Cultural Management, Cultural Policy, International Cultural Cooperation, Cultural Education
Your questions are my motivation. Dialogue is key. My analysis supports you with insightful perspectives responding to your needs. Together we enable knowledge sharing to improve strategies. I provide concepts, research, evaluation, facilitation, moderation - with expertise, experience, and sensitivity for the needs of cultural organisations. Let's start with some questions.
Culture works - but how? What are the effects and impact of your work? How can you improve and acknowledge what you are doing? How does co-operation work - between civil society and policy-makers, across sectors?
I am looking forward to your questions.
About me
Biography
I have been working in international research and consultancy projects in culture and related fields since 2006. Before starting my career as an independent researcher and evaluator, I spent more than a decade working for EDUCULT - Institute of Cultural Policy and Cultural Management. I have expertise in policy- and strategy-oriented research.
In 2017 I graduated with a PhD (distinction) in Cultural Institution Studies from the University of Music and Performing Arts (mdw) Vienna. Supervised by Prof. Tasos Zembylas, I researched Cultural Governance in cities. I received the Award of Excellence by the Austrian Federal Ministry of Education, Science and Research. In 2019 I was awarded with the Herta and Kurt Blaukopf Award for excellent dissertations at the mdw. The Master studies at the Centre for Cultural and Media Policy Studies at the University of Warwick shaped my international perspective. In 2020, I taught cultural policy, cultural organisation and audience studies at the Zeppelin-University Friedrichshafen, where I have also been working with the research cluster on Arts Production and Cultural Policy in Transformation (ACPT).
From December 2020-August 2022, I have been working as Post Doc Researcher at the University of Vienna, Institute of Political Science, on the project Agonistic Cultural Policy (AGONART) - Case Studies on the Conflicutal Transformation of Cultural Quarters (headed by Univ.-Prof. Dr. Oliver Marchart).
From 2016-2022 I have been a member of the board of the Association for Cultural Management, where I was specifically concerned with the networking of early career researchers and PhD students. I am also a board member at the research and consultancy institute EDUCULT. In 2019, I have been appointed member of the Expert Council on Cultural Diversity of the Austrian UNESCO-Commission. In 2022, I have been elected president of the council.
I live and work in Vienna, together with my husband and our two children. Vienna and its multifaceted past and present are a huge inspiration to my work. In particular, I love the coffee houses - drinking a Melange, listening to people talking in different languages, writing, and thinking. I love to travel to other places and meet new people.
Cultural policy research and strategy development
Since 2006 I have been working in applied cultural policy research for various clients (including cities, foundations).
Evaluation of the cultural funding of the city of Graz
In 2021-2022, together with the EDUCULT team, I evaluated the cultural funding of the Austrian City of Graz. The focus was on the funding agreements for cultural associations up to 2025. Their developments (including the effects of the pandemic) and perspectives (including with regard to fair pay) were discussed in detailed interviews with over 100 representatives of the city's art and culture scene. In addition, we derived strategic recommendations for the future cultural-political orientation of the city of Graz from an analysis of the entire cultural funding system. Find the evaluation report (in German) here.
Feasibility study Tanzhaus in Munich
In 2021 I have supported the Bavarian Association for Contemporary Dance with analyses in the development of a feasibility study for a dance house in Munich (client: City of Munich). In a comprehensive participatory process and an online survey, requirements, visions and implementation scenarios for a contemporary dance house with networking in the urban space and community and international appeal were developed.
Evaluation and Facilitation for the Goethe-Institut e.V.
Between 2013 and 2016 I co-developed the impact-oriented evaluation concept "Culture works" for the Goethe-Institut, the cultural institute of the Federal Republic of Germany. How can evaluation support the assessment of impact, strategic decision-making and the dialogue between policy-makers and civil society stakeholders? is one question I have been continuously reflecting on ever since. In 2017 the Goethe-Institut contracted me as an external evaluator for projects and programmes .
Spaces of Culture - Evaluation of a Large-Scale Turkish-European Collaboration managed by the Goethe-Institut Istanbul
In 2020-2021, in cooperation with EDUCULT, I evaluated Spaces of Culture, a large-scale project that has been running since 2017 in the three Turkish cities of Diyarbakır, Gaziantep and Izmir. The evaluation, which uses qualitative network analysis, focuses on the impact of European-Turkish partner relations and the sustainable support of civil society art and cultural actors in the regions. It provides a thorough analysis as well as recommendations for a third funding period.
EU 2020: The Goethe-Institut for Europe - Process-based Evaluation
2020-2021 I evaluate five projects realised by the Goethe-Institut and numerous cooperation partners in the context of the German Presidency of the European Council. I will analyse the impact and effects of the projects on strengthening the European Community and on the participation of citizens in activities and discussions e.g. on European values, sustainable development, artificial intelligence and the future of Europe. Additionally, I will look into the challenges and opportunities of new formats for cultural projects - local, digital, hybrid - under the conditions of the COVID-epidemic.
SHARED CITIES: Creative Momentum - Evaluation of an EU-funded Cooperation Project
SHARED CITIES: Creative Momentum, co-financed by the Creative Europe Programme is a project that I have been evaluating between 2017 and 2020. From 2016-2020, 11 civil society organisations from 8 cities in Serbia, Poland, Germany, Hungary, Slovakia and the Czech Republic were working on the question how urban spaces can be improved through sharing participatory and creative practices. The project has been coordinated by the Goethe-Institut Prague. In the process-based evaluation, based on the "Culture Works" evaluation approach, I collected data through interviews, group discussions, participatory observations and site visits. In January 2020, I presented the evaluation results for representatives of the Education, Audiovisual and Culture Executive Agency (EACEA) in Brussels. Key results have been published in a brochure.
Freiraum - Evaluating a Large-Scale European Network
2018-2019 I evaluated the project Freiraum Europa. 42 Goethe-Institutes worked together with partners from civil society - NGOs, theatres, museums, cultural centres - on the topic of freedom in Europe. Two cities teamed up in a co-operative tandem. I analysed the questions: Which target groups does the project reach? How do the partners succeed in co-operating over distance? And how do the partners elaborate on the topic of freedom, given the illiberal tendencies all over Europe? I am very happy that my work with Freiraum continues also in 2020, where I will look into the progress of the network until the final event in Brussels in the context of the German EU-Presidency.
Cultural Education and Co-operation
The research project "Conditions of Cultural Education in Schools. Cultural School Development and Cultural Co-operation between Schools and Cultural Partners" (2017-2019) is realised by Dr. Bettina-Marie Gördel within the programme „Kreativpotentiale und Lebenskunst NRW“. I support the German Federal Association of Cultural Education for Children and Youth through scientific consultancy, qualitative data analysis and report-writing.
Lectures and Workshops
Knowledge expands through sharing. Learning processes are based on appraisal, curiosity and positive confusion. I would love to support you and your team in areas such as evaluation and impact assessment, cultural co-operation, organisational learning, governance and strategy development.
I elaborate concepts based on your needs that will spark interest and motivation. I guarantee refreshing dialogue, new insight, and joy in working together.
Some references:
Austrian Federal Ministry for Arts, Culture, Civil Service and Sport, workshop moderation for the development of the anti-racism strategy of the ministry
Goethe-Institut, headquarters/dep. of strategy and organisational development - internal trainings on impact-assessment, evaluation, and communication of results
N2025 - Cultural Capital of Europe 2025 - workshop on intercultural city development
Universität für Musik und Darstellende Kunst, Institute of Cultural Management and Gender Studies (IKM) - Lectures and collaboration in the organisation of scientific conferences
Peter Spindler, Labor für kreatives Theater - project development
Deutsche Kinder- und Jugendstiftung (DKJS), Kultur.Forscher! - lecture on research-based learning
Landesvereinigung Kulturelle Jugendbildung Thüringen e.V. - lecture on cultural and civic education
Publications
A Selection of my Work
Conflicting cultural politics(Eds. Anke Schad-Spindler, Friederike Landau-Donnelly, Stefanie Fridrik and Oliver Marchart) (2023)
Comparative cultural policy research(2023)
A Conflict Theory of Cultural Politics (2022) (together with Friederike Landau-Donnelly, Stefanie Fridrik and Oliver Marchart)
Cultural Governance in Austria (2019)
