Professor of Creative and Cultural Industries Management

  • Academic
  • Research
Professor Elisabetta Lazzaro

Elisabetta Lazzaro is a cultural economist, Professor of Creative and Cultural Industries Management at UCA Business School for the Creative Industries, and Head of the Arts & Creative Ecosystems (ACEs) Research & Innovation cluster at UCA.

Bio

Elisabetta has formerly been Professor of Creative Economy and Head of Professorship at HKU University of the Arts Utrecht (Netherlands), Professor, Chair in Cultural Management and Head of Division at Free University of Brussels (Belgium), and Assistant Professor of Arts Management & Entrepreneurship at Meadows School of the Arts & Cox Business School, Southern Methodist University (USA). Elisabetta holds a double PhD in Economics from University Paris 1-Panthéon-Sorbonne and Free University of Brussels (Fellow), in addition to other fellow studies and degrees in cultural economics and management, music, art history, design and fashion in major HE institutions in Europe, the USA and Australia.

Elisabetta has served in several national and international scientific agencies and industry and government boards specialised in the cultural and creative sectors, and she is Executive Board Member of the Association for Cultural Economics International (ACEI). She has a track record of more than 70 publications in international peer-reviewed journals, books and policy reports, on the economics management, entrepreneurship and policy of the arts, cultural heritage creative industries and digitisation, including: arts markets, cultural participation and value, entrepreneurship, sustainable business models, financing and crowdfunding of arts and creative professionals and organisations, and culture in international relations. She is the recipient of about 50 international and national research grants and fellowships. She is regularly invited as a keynote lecturer in international and national peer-reviewed and industry conferences and events in the creative industries, and she has delivered more than 140 keynotes and presentations.

At UCA Elisabetta has created and leads the interdisciplinary Arts & Creative Ecosystems research and innovation cluster (ACEs), a growing multidisciplinary research team that develops capacity building by exploiting arts and creative and cultural industries (CCI) strategic innovation in the economy and society through knowledge exchange with a variety of industry and government stakeholders at local, national and international levels. Internally to UCA, it aims to foster multi- and inter-disciplinarity in research and innovation between the BSCI and the other Schools and Departments.

On behalf of the European Union, Prof. Lazzaro has been one of the first advocates for the constitution in 2022 of the EIT Culture & Creativity KIC, for which a large European consortium has been selected to integrate innovation in research, education, economy and governance in the cultural and creative industries. Prof. Lazzaro represents UCA in this consortium, contributing to, among others, the Strategic Topic Group for Entrepreneurial, Innovative and Circular Adaptive reuse of Cultural Heritage, and the Strategic Topic Group of Virtual, augmented and mixed realities, immersive content and the metaverse.

Elisabetta is UCA’s PI in the international research project Crowdfunding in the Culture Sector: Adoption, Effects and Implications (CROWDCUL)”, funded by the Research Council of Norway. The project was launched in 2020 and will run through 2024.

Prof. Lazzaro is also the co-founder and co-lead of the international interdisciplinary forum Researching Art Markets Past &Present: Tools for the Future (RAMP) an international community of hundreds of art-market scholars as well as practitioners from six continents, meeting and exchanging knowledge, research and best practices through international workshops, peer-reviewed publications and other initiatives.

Research supervision

Elisabetta is interested in supervising PhD students in different areas of cultural and creative economy, including arts markets, entrepreneurship, innovation, financing and digital and immersive technologies in the arts, culture and creative industries.

Professional Membership, Affiliation and Consultancy

  • Executive Board Member of the Association for Cultural Economics International (ACEI)
  • Expert of the UNESCO’s Inclusive Policy Lab
  • Co-founder and co-director of Researching Art Markets Past & Present: Tools for the Future (RAMP)
  • Member of the International Association of Arts and Cultural Management (AIMAC)
  • Restricted Group Member of the European Industrial Policy Strategy and Cultural and Creative Industries, European Commission, Brussels
  • Panel Member for the Union action “European Capital of Culture”, European Commission, Brussels
  • Restricted Scientific Group Member of the Cultural and Creative Cities Monitor, European Commission, Brussels
  • Member of the International Council of Museums (ICOM)
  • Member of the International Art Market Studies Association (TIAMSA)
  • Advisory Board Member of the Art Market Dictionary, Walter de Gruyter Academic Publishing, Berlin

Main/most recent only:

  • British Academy-UKRI Pump Priming, 2022 (project leader)
  • Ministry of Culture of Colombia, Cultural districts and local development, 2021 (project partner)
  • Research Council of Norway, Crowdfunding in the Culture Sector: Adoption, Effects and Implications (CROWDCUL), 2020-2024 (project partner)
  • COIMA ESG City Impact Fund, Covivio and Prada Holding / Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM), International Competition Masterplan for the regeneration of the Porta Romana railway yard in Milan (Italy), 2nd prize, 2020-2021 (project partner)
  • European Commission, Creative Europe, Festivallinks, 2018-2020 (project partner)
  • Dutch Board of Practice-Oriented Research (SIA) KIEM, Capturing Value for Creative Professionals, 2018-2019 (project co-leader)
  • European Commission, COST, Cultural Crowdfunding, 2018 (project partner)
  • European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT), Budapest, Culture, Cultural Heritage and Creative Industries in EIT’s Strategic Innovation Agenda, 2017 (project co-leader)
  • Artclair Editions/Le Journal des Arts, Paris and Artfacts.net, Berlin, The international art market & big data, 2017 (project co-leader)
  • Government of the Brussels-Capital Region, Brussels, The economic impact of the cultural and creative sector in the Brussels-Capital Region, 2015-2017 (project co-leader)
  • European Parliament, Brussels, Creative Europe - Culture sub-programme: First experiences with the implementation of the new programme, 2016 (project leader)
Professor Elisabetta Lazzaro

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Publications