COMMON LAB MANUAL: CASE STUDY
INTRODUCTION

​Text: Max Spielmann

WHY TALE OF X CITIES AS CASE-STUDY

Tale of X Cities was selected as a case-study because of its success — testified by the participants and partner institutions — and because of the adequate data it offered to be analysed and interpreted due to the large number of participants and realised media works.

The numbers of the output of Tale of X Cities speak a clear language of success. 184 active participants in a total of 32 digital workshops and lectures with an average of 42 participants each. This resulted in around 30 media products in cooperation with 25 partner institutions as well as a hybrid festival. A positive cost-benefit ratio can already be seen when looking at the ratio of Input and direct Output. Following the Social Reporting Standards (SRS) methodologies, one can also look at the project’s Outcome and Impact. The Outcome can be seen in the development of personal resources, for example in the training and practical experience of the participants and the staff of the partner institutions. The Impact is reflected on the initial indications of a sustainable change in the self-image of the region, in the participants’ approaches to participatory social interventions, and in the development of active, inclusive cultural organisations (audience development).

Cyclical evaluation process: To process the data, the evaluation team used elements of media and cultural interpretation (products), quantitative social research (participant data), and qualitative research methods (interviews/focus conversations). For the overall assessment, insights from design, art theory and cultural management were incorporated, to draw conclusions for the continuation of Tale of X Cities and future projects. In a cyclical process, partial results were gradually related to each other in a kind of triangulation. In this way, the data could be linked to the media productions and the contents of the interviews. This resulted in a very lively and multifaceted picture of the project, in which reasons for success and also potentials for Tale of X Cities and other similarly designed projects become recognisable.

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TALE OF X CITIES OVERVIEW

Tale of X Cities was realised in 2021, based on the experience of How To…, series of online workshops realised in the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic crisis. 

Tale of X Cities is addressed to people of the Northern Greek Arc from the Ionian Sea to the Turkish border as media authors and connects them with local cultural institutions.

Goals:

• Familiarise participants with the use of new information and communication technologies, which have become an indispensable skill today.
• Offer training on working with different media and media formats (audio, video, podcast, photography, interactive productions, performances, interventions).
• Initiate project groups with people of different ages, professional and social backgrounds to engage in media production around themes of local history, traditions, personal narratives, perceptions of the natural and digital environment, and contemporary concerns. This is always about the possibility of perceiving and reshaping the city, or, more openly defined, one's own social and spatial-temporal environment.
• Promote networking between the different participating cities and cultural organisations in Northern Greece through the workshops and a final festival. 

Activities:

Phase A’ - Online Seminars

• Online seminars on: 
  • Storytelling (Soti Triantafillou)
  • Interviewing (Annita Mordechai)
  • Photography (Stefanos Tsakiris)
  • Video (Antonis Valindras)
  • Podcast (Phoebe Fronista) 
  • Festival-making (Christos Savvidis)

Phase B’ - Online Workshops for the production of works 

• Led by Elli Chrysidou, with the support of Christos Savvidis, Lydia Chatziiakovou
• Guest lecturers 
  • Giannis Ziogas, “Walking Art” 
  • Sotirios Bahtsetzis, “Art for Social Change”
  • Christos Papadopulos, “The city talks” alternative documentary practices 
  • Valentina Sokratous, “Tale of X Citizens” - self-Reflection, feedback, team-building
• Individual production support
  • Christos Savvidis, Lydia Chatziiakovou, Elli Chrysidou

Phase C’ - Hybrid Festival

• Final decentralised hybrid festival with presentation of the works, which brought together the communities and supported the formation of a network of communities and institutions in the cities of Northern Greece.

Throughout the project

• Regular working meetings with 25 local partner institutions that contributed to the project.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION
About Common Lab
​Background
Timeline

ACTIVITIES RATIONALE 
​Tale of X Cities & media competences for community building
State of the Arts & the digital public spheres

KEY THEORETICAL CONCEPTS
​Social innovation through art
​Art for social change
​Post-industrial design
Cultural and creative industries
Bibliography

CASE STUDY: TALE OF X CITIES
​About the case study
​Tale of X Cities key results & findings
​Lessons learned & recommendations 
Model project flow
​Media productions as evaluation tool
​Digital events and communication formats