IF you're a regular summer visitor to Edinburgh for the Fringe, officially the world's largest arts festival, then you won't be surprised at the role played by professional knowledge acquisition in helping it remain at the top end of international cultural attractions.
For three weeks every August - more or less in parallel the similarly renowned Edinburgh International Festival (EIF), and respective international book, film, and art festivals, the Mela music and dance festival and the Military Tattoo - this collection of the great, good and yet to be discovered attracts a huge audience.
The Fringe headline figures for 2014 - the largest ever programme undertaken - involved 49,497 performances; 3,193 shows; 299 venues; and an estimated 2,183,591 tickets issued.
Proud of its timeline, its breadth of artistic genre and its often alternative brand of stimulating entertainment, it positively revels in being a medium that has been, to coin its favoured strapline, "Defying the norm since 1947".
The point here is that it's a big opportunity. By its very nature, Edinburgh Festival Fringe Society is also a major fixed-term contract jobs source, as well as a permanent post employer that recruits throughout the year. And it acts as an inspiration for mini-cultural events across Scotland with a similar professional need.
In some respects it has acted as the barometer of impact and likely take-up for a university programme targeting skills development in the culture sector.
Appropriately offered by an Edinburgh institution, Queen Margaret University (QMU) has even entered into the spirit of what it calls "affordable" cost; remembering that Fringe events cost audience members from nothing upwards.
QMU is offering a limited number of bursaries for its Masters programme in Arts, Festival and Cultural Management, the idea being to help staff from selected Scottish cultural organisations develop more effective knowledge of cultural management, both in the UK and internationally.
A partial fee waiver of 50 per cent for students undertaking the programme isn't free - indeed it leaves £2,000 still to be paid by whatever means is available, employer, student or other source. But as in the comparison between the early Fringe performances and those of the original EIF, it is at least half the cost without being half as good. Like the Fringe, it's a short engagement - ie for a limited time only.
The scheme was piloted in 2014. Three staff from the Fringe Society took up the opportunity to develop skills and knowledge that would support them in the development of their career. Combined with the support of their employer, it has allowed them to study the Master's programme on a part-time basis while they continue to work.
David Stevenson, Programme Leader for the MA Arts, Festival and Cultural Management course says it's a move that recognises both the importance of the culture segment and its likely future growth. "We are establishing this bursary to help support the development of the next generation of senior managers," says Stevenson.
"Given the rapidly changing economic and social landscape in which cultural organisations find themselves, we see this scheme as not only supporting the individuals but contributing towards the sustainability of cultural organisations in Scotland."
Organisations choosing to take up the opportunity must agree to support staff members by giving them the time they need to attend the course; one day a week throughout each 12 week semester over the two years' duration.
Cynics might regard all of this as an exercise in going through the motions, an elevated form of continuous professional development (CPD), filling places on yet another arts course that seeks to fill a tiny gap in an already overly provided-for academic area.
But given the more than subtle differences in arts event organisation disciplines, the renewed growth in all types of festivals as the economy improves and the job variety available, it is no surprise it hits the spot for employers able to afford the other half of the cost - and offers a recognised qualification with international appeal.
Lyndsey Jackson, from the Edinburgh Festival Fringe Society, agrees it's a positive career development tool: "The fee waiver scheme allowed us to offer three members of staff high quality professional development as well as a postgraduate qualification," she remarks. "We have encouraged these staff to apply their learning to their roles and the wider organisation, and the content of the programme reflects the reality of working in a festival organisation such as ours, giving these students useful skills and knowledge to perform better in their working lives."
On a practical note, Stevenson concludes: "We are delighted that the students who took up this opportunity during last year's pilot have found the programme so valuable. While cultural organisations can often work on very tight budgets, this should not mean that staff development is overlooked. We think this scheme offers an affordable way for cultural organisations to invest in their team and which will ultimately strengthen their ability to support creative practice in Scotland."
As this is about development of existing professional staff, the types of organisation to which the fee waiver can apply is naturally limited to key portions of Scotland's cultural offering. In short, that means elements of Creative Scotland's regularly funded portfolio; members of the development body Museums Galleries Scotland,and the Federation of Scottish Theatre.
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