We’re Not in Kansas Anymore: Pragmatic Adaptation in Large-Scale Creative Projects with Underspecified Product Concepts

The aim of this research is to reveal the most important aspects and features of functioning of music festivals in modern Italy; to consider their main types and specifics of organizing such music projects on the example of “Maggio Musicale Fiorentino” (the eightieth anniversary season).The methodology of the research is based on the use of the inductive method, which consists in the study of individual festival trends, which allowed determining the general tendencies of the existence of the festival process in the system of cultural life in modern Italy.Relevance is in the necessity to study comprehensively the music festival life in modern Italy as an integral part of Italian national culture The identification of the importance and influence of Italian projects on the state of the musical life at our time acquires special attention and will help domestic musicians learn the specifics of the organization of music festivals in modern Italy, learn this experience and use it in the practice of the musical life of modern Ukraine.Conclusions. Festivals have become a vital part of the music life system in modern Italy; the festival movement has undergone considerable changes and has acquired pace in the last decade of the 20th century and in the beginning of the 21st century: 1) number of festival events, both professional and amateur, is growing; 2) professionals festivals are growing to the size of large-scale events, that may even include schools that give master classes and implement creative projects within the festivals for young musicians; 3) intercultural and creative ties develop, not only between 20 regions of Italy (that are divided into 107 provinces), but also in the international context (taking place on international, regional and city levels). 4) one of the brightest musical projects in the panorama of professional festivals is the “Florentine musical May”, during the years of its existence has significantly expanded its functions. Now it’s not only a music festival that takes place in a certain month of the year, but a creative organization with its own theater, orchestra, choir, academy, master classes, recording studio, magazine, association “Amici del teatro del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino”, sponsors. It is a powerful creative project that preserves traditions and adheres to the basic formula – high quality and professional level in everything. This large-scale project also includes the festival “Maggio Musicale Fiorentino”, which already passes the 80th season every year from the end of April to the beginning of June in the heart of Italian Tuscany – the city of Florence.

The article considers the model of time planning in strategic goal programs of innovative development of complex, large-scale systems. In practice, a creative project has conjunctive logic, and we describe it in the space of time-cost-reliability variables. The time indicator of the goal program (large-scale project) is found from the solution of the optimization problem, for which we use an effective method. The Weibull distribution gives the activity reliability index. In this case, we obtain a lower bound on the reliability indicator of the project as a whole. The table provides the results of numerical calculations for the test example.

Based on official speeches and documents, Chinese think tank publications, as well as data sets mapping China's global activities, this chapter critically assesses the main patterns and instruments of China's Africa strategy. It seeks to shed light on the incremental evolution and pragmatic adaptation of China's foreign and security approach toward Africa. The chapter's main point of departure is the observation of an economy–security nexus determining Beijing's strategic calculations. Since the official launching of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) in 2013, the People's Republic of China's (PRC) investment in large-scale connectivity projects across the African continent have been noticeably expanded. However, numerous 'Chinese' projects are primarily undertaken by private companies and entrepreneurs and hence should not be categorized along the lines of the PRC's official foreign strategy. Nonetheless, the therefrom-deriving complex economic interconnectedness of China and Africa finally requires a modification of Beijing's reflections on security and stability – hence forcing China to position itself in 'domestic' (and 'regional') affairs of its African partners along the corridors of the 'New Silk Road'.

At the heart of every company’s ability to innovate lies a process of experimentation that enables the organization to create and refine its products and services2. In fact, no product can be a product without it first having been an idea subsequently shaped through experimentation. Today, a major development project involves literally thousands of experiments, all with the same objective: to learn, through rounds of organized testing, whether the product concept or proposed technical solution holds promise for addressing a need or problem. The information derived from each round is then incorporated into the next set of experiments, until the final product ultimately results. In short, innovations do not arrive fully fledged but are nurtured—through an experimentation process that takes place in laboratories and development organizations.

This chapter looks at a young phase of a social start-up that combines creativity, social interconnection and scientific research. Ootiboo is a newly founded social enterprise with a preparation phase of almost 2 years.With two major creativity projects in quick succession, experience showed a tremendous impact on the well-being of the people involved. Everyone, no matter if children or adults, showed a sense of ownership and sense of belonging, wanted to volunteer and showed even improvement of their mental stage and communication skills. Cross-generation, cross-milieu, interdisciplinary and inter-religion communication between volunteers was observed.The question can be asked as to whether these observations were just by chance or if similar projects could have the same impact, but the seed of forming a company around similar projects to show large-scale evidence of the hypothesis, backed by neuroscientific research around creativity, was planted.

Effects of large-scale land consolidation projects on ecological environment quality: A case study of a land creation project in Yan'an, China

‘Magarpatta City’ is a unique example of inclusive growth model. ‘Magarpatta City’ model is very different from other upcoming infrastructure and industrial projects in India that are leading to displacement of thousands of poor farmers/small landowners. The resistance against such projects is rising, as the farmers/land owners have a growing feeling that they are not getting the right price for their land and are being exploited in the process. The negative sentiments against such large-scale development projects are also growing in India as most of the development projects do not propose any long-term plan for the resettlement of displaced farmers. Singur and Nandigram, two small villages located in West Bengal (India), can be considered as recent examples of violent resistance demonstrated by poor farmers against proposed Special Economic Zone projects on their land. In view of the above, ‘Magarpatta’ is an unmatched example of partnership of farmers which has led to creation of world-class urban project on the basis of an innovative entrepreneurial idea and vision. Under the ‘Magarpatta City’ model, the farmers have not been displaced and it also has been ensured that farmers continue to benefit from the project for generations to come.

“A cold, hard asset”: Conservation resource spectacle in Chilean Patagonia

Irrigation has always been a priority for India, for which bulk of expenditure has been spent on creation of major and medium irrigation projects. To provide superior irrigation service to the farmers, it becomes important to know at the outset how the farmers perceive the current irrigation service delivery system. For this, we did a study. Our results show that only 69 per cent reported canal irrigation as the dominant source of irrigation. Only 56 per cent of the total irrigation needs of an individual farmer come from the canals. Accountability of the service providers towards the farmers is currently lacking and needs major attention in the future. Quality of the service delivery varied across different sections of the command of a system, with the tail reaches receiving the worst service, effectively shrinking the actual command.

PRACTITIONER'S PERSPECTIVE: Bridging the gap between applied ecological science and practical implementation in peatland restoration

The authors discuss the project activities of the students within and beyond learning process. The large-scale creative individual projects are presented for the college-level competitions as well as for the city or All-Russian competitions and contests.

This creative Major Research Project (MRP) uses a practice-led research method approach to investigate a correlation between the queer body and the grotesque. The research questions attempt to explore the way queer bodies are used to transgress and subvert both heteronormative and homonormative ideologies and masculinities using grotesque humour. This project also examines the relationship between fashion and the body to resist normative values and ideals. Artistic practices combine to create a volume of work consisting of collage, underwear garments, and photographs. These creative outputs are then analyzed and discussed with a focus on Mikhail Bakhtin’s theories of the grotesque and carnivalesque, Gilles Deleuze’s theory of the Body without Organs, and queer theory.

This creative Major Research Project (MRP) uses a practice-led research method approach to investigate a correlation between the queer body and the grotesque. The research questions attempt to explore the way queer bodies are used to transgress and subvert both heteronormative and homonormative ideologies and masculinities using grotesque humour. This project also examines the relationship between fashion and the body to resist normative values and ideals. Artistic practices combine to create a volume of work consisting of collage, underwear garments, and photographs. These creative outputs are then analyzed and discussed with a focus on Mikhail Bakhtin’s theories of the grotesque and carnivalesque, Gilles Deleuze’s theory of the Body without Organs, and queer theory.

City Symphony

Engaging communities in practices of listening to changing ecosystems is the most powerful ways to inspire a presence and connection to place. Ecological sound artists emerging from the acoustic ecology movement have propelled many of the most significant discoveries that have informed the development of ecoacoustics. This chapter introduces a series of case studies working with communities in Australia and Mexico through the international research projects Biosphere Soundscapes, Biosphere Open Microphones, and River Listening. The emergence of ecoacoustics is considered a new science, yet the concept of listening to ecosystems to understand environmental changes is not a new proposition. Biosphere Soundscapes is a large-scale international research project that works directly with the communities of UNESCO biosphere reserves to facilitate local acoustic ecology research projects that connect with a global network. In addition to major river systems in Australia, the project has worked with freshwater ecosystems throughout Europe, North America, and the Asia Pacific facilitating major creative projects and community engagement.