Projects and Third Mission

Siena Jazz planning and networking

Siena Jazz works to promote the direct application, enhancement and use of knowledge to contribute to the social, cultural and economic development of the Company. In this perspective, each area manager within the Institute is committed to communicating and disseminating knowledge through a direct relationship with the territory and all its actors. In 2006 Siena Jazz was recognised as a Training Agency, accredited by the Tuscany Region, with D.D.R.T. no. 1281 of 20/03/06. With Regional Decree no. 3342 of 12/03/2019, the application sent by the institute in 2018 is approved and the accreditation of the next three years is authorized. Siena Jazz has set up a working group to manage and organise initiatives dedicated to the third mission and cooperation with local and international partners. The objective of the strategies related to the Third Mission is the establishment of an integrated training-production-research system, capable of effectively guiding the future development directions of Siena Jazz in the academic and internationalization fields. In particular, the definition of Third Mission for SJ implies the adoption of an approach capable of promoting fundamental democratic principles within the academic life of the Academy, which is echoed in the impacts that Third Mission actions intend to generate:

– Public involvement: through the attraction of new audiences, the strengthening of artistic production activities and their international circulation, the promotion of interdisciplinarity in contemporary cultural productions.

– Social responsibility: development of training models for professional guidance, which intercept the needs of recent graduates, and at the same time encourage and stimulate the development of skills and professionalism specific to the sector. Job placement actions and creation of a specific spin-off.

– Cooperation and networks: Collaborations increase to raise the debate on academic and artistic research and stimulate the exchange of young artists.

Starting from different contextual issues and approaches to support academic success, this project will develop a new approach focused on connecting grit and civic engagement as powerful predictors of academic success.

Siena Jazz has always encouraged socio-cultural initiatives that promote civic engagement and active citizenship among its students and teachers. In this context, the actions to promote active citizenship are part of the Erasmus SJ Programme, which has set up an internal Working Group on the Third Mission.

Among the main promotional actions are:

  • – design a strategy for the correct dissemination and enhancement of the approach,
    objectives and results of the Institute’s Third Mission actions;
  • – create the web portal to support the transferability of the web model and tools.

The wide use of open source technologies and digital resources will facilitate the results and favor the social innovation model of the J-Ab project with a strong bottom-up approach and the involvement of all the main stakeholders, thanks to actions that mainly involve students and recent graduates;

  • design and organise meetings and events related to the enhancement of academic, research and production results, at national and European level;
  • promote the experiment of social innovation at other universities at regional and national level;
  • expand the network of partners and stakeholders;
  • stimulate the search for new audiences and fund-raising actions.

The main impacts:

  • greater consultation with partners and comparison on courses of study in music jazz for the analysis and adoption of common strategies;
  • increase in the relational, curricular, cultural and artistic skills of beneficiaries, in particular for pupils;
  • increasing the appeal of Siena Jazz’s academic offer, whose index main remains the growing number of foreign students enrolled;
  • increase in participants’ language skills;
  • development of relations between colleagues at European level and exchange of methodologies administrative and educational;
  • development and consolidation of transnational relations for the establishment and launch of solid networking actions, which also led to the development of shared projects and the implementation of cooperation actions beyond the Erasmus+ Programme;
  • development of stable relations with other European partners that have led to the enhancement of joint artistic productions (through the involvement of students in jazz music festivals in their respective countries, the creation of mixed musical formations, promotion and mutual exchange of ensembles within their artistic programs);
  • broadening the visibility of the institution and supporting the strategies of internationalisation
  • greater professional satisfaction of administrative and teaching staff involved in mobility;
  • greater awareness and construction of European identity through constant comparison between different professionals, cultures and artistic backgrounds;
  • greater adherence to the territorial context and active participation in the actions of enhancement of the Sienese Music Centre.

INDICATORS AND TOOLS FOR MONITORING INVOLVEMENT: the rate of involvement of members of the academic communities for the different tasks of the project. The number of participants, conferences, seminars and the presentation of the project results will support the process of continuous evolution of the project’s impact on the broad spectrum of university communities in the EU.

USER SATISFACTION: Reports for each WP and user satisfaction data will be produced and evaluated and will be collected and evaluated through online questionnaires and other dedicated tools. These results/outputs will be relevant to motivate and enable stakeholders and potential users to visit and evaluate the tools and resources.

ENGAGEMENT: Another indicator will be the number of institutions, associated partners and stakeholders who will use the web platform and who will be involved in cooperation actions.

Among the various activities promoted by Siena Jazz we can highlight:

  • cultural animation interventions with other institutions: several are the events promoted by Siena Jazz and in collaboration with other social and cultural actors of the City, with the common objective of supporting the social and educational growth of the territory in which it operates. Siena Jazz has proposed a series of concerts hosted at the headquarters of the city districts (fundamental connectors and centers of aggregation in the social fabric of the city), and at the museums of the cultural circuits of the City;
  • the cultural promotion activities promoted by the Polo Musicale Senese, consisting of the three institutes of excellence, Siena Jazz, Istituto Franci and Accademia Chigiana, continue;
  • collaboration with jazz clubs and other venues in the area: collaborations between Siena Jazz and various realities of artistic promotion of the territory, including jazz clubs, public entertainment venues, associations, libraries, etc.
  • there are numerous collaboration agreements with regional music high schools and institutes schools in the area, with which SJ collaborates for the promotion of musical culture, offering music initiation courses, and concert lessons, and contributing to the outgoing orientation actions of schools and the fight against early school leaving. Siena Jazz also dedicates to Open Day schools in which they are offered: presentation conference of the institute and its activities, visit of the school, concert and/or open class offered by teachers ex students of Siena Jazz, targeted individual support and counter information for young people interested in embarking on the path of academic musical training.
  • projects are also in place with educational institutions for the activation of PCTO projects, Pathways for Transversal Competences and Guidance (formerly ASL); and collaborations with regional universities (UNISI and UNIFI) to allow students on university courses to carry out an internship experience at Siena Jazz;
  • In addition, during the pandemic emergency, Siena Jazz was also distinguished by the donation of safety supports (professional polycarbonate orchestra panels) to the ‘San Benardino da Siena‘ Comprehensive Institute, initiating actions to guarantee musical education to all students of every order and grade in full safety (https://www.lanazione.it/siena/cronaca/siena-jazz-musica-sicura-nella-scuola-1.5834637).
  • Peter Pan Orchestra: founded in 2008 in collaboration with the Children’s Art Museum of Siena, the PPO is the result of an innovative musical project aimed at young people of all ages between 9 and 14 years old;
  • The network of citizen universities is consolidated through collaborations with the University of Siena, University for Foreigners of Siena;
  • always active collaboration with citizen youth networks: Erasmus Student Network;
  • support projects for children’s approach to music through musical preparation with municipal kindergartens;
  • projects to get closer to music for people with disabilities;
  • Symbiosis: workshop on theatrical and musical improvisation
  • networking actions and collaborations at national and international level with third sector organisation, non-profit organisations, cultural networks, jazz clubs, schools, voluntary organisations.
  • affiliation with international organizations (AEC, IASJ, Jazz Network) and national networks (MIDI, I-Jazz) for the promotion of jazz music.
  • There are also numerous collaborations with local bodies and organizations, jazz clubs, festivals, artistic associations, regional and national schools and universities (also for hosting internships and internships). In 2023 and 2024, various groups formed by students and teachers of Siena Jazz performed at various festivals such as Lucca Soundout festival, Pisa Jazz and Iseo Jazz. Collaborative relationships with educational institutions also continue profitably for the implementation of training orientation actions and promotion of jazz music towards the youth groups (high schools and middle schools in the regional territory).
  • interdisciplinary projects with Third Sector Bodies and local associations: Body Speaking and ViviFortezza Event.
  • In 2024, Siena Jazz won for the fourth consecutive edition the contribution promoted by the Italian Ministry of Culture and SIAE for the enhancement of Italian musical excellence, with the allocation of funds from the “Per chi Crea” programme.

Since 2020, the program has allowed Siena Jazz to develop numerous projects and collaborations, thanks to the skills of the internal work team that operates in the field of international design and fundraising, and to act as a stimulus for the promotion of young talents and dissemination of the Academy’s original artistic productions.

On the occasion of Italian Language Day 2024, thanks to the collaboration with the Institute of Italian Culture in Abu Dhabi and in partnership with the prestigious La Sorbonne University, Siena Jazz has carried out a tour of the United Arab Emirates of 5 musical formations most representative of Siena Jazz’s original artistic production.