Jaroslav Dvorak, Klaipėda University, Klaipėda, Lithuania,
Primož Pevcin, University of Ljubljana, Ljubljana, Slovenia

Place: 29th NISPAcee Annual Conference, Ljubljana, Slovenia
Date: October 21-23, 2021
Main theme of the conference: "Citizens' Engagement and Empowerment - The Era of Collaborative Innovation in Governance"

The panel was organised in hybrid form, thus the first session was implemented in online format, and the second session in physical format. Both sessions were held on Friday, October 22, 2021. The aim of the panel was to address the frameworks of public policy and cultural planning, which are perceived as the driving tools for smart development. The relation between the arts, culture, citizens, creativity, and government policies was addressed in order to take an empowerment approach to cultural policy analysis and management. In summary, 7 papers which were included in the final version of the conference programme for this panel were also presented; 5 of them in online format, and 2 of them in physical format.

The papers delivered in the online session were:

•"City’s Soft Power: Developing Urban Soft Power Index as a tool for smart and culture-led development”. Author/Presenter: Veaceslav Mir, Babes-Bolyai University, Cluj-Napoca, Romania. •"Perception of customer research from the point of view of managers in public cultural institutions in Poland”. Author/Presenter: Rudolf Wawrzyniec, University of Lodz, Lodz, Poland. •"Art classes in high school: to be or not to be?” – the Romanian answer. Author/Presenter: Andrei Nicolae, National School of Political Studies and Public Administration, Bucharest, Romania.
•"Stuck inside: How did performers manage to fare the COVID-19 pandemic?” Author/Presenter: Alina Maria Pavelea, Babes-Bolyai University, Cluj-Napoca, Romania.
•"Drivers of Inter-Municipal Cooperation as a Vehicle for Smart Local Development”. Authors: Veronika Petkovsek & Primož Pevcin, University of Ljubljana Faculty of Public Administration, Slovenia.

The papers delivered in the physical session were:
•"What factors shape the particular branding of the cities?” Author/Presenter: Primoz Pevcin, University of Ljubljana, Ljubljana, Slovenia.
•"Modern forms of promotion and the possibility of its exploitation in cities”. Authors: Katarina Vitálišová, Darina Rojíková, Anna Vaňová, Kamila Borseková, University of Matej Bel, Banska Bystrica, Slovakia.

There were 2 major issues discussed during this panel, i.e. city promotion, strategies and development and managerial issues in cultural institutions. Interestingly, the delay in the conference implementation for almost 18 months, caused by the pandemic, has also caused changes in the focus of the presented topics, as the effects of the pandemic were, directly or indirectly, addressed in all of the reports, thus boosting the practical implications of the panel’s focus. According to the discussion, the panel envisages that the focus of the future activities should be directed more towards the issues of smartness and resilience, with the need to amend the aim and title of the panel, when proposed to continue.