Cambridge Students Present Business Model Recommendations for Foundation’s New Building

On April 19, a delegation of four MBA students from Cambridge University concluded a business trip to the Foundation’s office in Ramallah. The purpose of the visit was to present their recommendations on the development of a sustainable business model for a building the Foundation intends to construct in Al-Tireh, Ramallah. This new building will house the Foundation's administrative and programme operations and serve as a multi-faceted cultural centre that includes an art gallery, library, and multi-purpose hall to be used for lectures, workshops, conferences, musical performances, film screenings and other functions.The student delegation’s one-month project period involved meetings with the Foundation's staff as well as with beneficiaries and representatives of partner organisations and bodies working in similar fields or serving similar groups. At the end of the visit, the students presented the main findings of their final report to the Foundation’s staff and representatives of partner organisations and beneficiaries. Their report emphasised the necessity of building a unified vision of the building within the Foundation which underscores the Foundation’s role in Palestine’s cultural and educational scenes. Furthermore, the report emphasised the necessity of engaging the community and broadening the stakeholder base, as well as soliciting opinions and feedback from the widest possible audience so as to determine the extent to which the building fulfills their needs and aspirations. Finally, the report elaborated on the critical success factors associated with marketing and promotion as well as local community ownership. In this context, the students presented examples of successful as well as unsuccessful experiences in establishing cultural centres in European countries, highlighting the factors of success and failure for each.