Culture Policy Room

𝐀𝐫𝐭 𝐜𝐚𝐧𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐬𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐥𝐝. But in times of deepening divisions, rising tensions, and growing militarisation, could culture be the last remaining common ground for humanity - no matter how dramatic that sounds? This article, based on a report by IETM - International network for contemporary performing arts, written by Elena Polivtseva, offers fresh ideas 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐩𝐨𝐥𝐢𝐜𝐲𝐦𝐚𝐤𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐰𝐡𝐨 𝐛𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐞𝐯𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐫 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐬𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐛𝐨𝐥𝐝, 𝐯𝐢𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐠𝐢𝐞𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐮𝐩𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐨𝐫 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐨𝐝𝐚𝐲’𝐬 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐧𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐬𝐜𝐚𝐩𝐞. How can we rethink funding models to ensure that the arts don’t just survive but thrive? How can we create support systems that drive real transformation, strengthen connections, and make the creative community more resilient - no matter what crises come our way? In short, a cultural policy in times of polycrisis and growing mistrust, both within societies and globally, can focus on two key elements: 📍 The first priority is building the arts sector’s sustainability - through networks, resource-sharing, and long-term collaboration - rather than chasing visibility through short-term, output-driven activities. 📍 The second approach is reshaping funding, applications, and evaluations around trust and partnership - rather than reinforcing restrictive control. Dive into the Culture Policy Room article and don’t forget to subscribe to UnpackCulture! https://lnkd.in/e-iiTzV5

💥 What lies ahead for European cultural policy? A new direction, a decline, or more of the same? Everything is starting anew in the EU capital, with the new Parliament and the College of Commissioners beginning to shape their priorities. A new chapter is also about to unfold for cultural policy. Culture remains absent from high-level agendas, but this political neglect is nothing new. What is new, however, is the growing uncertainty about the future of EU support for cross-border cultural cooperation, coupled with an increasing sense of dwindling resources for culture at the national level. In this edition of UnpackCulture, we explore some of the pressing questions: 📍 With the forthcoming restructuring of the EU budget and a potential shift from a programme-based to a policy-based financial framework, 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐛𝐞 𝐚𝐧 𝐄𝐔 𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐮𝐩𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭 𝐜𝐫𝐨𝐬𝐬-𝐛𝐨𝐫𝐝𝐞𝐫 𝐜𝐮𝐥𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐚𝐥 𝐜𝐨𝐨𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧? 📍 𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐝𝐨𝐞𝐬 𝐄𝐮𝐫𝐨𝐩𝐞’𝐬 𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐟𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐜𝐮𝐥𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐚𝐥 𝐩𝐨𝐥𝐢𝐜𝐲 𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐬𝐜𝐚𝐩𝐞 𝐦𝐞𝐚𝐧 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐢𝐭𝐬 𝐧𝐞𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐬? 📍 Budget cuts aren’t the only challenge facing the cultural sector. 𝐇𝐨𝐰 𝐝𝐨 𝐄𝐔 𝐯𝐢𝐬𝐚 𝐩𝐨𝐥𝐢𝐜𝐢𝐞𝐬 𝐚𝐟𝐟𝐞𝐜𝐭 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐧𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐜𝐮𝐥𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐚𝐥 𝐜𝐨𝐨𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧? 📍 Cultural policy is never neutral - 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐡𝐨𝐰 𝐝𝐨 𝐩𝐨𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐥 𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐨𝐥𝐨𝐠𝐢𝐞𝐬 𝐬𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐞 𝐢𝐭? 📍 As political priorities shift and support for culture declines, new frameworks are emerging to capture culture’s impact. 𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐝𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐨𝐩𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐬? 👉 Read our cultural policy newsletter here (and subscribe if you haven’t yet!) https://lnkd.in/d7jjtKcN

💥 2024 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐲𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐪𝐮𝐢𝐞𝐭. What kind of year has it been for cultural policy? And what can we anticipate in 2025? We have prepared this review to help you revisit the key highlights of 2024 and close the year with greater insight and clarity. This article is about: 📍 how culture was deliberately excluded from sustainable development agendas and some possible 'why-s' 📍 the direction of Europe’s political reset and its potential impact on cultural policy 📍 the dominant approaches to culture emerging within the EU’s increasingly polarised political landscape 📍 the growing political awareness of artists’ status amid shrinking resources and eroding freedoms. ...and some other important things to watch in 2025. Read it here and subscribe to our newsletter: https://lnkd.in/ewPpt7Yi

I've been researching something and have come across this fascinating overview article by Justin O'Connor - what an informative and interesting romp over 40+ years of culture, development and cultural policy! "Global Cultural Policy at the Crossroads: Reflections on the Summit of the Future" https://lnkd.in/eDYNpQuw

A very interesting article to consider if you work with culture policies and culture planning.

🌟 We are honoured to launch the Reflection Paper by Justin O'Connor 𝘎𝘭𝘰𝘣𝘢𝘭 𝘊𝘶𝘭𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘢𝘭 𝘗𝘰𝘭𝘪𝘤𝘺 𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘊𝘳𝘰𝘴𝘴𝘳𝘰𝘢𝘥𝘴: 𝘙𝘦𝘧𝘭𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘚𝘶𝘮𝘮𝘪𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘍𝘶𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦. In the wake of the UN’s Summit of the Future, which did not bring any political breakthrough for culture, Justin O’Connor identifies key blind spots in the global policy approach to culture and suggests pathways for reframing current paradigms. Moving beyond the familiar dichotomy of 'instrumental' versus 'intrinsic' value, O’Connor offers a deeper understanding of culture’s value and outlines features of the 'culture-as-public-good’ vision. Read more: https://lnkd.in/eaB57vt3

🇺🇦✨ Art & Culture at War: Reflections from Ukraine This year, Lina Kirjazovaite travelled multiple times to Ukraine and engaged with policymakers, cultural workers, and artists to explore culture's role in times of war. Ukraine’s cultural landscape has transformed. For many artists, it’s about more than creating - it’s about finding their purpose, narrating and documenting and still keeping their artistic integrity and doing no harm. This article doesn’t seek to conclude but to explore: What does it mean to create in times of war, and how can it shape culture’s future? Read the full article here: https://bit.ly/3C2E96G #Reflections #Ukraine 🇺🇦 #ResilientCulture #DocumentingWar #ArtisticIntegrity #CultureMatters #ArtisticPurpose #VoicesOfUkraine

❗ The Decline of Political Trust in Culture: Where Did It Go Wrong? This article, based on one of the chapters of the State of Culture report commissioned by Culture Action Europe and authored by Elena Polivtseva offers three possible explanations: 🔹 The endless state of crisis that has narrowed the scope of policy solutions 🔹 A policy landscape that values calculation over imagination 🔹 A sense of 'cultural stagnation' and self-instrumentalisation within the sector itself. Read more: https://lnkd.in/e2iyaNTD

❗ The Decline of Political Trust in Culture: Where Did It Go Wrong? This article, based on one of the chapters of the State of Culture report commissioned by Culture Action Europe and authored by Elena Polivtseva offers three possible explanations: 🔹 The endless state of crisis that has narrowed the scope of policy solutions 🔹 A policy landscape that values calculation over imagination 🔹 A sense of 'cultural stagnation' and self-instrumentalisation within the sector itself. Read more: https://lnkd.in/e2iyaNTD

⚡ 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐂𝐮𝐥𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐢𝐬 𝐨𝐮𝐭! This time, no LinkedIn summary from me - you really should read the report 🙂. Just one message 👇 ⭕ It’s about a vicious circle that emerged quite clearly for me during the research process: 🔄 Europe is grappling with the rise of right-wing movements, social polarisation, and a degradation of democracy. The risks are serious, the stakes are high. Yet, the future is still predominantly designed in economic terms (think of 400 pages of the Draghi Report). Culture remains sidelined, seen as a 'weak' and 'less relevant' portfolio. It is not part of the SDGs, the Green Deal, or the Democracy Action Plan. 🔄 Meanwhile, cultural policymaking has been working hard to justify its existence by aligning with external causes - whether in economics, diplomacy, or well-being. The cultural sector has also adopted this instumentalising approach for survival. As a result, 'intrinsic value' has become a complacent, hollow concept. 🔄 We continue to advocate for culture by focusing on 'spillovers' and external impacts, but in doing so, 𝐰𝐞 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐟𝐚𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚 𝐯𝐢𝐭𝐚𝐥 𝐭𝐚𝐬𝐤: 𝐭𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐲 𝐨𝐟 𝐜𝐮𝐥𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞’𝐬 𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐞, 𝐮𝐧𝐢𝐪𝐮𝐞 𝐯𝐚𝐥𝐮𝐞. 🔄 Meanwhile, instrumentalising culture hasn't solved the sector's problems. It remains increasingly precarious, and investment in culture has declined over the past decade - despite the data, evidence, and the beautiful frameworks we were developing to measure its impact. '𝐖𝐞 𝐬𝐨𝐥𝐝 𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐬𝐨𝐮𝐥 𝐛𝐮𝐭, 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐞𝐧𝐝, 𝐧𝐨𝐛𝐨𝐝𝐲 𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐮𝐲' (citing Justin O'Connor) 🔄 At the same time, societies are becoming more polarised and individualised, and Europe is facing a democratic decline (here we go, the vicious circle... 🔝). ❓ If not culture, what other force can bring us together and advance the centuries-long conversation about who we are as a society? 𝐁𝐮𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐜𝐞, 𝐜𝐮𝐥𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐦𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐥𝐚𝐢𝐦 𝐢𝐭𝐬 𝐚𝐠𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐲 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐯𝐚𝐥𝐮𝐞 𝐨𝐧 𝐢𝐭𝐬 𝐨𝐰𝐧 𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐦𝐬. 𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐬𝐞 𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐦𝐬? For more, read the report : https://lnkd.in/eX6nUkm7 I would like to thank the team of Culture Action Europe, in particular Lars Ebert, Natalie Giorgadze and Luiza Moroz for our collaboration on this important project!