
Policies for Culture is a regional framework
programme of the ECUMEST Association (Bucharest) and of the European
Cultural Foundation (Amsterdam), active since the year 2000, which aims
to encourage a participative principle in the design, implementation
and evaluation of new effective cultural policies throughout South East
Europe.
Policies for Culture programme (PfC) has developed up to present a platform
of more than 500 organisations in the region (NGOs, public authorities
at national, regional and local level, universities and research institutes,
cultural magazines and journals) and gave birth to the "PfC Plus"
(addressing countries such as Slovakia or Turkey) and "CPEG - the
Cultural Policy Education Group".
OBJECTIVES & APPROACH
The programme is structured around the triangular working relationship
between civil society, the executive, and the legislature in the policy-making
process affecting the cultural sector. It is based on the recognition
that public policy in the field of culture can only have a sustainable
impact if the civic stakeholders whom it is to affect participate in
its formulation. Emphasis is placed on finding channels of communication
between these levels (which are not used to interacting); and, by encouraging
participative policy making in the field of culture, on empowering the
independent sector to voice its opinions. To this end, Policies for
Culture engages policy makers and the cultural sector of South East
Europe in a serious reflection process on local and national cultural
policies. It encourages all players involved to translate ongoing policy
debates into concrete actions that will contribute to a sustainable
bottom-up strengthening of the cultural sector in the region.
KEY AREAS OF ACTION
· Practical action
Since the year 2000, Policies for Culture has facilitated the development
and supported the implementation of a variety of local initiatives aimed
at turning theory into concrete action in the form of action projects.
Visit the Action
projects page of the programme's website for further information.
· Analysis and research
The need for cultural policy research has been a recurrent topic
in the various programme activities in the last four years. There is
at present in the region a communication gap between the research sector,
on the one hand, and policy makers and public administration, on the
other hand, which leads to an often arbitrary character of decision-making.
Throughout the region there is an urgent need for independent research
to evaluate policies and their actual impact, and to use research results
as a basis for good quality decision-making.
Beginning with the year 2004, Policies for Culture will specifically
address this area by the means of a Task Force for Cultural Policy Research.
Visit the Task
Force page of the programme's website for further information.
· Information and documentation
Policies for Culture aims to enhance the flow of cultural policy information
and acquired expertise on a regional level (and beyond) by developing
and making widely available a variety of reports, publications and other
information (re)sources. Visit the Publications
section of the programme's website for further information.
THE POLICIES FOR CULTURE NETWORK
The programme is based on a broad range of SEE and EU partnerships with
cultural operators, professional artists, local and national cultural
authorities and administration, parliamentarians, media, university
institutions, cultural and policy research centres, cultural policy
experts and European policy institutions. Visit Our
Network's page of the programme's website for further information.
BEYOND SOUTH EAST EUROPE
Starting with the year 2004, Policies for Culture attempts to promote
and facilitate participative policy making initiatives in the cultural
sector in other countries outside South East Europe, among which Slovakia,
Ukraine or Turkey. In South East Europe the programme is managed by
the ECUMEST Association, whereas the initiatives of cooperation outside
this region are coordinated by the European Cultural Foundation, which
remains the key financial supporter of this framework programme. Visit
Beyond
SEE page of the programme's website for further information.
For further details and the current activities of the programme
visit: www.policiesforculture.org.
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