PfC's Choice

Members of the PfC network appointed in the new team of the Romanian Ministry of Culture
Ms. Delia Mucica and Mr. Virgil Stefan Nitulescu, participants and key contributors to the Policies for Culture programme in Romania and regionally since its very start, have recently been appointed as key officials in the Romanian Ministry of Culture and Religious Affairs. Mr. Nitulescu took over the position of State Secretary for Cultural Heritage, whereas Ms. Mucica became the ministry's Secretary General. Their appointment in the new ministerial team led by minister Mona Musca follows the recent governmental changes as a result of the November-December 2004 elections in Romania. Ms. Mona Musca, former MP and member of the Culture Committee of the Lower House of the Parliament, has also been actively participating to past Policies for Culture activities in Romania.
Consult some of their papers and articles written for Policies for Culture on the programme website.

 Policies for Culture news

PfC key actions lines in 2005
In 2005, the Policies for Culture programme will continue to develop its activities around the three key axes of practical action, analysis & research and information & documentation. PfC will further streghten and disseminate its experience and expertise gained since 2001 through the 19 action projects supported throughout the region, by developing a comparative mapping of these projects and their impact, which will also serve as a basis for supporting new cultural policy development initiatives in SEE. Following the results of the PfC Belgrade research conference, the analysis & research action line will be directed towards a mapping of existing resources and opportunities in the region for applied research and will promote a series of activities designed to further develop research capacities in SEE. Further development of the programme website into a virtual resource center on cultural policies in SEE, of the PfC electronic periodicals and publication of several new case studies are also planned for 2005.
More details about our future activities will be soon available at www.policiesforculture.org.

Improving envisaged: feedback required
In order to improve the information and documentation tools launched in 2004, namely the new Policies for Culture website, as well as the electronic periodicals of information and opinion (e-bulletin and InSIGHT), we are very much counting on your feedback and suggestions.
Please take a moment to answer to our questionnaire available HERE.

PfC online forum debate to be launched
A new internet tool will be launched on the programme's website at the beginning of February - the Policies for Culture Forum. This space aims to open a platform of discussion and exchange of information, experiences, opinions on current issues on the ageda of cultural policy in South East Europe. The forum will be launched with a first topic on "The relevance, utility and use of arms' length bodies for culture in SEE", with a background paper by Delia Mucica, who will also moderate the forum. All those interested will be invited to contribute to the proposed topic or to suggest other topics of interest which can be of regional relevance.
The forum will be soon available at www.policiesforculture.org.

 On the Agenda

Romania: The 1% mechanism - a new funding opportunity for NGOs
Starting with 2005, Romanian NGOs can benefit of a new funding mechanism - the 1%, through which any citizen can decide on how 1% of his income tax is spent, by directing it to a non-profit organisation. In this context, turning this potential source of funds into a real one will depend on how each organisation is able to persuade its beneficiaries to donate to it 1% of their income tax. This mechanism is already functional in other Eastern European countries such as Hungary, Lithuania and Slovakia. It was adopted in Romania following an initiative of several MPs of the former legislature, among whom the present minister of culture, Mona Musca, and was supported by more than 200 NGOs.
For more information visit www.unulasuta.ro and www.onepercent.hu.

Serbia & Montenegro: The second expert meeting of the Balkan Ministries of Culture (Belgrade, January 21)
This meeting was a follow-up to the first expert meeting held in Tirana on October 22, 2004, with the aim of establishing a Balkan Council of the Ministers of Culture. Representatives of the Ministries of Culture of Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Greece, Macedonia, Montenegro, Romania, Turkey and Serbia as well as a representative of the Nordic Council of Ministers have participated in this meeting. It was also attended by representatives of the Serbian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, of the OSCE Mission to Serbia and Montenegro and of the Stability Pact for Southeastern Europe. The discussions focused on a draft document on the foundation of the Balkan Council of the Ministries of Culture. It will represent the basis for the final agreement to be signed during the Meeting of the Ministers, planned to be held on March 31, 2005, in Copenhagen. Previously to the meeting, each country has to decide on the form of its membership.
Source: Press release of the Ministry of Culture of Serbia.

EU News: Western Balkans participation in Community programmes
On 22 November 2004, EU General affairs ministers adopted five Decisions approving the signing of framework agreements with Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Serbia and Montenegro and the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia on the general principles for their participation in Community programmes. Programmes open to participation - once the agreements enter into force - are, amongst others: Community action programme to support specific activities in the field of education and training (2004-2006); active European citizenship (2004-2006); Culture 2000 (2000-2006); Media Plus and Media Training (2001-2006); Media Plus and Media Training (2001-2006).
Source: www.eblida.org.

EU News: Luxembourg presidency of the Council
The Luxembourg Presidency of the Council, covering the first half of 2005, has announced its programme of activities. With regard to the cultural field, a number of seminars are planned to take place on themes such as: Living with cultural diversity: rediscovering Europe; A European policy in favour of the culture industries; Tourism and culture - the challenge of European integration.
For more information visit www.eu2005.lu.

 Upcoming Events

February 19, 2005: Exploring Critical and Instrumental Approaches to Cultural Policy Research (University of Warwick, UK)
The Centre for Cultural Policy Studies and the Humanities Research Centre at the University of Warwick organise the conference under this title, which will address the tense relationship between instrumental and critical research, aiming to contribute to a theoretical understanding of some of the key problems caused by this tension and to explore the roles of both approaches in respect to cultural policy research. The conference also aims to develop a basis for improving communication among actors in the field. The deadline for registration is February 7.
For more details, the programme of the conference and the booking forms write to HRC@warwick.ac.uk or visit this page.

March 3-4, 2005: Rethinking the interaction between culture, arts and cities in Euroregion and in Europe (Brussels, Belgium)
The LEAD Network, the Marcel Hicter Foundation and ENCATC are organising a workshop on this topic. It aims, among others, to rethink the interaction between culture, art and city and the processes of implementing urban policies; to allow the participants to reposition the role of urban policies within a European context; to enable the cultural operators to enlarge their understanding of the relationships between policies and urban interventions and enable them to meet cultural operators who are confronted by parallel situations in other European cities; to identify the tools that will enable a proactive management of the issues linked with the reality of their being transversal and interdisciplinary, and with the multiple territorial identifications of urban cultural spaces. The deadline for application is February 15.
For more details and the application forms write to info@encatc.org or visit the ENCATC website.

March 15-20, 2005: Balkan Express Meeting & IETM Spring Plenary Meeting (Belgrade, Serbia & Montenegro)
The next meeting of the Balkan Express network will take place in Belgrade, March 15–17, only two days before the IETM Plenary Meeting. The meeting is organised by the DAH Theatre Research Centre (Belgrade), in cooperation with ECUMEST (Bucharest) and Bunker productions (Ljubljana). The main topic will be the social engagement of performing arts today and art as a factor for social development in the Balkans. Discussions and exchanges, presentations of case studies and two artistic workshops, with the participation of local, regional and European operators, are also the occasion to create and develop contacts with and amongst Balkan cultural operators.
The meeting is a satellite to the IETM plenary meeting, which will take place in Dom Omladine Cultural Centre on March 17-20, under the theme EUROPE: RE-UNION? 
Registration for both meetings is open at http://register.ietm.org.
For more information contact ietm@ietm.org or visit www.ietm.org.

June 9-12, 2005: Second World Culturelink Conference (Zagreb, Croatia)
The Culturelink Network announces the Second World Culturelink Conference entitled "Dynamics of Communication: New Ways and New Actors", to be held in Zagreb, Croatia, on 9-12 June 2005. The conference is organised with the aim to examine new ways, new instruments and new actors in cultural communications, and discuss aspects of international mobility, primarily based on networking and information exchange. Abstracts should be sent no later than 30 April 2005.
For more information write to clinkconf@irmo.hr or visit the conference webpage.

October 6-8, 2005: Social Theory, Politics and the Arts Conference (University of Oregon in Eugene, Oregon, USA)
The Arts & Administration Program at the University of Oregon will host the 31st annual international conference on Social Theory, Politics and the Arts (STP&A), on October 6-8, 2005. STP&A is an international and inter-disciplinary gathering of researchers, policy makers and practitioners that highlights current and conceptual issues in the development of cultural policy, theory, and arts administration practices in the U.S. and abroad. The main theme of the 2005 conference is cultural development. The deadline for paper proposals is March 15, 2005.
For more details write to Laura Young, Conference Coordinator, at stpa@darkwing.uoregon.edu or visit the conference website.

 Publications & Information Resources

New Media Center_kuda.org has launched the kuda.read series
2004. The New Media Center kuda.org has launched the "kuda.read" publication series dedicated to the exploration of critical approach to new media culture and technology, new social, cultural and artistic relations. The publications represent collections of texts, transcripts of lectures and interviews with researchers, theoreticians, artists and activists who have been guests of the "kuda.lounge" program between 2001 and 2004 at the kuda.org New Media Center. The selected texts, lectures and interviews in this edition can be seen as a research intersection in the domain of new technologies, culture and society, research of phenomena such as globalization, technological systems of control, mass communication and the Internet, new social movements, the new proletariat and new economy, the intellectual property rights, biotechnology, new-media "genres" such as net.art, software art, interactive art and generative art.
For orders and more information write to office@kuda.org or visit the kuda.read webpage.

Capturing Cultural Value: How culture has become a tool of government policy
2004, Demos/John Holden, UK. This report by John Holden shows how alternative ways of valuing culture are possible, by drawing on disciplines as diverse as brand valuation by accountants and the language of sustainability used by environmentalists.
For more information and orders visit the Demos website. To consult the report in pdf format click HERE.

US Cultural Policy - Its Politics of Participation, Its Creative Potential
2004. Roberto Bedoya (in association with the National Performance Network), USA. In this paper, Roberto Bedoya suggests a reframing of the discourse around American cultural policy. Embracing Evan Alderson’s definition of cultural policy as a "system of arrangements", his aim is to shed light on who is participating in the discourse. He asks whether there are exclusionary practices within the field of cultural policy, and conclude that there is in fact a significant sector of the non-profit arts community - specifically artist-centered and ethnic-specific arts service organisations - that has been marginalised or absent in cultural policy discussions. To consult this paper click HERE.

Master's Theses & Management Projects of the AAAE's Members
This searchable database of closure projects and theses, completed between 1999 and 2003, is a cooperative listing of Columbia University Teachers College's Program in Arts Administration and the Research Center for Arts and Culture and the Association of Arts Administration Educators (AAAE). The database represents those AAAE full member programs that have such a program requirement and that chose to list them here. Currently about 300 papers are listed in the database.
For more information go HERE.

New portal for the arts and cultural training in France
The website www.arts-training.com inventories the training courses available in France and open to foreigners in the areas of visual arts, music, new media, cinema, broadcasting, theatre, dance, performing arts, architecture and landscape, books and publishing, cultural management, heritage and museums. The majority of the training programmes listed do not require high-level French.
For more information visit www.arts-training.com.

www.planetagora.org - Permanent Forum on Cultural Pluralism
How can we live together with due respect for our differences not only at the local and national level, but also at the global level? Rather than associating cultural identity with tension and withdrawal, can we accept that it is a fundamental need for every human society, be it big or small, which may not coincide with national identities? How can we organise interactions between societies and their cultures in such a way that respects the multiple ways in which humanity lives modernity and still allows room in each of them for critical thinking? The purpose of the Permanent Forum on Cultural Pluralism is to open up a public space to discuss these issues which concern us all and cannot be addressed solely through national frameworks. Its objective is to develop analyses and proposals that will enable us to think about and shape cultural globalisation. Among the themes are: public policies and culture; shaping cultural globalization; economy and culture.
The forum is open at: www.planetagora.org.