PfC's Choice

International Commission on the Balkans Appeal to the Heads of the EU Member States (June 2005)
"More than 20 million inhabitants of Europe, but not yet citizens of our union (...) need a loud and clear message from Europe - not in ambiguous Brusselese, but in clear language from the tribune of Europe's democracies - you, the leaders elected by your citizens. We write this letter to you because we have confidence in Europe. The people of the Balkans need a message of confidence from you. As European citizens deeply involved in the politics of Europe, we urge you to show leadership now." Giuliano Amato (Former Prime Minister of Italy and Chairman of the International Commission on the Balkans), Richard von Weizsacker (Former President of Germany and Member of the International Commission on the Balkans), Jean-Luc Dehaene (Former Prime Minister of Belgium, Member of the European Parliament and Member of the International Commission on the Balkans), Carl Bildt (Former Prime Minister of Sweden and Member of the International Commission on the Balkans) sign these lines, which are part of a Open Letter addressed to the EU high officials. A delegation of the International Commission on the Balkans will be touring the EU member states to present the Report of this Commission (published in April 2005) along with the Open Letter to the heads of states and other EU officials.

Feedbacks to the PfC Inquiry: The Balkans in Europe's future... following the referenda
The Policies for Culture programme has launched an inquiry on this theme with the aim to bring into discussion the critical place that the Balkan countries' governments and civil society have to play in reshaping the accession strategies, in order for them to become more adapted to the understanding of common European cultural ground and to engage a real pedagogy of understanding the present place of Europe in the world. We are presenting below some of the most interesting and powerful statements received by the PfC team as feedback to this inquiry as well as other information connected to the subject collected by the editors, which demonstrates the great interest raised by the current developments and, furthermore, the need for a deepened debate on these issues.

Among others, two voices from Croatia commented on the new European context:

> Vjeran Katunaric (Professor of Sociology at the University of Philosophy in Zagreb, expert of the Policies for Culture network): "The situation is not splendid, indeed. We may mostly regret that today’s young professionals, unlike their nationalistic counterparts in the 19th century, do not return from their Western specialisations with a clear mind what to do in their countries of origin. Yet, the analogy is not useful, except for this kind of chat. The former cultural missionaries, let us remind, shaped a sense of a community, however dim and antagonistic sometimes, among fairly scattered people, also instilling a sense for high culture among lower social strata. Today’s 'culture turners' are far from reinterpretation of both community and society. Very often, admittedly, they have no opportunity to demonstrate their knowledge and new ideas, unless prepared to stick with the old power-holders. (...) Perhaps, the actual European crisis provides a new opportunity for some other and more creative Euro-thinkers and Euro-policy makers, and Balkan as well. This is at least what Slavoj Zizek, the Slovenian cultural philosopher, said in a recent interview while commenting on results of the French and the Dutch referenda. This is interesting and I am looking forward to see his or some others’ new ideas or initiatives. At the same time, I wish all the best to 2007-rounders, i.e., our Romanian and Bulgarian colleagues in the PfC network, on their way to the brave new Europe."

> Naima Balic (President of Jeunesses Musicales Croatia & former vice-president of the Council of Europe Steering Committee for Culture): "Maybe the French are afraid of new member countries and these to become. Maybe the Dutch are afraid of their 900.000 migrants from their former colonies? Probably they started to become xenophobic of new working class from newly 10 EU member states that might start crossing their open borders? French and the Dutch NO was symbol of democracy but it was not a good sign to the other European countries that 'wait in queu'to become EU members... This will be hard period for Croatia because EU enlargement is slowed down, it is uncertain, kept in suspense. Attention is drawn to the EU internal problems what makes difficult process of starting negotiation with Croatia or any other country. The worst is that more eurosceptics are on 'the stage' and that conservative groups find new soil for their conservative and negative policies."

> In a touching letter sent to PfC, Rosanna Cieri (Motus danza, Siena, Italy) comments upon the issue of the artistic cooperation and exchanges with the Balkan region as an essential instrument in shaping a common European culture.
> Policies for Culture was also informed about debates connected to the EU Constitution, French and Dutch referenda and their influence on the SEE context, which were organised by the Institute for International Relations (Zagreb) - "European Union after the French and Dutch Referenda" (June 9) - and by the Romanian Academic Society (Bucharest) - "The European Constitution and Romania" (June 15).
> Still following the referenda in France and the Netherlands, EFAH - The European for the Arts and Heritage has published its board's statement addressed to its members, MEPs, Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso, his College of Commissioners, etc. Consult the statement at www.efah.org.

 Policies for Culture news

Policies for Culture development meeting held in Bucharest
The partners of the Policies for Culture, the ECUMEST Association (Bucharest) and the European Cultural Foundation (Amsterdam) met in Bucharest on May 21, 2005 to hold the annual meeting of the programme. ECUMEST and ECF reviewed the activities of PfC since its beginning in 2000 and the lines developed during the past year. Following the results of this meeting, PfC will reformulate the programme pillars and will thus reconsider its strategy according to the new data which influences the cultural field at present across the entire SEE region, among which: the EU enlargement, the liberalisation of the cultural market, the status of the independent sector and the deficiencies it faces, the un-accomplished reform of the public institutions, the need for regional funds for cooperation, etc. Future PfC activities will give priority to: cultural policy research; developing an impact analysis of the action projects implemented across the region and more consistently address countries like Albania, Bosnia & Hertzegovina, Kosovo, Moldova; constantly developing the programme communication instruments. A detailed report with the results of this meeting will be available at the programme website by the end of July 2005.
For more information write to info@policiesforculture.org or visit www.policiesforculture.org.

Action projects update: More documentation materials will be soon available online
The Policies for Culture team is now in the process of reviewing materials documenting over 20 action projects and their follow-ups, which were developed in the framework of the programme up to present. A variety of reports and publications produced by Policies for Culture APs will be gradually uploaded and made widely available at the programme website starting with July until December 2005. Among these are the reports of the following projects: "Empowering the Independent Cultural Sector & Institutionalizing Participation in Local Cultural Policy in Prilep" (Macedonia); "Cooperation & Dialogue in building effective Local Cultural Policies in the municipalities of Kragujevac, Sabac, Sombor and Uzice" (Serbia); "Cultural Strategy of the City of Rijeka" (Croatia).
More information about the action projects is available at www.policiesforculture.org.

New in artist's corner: A perspective on the debate raised around the Museum of Contemporary Art in Bucharest - Lia & Dan Perjovschi
"First it was a rumor, then it was too late. When the Ceausescu Palace was built (1984-today) it mutilated not only the city of Bucharest, but an entire country. When Parliament moved into the Ceausescu Palace, it mutilated the idea of a Democratic society. A symbol of the past has become a symbol of the future. It is clear that the transition period will last longer and will be much more difficult than expected. When the National Museum of Contemporary Art was established in 2004, the Parliament Palace mutilated not only the local visual art scene, but the Romanian culture as a whole. This project aims to explore some of the consequences. The Center for Art Analysis acts as a detective researching the case, collecting proof and calling for witnesses." The new issue of the Center for Art Analysis magazine (edited by visual artist Lia Perjovschi) - DETECTIVE DRAFT 2005 investigates the context in which the Museum of Contemporary Art in Bucharest was established and extracts files of the debates still ongoing on the location of this museum in the faimous House of the People building, also hosting the Romanian Lower House of the Parliament. Read it in the PfC artist's corner.

 News from the region

Albania: Kadare pleading for a change of view on the Balkans
Albania's best-known novelist and poet, Ismail Kadare, won the inaugural Booker International Prize 2005 on Thursday. He was chosen from among a host of prominant writers, including John Updike, Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Saul Bellow, Gunter Grass and Muriel Spark. Kadare said he hopes the world would now change its view of the Balkans and realise that it "can also give rise to other kinds of news and be the home of other kinds of achievement, in the field of the arts, literature and civilisation (...) The only act of resistance possible in a classic Stalinist regime was to write - or you could go to a meeting and say something very courageous, and then be shot," The Guardian quoted Kadare as saying. "I was very lucky to be able to publish from time to time. A lot of writers were simply crushed." The fact that six of his works were banned proved counterproductive for Albania's communist regime, "because all those people who had already read them started studying them seriously to see just why they were so subversive," he also told the British daily. "So book bans actually played a big role in the emancipation of the country".
Source: Setimes.

Bulgaria: Forum on "Cultural Corridors in South East Europe" hosted by Varna
The Forum, which took place on 20-21 May 2005 and brought together the Heads of State and Ministers of Culture of the South East European countries, the Secretary General of the Council of Europe and the Director General of UNESCO, set the basis for a trans-national co-operation. It takes cultural tourism as a joint initiative building up sustainable social and economic development relying on a shared heritage and rich cultural diversity. As stated in the Forum's final Declaration, this initiative of the President of Bulgaria is inspired by the Council of Europe's experience in setting standards and supporting networks as well as more particularly its Cultural Routes. The integrated programmes of the Organisation, especially the Regional Programme for Cultural and Natural Heritage in South East Europe, could offer the operational framework for implementing the initiative.
Source: Council of Europe website.

Croatia: The European Cultural Contact Point has been recently established
The Croatian Cultural Point has been recently established within the Directorate of International Cultural Cooperation of the Ministry of Culture. The Office for European Cultural Cooperation and Integration within the ministry is working on multilateral projects. The establishment of the CCP office within the Ministry is still underway, but the office is already organising seminars in order to bring together the potential partners and to present the experiences of the Croatian partners involved in Culture 2000 projects (for know, still as the associated partners) etc. The participation of Croatia in Culture 2000 is not yet confirmed for autumn 2005.
For more details contact Anja Jelavic, senior expert, at anja.jelavic@min-kulture.hr. A dedicated page will be soon available at www.min-kulture.hr.

CEE: The cultural policies of the new EU member countries and the development of cooperation projects
ARSEC (Lyon) in partnership with ECUMEST (Bucharest) has organised on June 28 a workshop dedicated to this theme. The seminar brought into discussion the role of cultural operators in shaping cultural policies and offered a general and comparative view on the historical and social context of countries of Central and Eastern Europe like Estonia, Lithuania, Latvia, Hungary, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Poland, Romania and Bulgaria, with the aim to focus on the common values on which the cultures of the region addressed are built. Among the conclusions of the workshop were the clear differences between Central European countries as new EU member states and the South East European countries, which prove to be still in great need for an active and sustainable cooperation at regional and European level.
For more information contact Florence Morel at f.morel@arsec.org or visit www.arsec.org.

SEE: Participation of SEE representatives to the to the informal meeting of the ministries of culture
An informal meeting of the EU Culture Ministers was held in Luxembourg on 26-27 June. For the first time, the ministers of Culture of the accession countries Bulgaria and Romania and from the candidate countries Croatia and Turkey participated in this meeting. Octavie Modert, Secretary of State for Culture, summed up the work of the Ministers focusing on the value of culture as a key issue in the building of a European identity. "Nothing could be more natural than taking the cultural domain as an argument to support the European project. Culture is supposed to bring us together. Culture lends itself to a better awareness of one another. Now it is up to us to come together in our daily political action that unites us and creates a certain European identity. We will move ahead in the interest of subsidiarity, but also by diversity, diversity in unity, which is one of the foundations of the future European constitution. All of this fits in with subsidiarity. A subsidiarity that continues to be one of the foundations of cultural action in Europe", according to Octavie Modert, "One is not always aware of the role that culture plays in bringing peoples closer together." More information about this meeting is available HERE.
Source: ENCATC.

SEE: Follow-ups to the Balkan Express meeting in Belgrade
A Balkan Express dance group, initiated during the BE network meeting in March in Belgrade, held a meeting on July 1-3 in Sofia, Bulgaria, continuing the exchange of experience in the field of contemporary dance in the Balkans. Contemporary dance artists and cultural operators have recognised similar working environments in their countries, similar difficulties and potentials and have concluded: deeper and more structured communication among them would result in more qualified and competent participation in the cultural scene and a more developed performing arts sector. More details about the Sofia meeting are available HERE. Also as a follow up to the Belgrade BE meeting, a working group on socially engaged art in the Balkans was created. Details about the issue it focuses on are available HERE. The next Balkan Express meeting will be held in Skopje, Macedonia, on November 3-6, in cooperation with the Balkan Dance Platform organised by Lokomotiva.
For more information visit the the IETM website at the BE webpage.

SEE: Elections in Albania, Bulgaria and Romania
> Albania has held parliamentary elections on July 3. Exit polls put the Democrats, led by former president Sali Berisha, ahead of the ruling Socialists after Sunday's parliamentary elections. Official results will be announced shortly, following delays by walkouts and disputes between the major political parties. President Alfred Moisiu has urged restraint, impartiality and transparency until the ballot counting is complete and final results are announced. Source: Setimes.
> Bulgaria. The elections held on June 25 brought to negociations three parties that ranked best - the Bulgarian Socialist Party, NMS-II - Simeon II National Movement and the ethnic Movement for Rights and Freedoms -, which plan to continue talks aimed at forming a coalition government. Leaders of the three parties failed to reach an agreement Wednesday. Bulgaria's outgoing prime minister said that the decision for the forming of a ruling coalition might be taken by next Monday - July 11.
Source: Sofia News Agency.
> Romania. Early parliamentary elections might take place early October 2005. Romanian prime minister Calin Popescu Tariceanu has announced on July 7 the resignation of his cabinet, thus bringing on table the possibility of holding early elections. The resignation follows the decision of Romania's Constitutional Court to deny the constitutionality of the package of legislative acts regulating justice for which the government assumed responsibity in front of the Parliament. This decision has blocked the reform in the field of justice, which might influence Romania's EU accession in 2007.

 Projects and Initiatives

Strengthening the Local Cultural Institutions in the Republic of Macedonia
A project under this title is initiated by PAC Multimedia Skopje and will be developed over a two-year period in coordination with the Ministry of Culture, the Ministry of Local Government, the Association of Houses of Culture, Local governments and local NGOs. The project aims to enable public cultural institutions to make a positive contribution to the local communities in which they function and to support them in the process of decentralisation. The project has a capacity building component designed to enforce the organisational abilities of the cultural institutions and their staff in order to encourage a reflection on the strategies they would need to adopt in a transitional environment. An important component will be also dedicated to the intensive communication and collaboration with the local government in view of developing a coherent cultural policy at local level. The project starts in June 2005.
For more details contact Violeta Simjanovska, executive director, PAC Multimedia, at vsimjan@multimedia.org.mk.

AFAA - Association Francaise d'Action Artistique is opening towards multilateral projects
On June 23, during a development meeting of the "Programme 25++. Artistes et structures independantes en Europe" of the AFAA in view of developing cooperation with Western and Eastern European partners, AFAA - Association Francaise d'Action Artistique has declared its interest in gradually and more consistently addressing multilateral programmes, following past focus on a bilateral approach. The meeting has brought together, among others, the recently established Banlieues d'Europe'Est (based in Romania) and Teatro Sfumato (Bulgaria), which might become two of the programme partners. In preparation to this meeting, a background document has been prepared by the ECUMEST Association in the framework of a comparative survey on independent organisations and initiatives in the countries of Central and Eastern Europe, the Caucasus & Turkey, which is currently carried out at the commissioning of AFAA.
Consult this background document on the AFAA website.

ALMOST REAL - The new arts programme of the European Cultural Foundation
ALMOSTREAL - the first project of the ECF’s new Arts Programme - has approached its first public appearance in the form of a weekend 'Get-together' in de Balie (Amsterdam) on 2-3 july 2005, which intends to provoke a more intimate and confrontational discussion than the usual formality of roundtable meetings. The 15 participants involved in the Get-together represent diverse art and cultural practices (artists, architects, theorists, cultural policy advisors). It is the aim of the Get-together to augment, extract and pool together specific insights and sets of perspectives from all the participants involved. The knowledge gathered as a result of the weekend will be used to inform and evaluate which artworks will be commissioned for the first of the ALMOSTREAL events (to be realised in autumn 2005). Moreover, the Get-together in light of the wider scheme of the ALMOSTREAL project will be a significant step in discerning how art can be an effective means in modelling new perspectives of intercultural competence and how art as a site for considering otherness might receive a more fertile ground for the reception in the public sphere.
For more information and insight into the developments of ALMOSTREAL go to www.almostreal.org.

 Upcoming Events

July 25 - August 27, 2005: Salzburg Culture Forum (Austria)
The International Centre for Culture and Management (ICCM) announces this year's Salzburg Culture Forum (SCF) to take place at ICCM's College St. Josef in Salzburg, Austria on 25 July – 27 August 2005. The SCF succeeds the International Salzburg Summer Academy for Arts Management founded in 1992, and represents an extension of previous programmes. The purpose of the Salzburg Culture Forum is to create an international meeting place and to nurture attitudes, knowledge and cultural awareness that will enable the world's cultural leaders to act appropriately and successfully in promoting their cultures' advancement and cultural identity while facing the challenges of globalisation. The vision of the Forum is to set standards for cultural organisations and cultural leaders that have a positive, sustainable impact on cultural development and international cultural co-operation.
For more information write to salzburgcultureforum@iccm.at or visit www.iccm.at.

September 23-25, 2005: The first meeting of the Banlieues d'Europ'Est (Bucharest, Romania)
The first meeting of the Banlieues d'Europe'Est has been rescheduled from June to September 2005. Its aims are to establish the first elements of a discourse on the alternative/peripheric art and culture in South East Europe, and to promote cooperation and exchanges between cultural centres installed in the peripheric areas of cities or traditional artistic circuits in the region. The encounter is aimed at examining the approaches and constraints inherent to this double marginalisation (geographic and artistic), as well as the innovating capacities existent in these centres.
For more information contact Silvia Cazacu, network coordinator, at silviacazacu@hotmail.com, or visit www.banlieues-europe.com.

October 20-23, 2005: Inner frontiers - The 7th Annual European Workshop in Cluj-Napoca 2005 (Romania)
In 1989, history shattered the political frontiers of the old continent, but the geographical frontiers were redesigned by people, who, before acting, pondered, created, erased or reinvented their inner frontiers. The 7th edition of the Annual European Workshop in Cluj-Napoca, organised by the French Cultural Centre, would like to raise the question: what are the meanings and the outlines (the frontiers) of our inner geopolitics? The individual is broke up, searching for an identity, building and demanding an individual existence, always willing to go back to find his/her roots and, at the same time, to throw himself/herself into future and especially into this European Union that seduces and scares equally. In order to approach this subject that explores the intimacy and the group attitudes, the invitees are personalities, intellectuals, researchers whose works, writings or personal history touch the idea of borders - and everything surrounding it – of the thought, the language, the identity, the biology, the body etc.
For more information write to Irina Costiuc at irina_costiuc@ccfc.ro or visit www.ccfc.ro.

November 4-7, 2005: Eurozine Cultural Journals Meeting in Istanbul (Turkey)
Under the heading "Neigbourhoods", editors, authors, and intellectuals from all over Europe will meet in Istanbul in November to exchange ideas and experiences. The 18th European Meeting of Cultural Journals is organised by Eurozine and its Turkish partners, "Cogito" and "Varlik". Istanbul is ideally suited for a conference that will not only tackle the manifold links between the EU and Turkey, but also discuss potential cultural cooperation and conflicts, in general and within the network of cultural journals in particular. The notion of "neighbourhood" thus brings with it the notion of "borders". These two concepts in combination are strongly present in the contemporary European cultural and political discussion: Where are the borders of Europe? Is it at all meaningful to draw such demarcation lines? Inside the European Union, where international borders seem to disappear, traces of the old divisions and hostilities persist in people's memories and identities. Fifteen years after the fall of the Iron Curtain, neighbouring countries still have little interest in each other.
Source: Eurozine.

July 12-16, 2006: Fourth International Conference on Cultural Policy Research (Vienna, Austria)
The Fourth International Conference on Cultural Policy Research (ICCPR) will be organised in 2006 by EDUCULT, Vienna in cooperation with the International Journal of Cultural Policy. ICCPR 2006 aims to provide an outlet for interdisciplinary and international exploration of the concepts, function and impact of cultural policies. It intends to reflect a broad view of cultural policy encompassing culture as a "way of life" as well as, in the narrower sense, culture of the arts and cultural industries. It will be concerned with both, the policies of decision makers, of administration and institutions as well as the wider discourses related to the general conditions of culture. The call for papers is open until October 31, 2005. The Policies for Culture programme will actively participate to the conference in the framework of its cultural policy research activities, thus bringing a special focus on the SEE region.
For more information and to submit abstracts write to Michael Wimmer, EDUCULT Vienna, at office@iccpr2006.com or visit www.iccpr2006.com.

 Opportunities

On-The-Move/ENCATC training on for mobility and intercultural relations - 8 September 2005 (Helsinki, Finland)
The development in the late years of an increased number of artistic projects based on intercultural competences, the need for mobility and the reshaping of a cultural cooperation space (within Europe and beyond Europe) requests a specific way to address these issues by what we can broadly call ‘the cultural operators (mediators, organisers, producers, artists-manager, etc.). There is a need to ‘teach’ and to learn about redefinition of mobility, interculturalism and cooperation. and invent, use and disseminate new training contents about these matters. Many cultural organisations in Europe, among which IETM, initiated in the late years cultural portals, data bases and online information resources dedicated specifically to cultural mobility and cooperation. On-The-Move, OCPA, ACRONI, MARCEL are some of them.The session will use these examples, as facilitators and boosters of capacities and knowledge about these three key aspects of international cultural relations. They will show how on-line instruments can be at the cross road between cultural networking, information, data base gathering and mobility. A second training on this issue will take place during the National Theatre Festival in Bucharest (November 6-13).
For more details write to ietm@ietm.org or visit www.on-the-move.org.

The European Cultural Foundation launches the second call for projects 2005
Application deadline: 15 September 2005
The main development as compared with last year's application process is a shift to a more flexible scheme, which asks applicants to respond, in a creative way, to the six ECF current areas of interest: intercultural competences and collaboration across borders; increased participation in the arts and media; the cultural dimension of EU enlargement; strategies for change within cultural infrastructures; creative responses to current political issues; development of a common public and cultural European space.
For more information and the application forms visit the grants section at www.eurocult.org.

ZONA Call for young journalists and photographers
Application deadline: 15 July 2005
Zona is a cross-media project on borders initiated by the European Cultural Foundation and the Villa Decius Association. How do borders influence the lives of young people in the countries on both sides of the Eastern border of the European Union? Are the borders physical or mental? Where does one face the borders? Zona starts with a video workshop for young people in Moldova and continues with a reportage competition and a workshop for photographers and journalists. The final stage of Zona is a travelling exhibition combining the assembled views and presenting them to a wider audience. The organisers invite young photographers and journalists to apply for Zona by sending in a portfolio. A professional jury will select ten photographers and ten journalists based on the portfolios to participate in Zona. The selected participants will be asked to do a reportage on the effect of borders on the lives of young people.
For more details and the application forms visit www.eurocult.org.

Faculty for Radical Aesthetics - Call for Applications
Application deadline: 27 July 2005
In connection with two research projects starting in autumn 2005, the eipcp - European Institute for Progressive Cultural Policies (an autonomous institute based in Vienna and Linz) will organize a transnational pilot course for Radical Aesthetics. Each of the six seminar weeks of this one-year course will be held in different European cities (Barcelona, Linz, Lüneburg, Napoli, Paris, Vienna). Aimed at instigating the transnational exchange and discourse on critical art and activism, they will reflect on concrete projects, accompanying them with discursive events and theoretical workshops. Activists, artists and students are invited to send their applications to contact@eipcp.net by July 27.
For more information visit www.eipcp.net.

Research opportunity at the Bauhaus-University of Weimar
Application deadline: 19 July 2005
Bauhaus-University of Weimar has recently opened a call for a research stay, starting October 2005, which is part of the programme "Transfer of Knowledge", financed by the European Commission. The university is looking for scholars from urban and media studies with a relevant discipline background (like for example architecture, urban and regional planning, social, cultural, political science, etc.). Invited scholars need to have fulfilled their first degree (master) at least 10 years ago. The stay at the university is meant to elaborate an issue within the wilder field of urban studies and media. A freely chosen topic will be decided on in discussion with the coordination of this project. The scholar will have the opportunity to publish his results and to present them at an international conference in Weimar next year.
For more information contact Franck Eckardt at frank.eckardt@archit.uni-weimar.de or visit www.uni-weimar.de.

Call for papers: Journal of Comparative Policy Analysis
Application deadline: 15 July 2005
The Journal of Comparative Policy Analysis has recently launched a call for papers for its special issue entitled "The Europenization of Public Policies in Comparative Perspective", having as guest editors Claudio M. Radaelli (University of Exeter) and Sabine Saurugger (Institut d'Etudes Politiques de Grenoble). The study of Europeanization has become a prominent research agenda in theoretical policy analysis, comparative politics, international relations, and European Studies, but raises a number of methodological problems. Among these, two are expected to be particularly addressed by the papers of this issue: 1. Europeanization is a dynamic and iterative process in which domestic and European Union (EU)-level processes co-evolve. One cannot keep one dimension constant when examining the other. Additionally, the two levels, although interact over time, are not tightly coupled at any given point in time; 2. The second puzzle concerns the measurement of Europeanization. How do we conceptualize and measure the 'impact' of the EU on domestic policies?
To send papers write to C.Radaelli@exeter.ac.uk or sabine.saurugger@iep.upmf-grenoble.fr, or visit www.jcpa.ca.

 Publications & Information Resources

Summary and main findings of the recent Culturelink conference
The Culturelink Networks has recently published the summary and the main findings of the the Second World Culturelink Conference, held in Zagreb, Croatia, on 9-12 June 2005, under the title "Dynamics of Communication: New Ways and New Actors". 150 participants from some 40 countries world-wide, representing different national and international associations, centres, cultural institutions, foundations, universities and various other organisations, focused on issues concerning new ways and actors of global communication and dialogue among cultures in the 21st century. Active members of the Policies for Culture SEE experts' network such as Milena Dragicevic Sesic, Sanjin Dragojevic, Vjeran Katunaric and Corina Suteu were among the key speakers of the conference.
More details and the main findings of the conference are available at www.culturelink.hr.

Artists' Rights in a European Cultural Space
May 2005, ERICarts. This publication documents the workshop, "Artists Rights in the European Cultural Space", which was organised in the context of the 3rd Session of the European Cultural Parliament, held in Genoa in December 2004. The main purpose of the workshop was to map out and discuss the current state and developments in copyright/authors rights protection with lawyers, artists and researchers. Cases studies were presented on the challenges faced by new media artists with the existing system of rights protection and remuneration schemes.
For more information visit www.ericarts.org.

Myths and Boundaries in South Eastern Europe
May 2005. Pal Kolsto, ed., C Hurst & Co Publishers Ltd. Myths and Boundaries in South Eastern Europe examines how historical myths have contributed to the crystallisation of national boundaries in the Balkans, primarily among the South Slavs. Myths and the relevance of myth-making in politics are well-established fields of social inquiry, as are boundaries and the mechanisms that define them, but they have largely developed in isolation from each other. Only rarely have studies of historical myths taken into account their boundary-creating effects. Conversely, the study of identity boundaries has mostly focused on mechanisms other than myth-making. One of the achievements of this book is to bring these two traditions of inquiry into dialogue with each other.
For more information go HERE.

Relations Website Relaunch
Read more on relations, the projects, events and topics in the new website magazine in "explore relations". relations is a project initiated by the German Federal Cultural Foundation within the framework of its Eastern and Central Europe program. In collaboration with curators, social researchers and artists, relations develops and realizes cultural and art projects in various countries in eastern Europe and in Germany. In South East Europe, relations has been supporting long-term projects in Croatia, Kosovo and Moldova.
Visit it at www.projekt-relations.de.