PfC's Choice

Shadow Minister of Culture of Kosovo
Within the shadow government - formed by opposition in Kosovo - I am the minister of culture and one of the leading MPs on cultural issues. I am often inquired and quoted by the media as a referrence when cultural issues are discussed, described Lirak Celaj during the Policies for Culture regional meeting in Bucharest. Actor, former director of the National Theatre, he is the initiator and director of the first private theatre in Kosovo - ODA Theatre. In Bucharest he presented - as the other participants - its personal strategies and choices in trying to bring change in a context such as the tormented one in Kosovo. "Past experience showed me that in order to change something, you need to get involve in politics - and so I did". More about Lirak Celaj's personal strategies in a future issue of InSIGHT.

 Policies for Culture news

PfC action projects' network meeting
Bucharest hosted on November 4-5 the regional evaluation and development meeting of the Policies for Culture action projects partners network. Unlike other events organised by Policies for Culture, its aim was not to link the cultural sector with policy-makers. It was aimed to provide an encounter for cultural operators - the intiators of bottom-up initiatives in the field of cultural policy all over the region. It thus allowed for a different perspective of the way the different Policies for Culture action projects worked and proved to have an impact and to bring, in time, a real added value in their specific context. The meeting was also a significant mark of the development of a new generation of operators - bearers of a new type of policy-making that promotes participative and not authoritative approaches. Despite the very different contexts within the region of South East Europe, stronger networking and partnership between them was identified as one of key aspects to be developed in the future. More details about the meeting and its follow-up will be soon available in its report.
The meeting was organised with the support of the European Cultural Foundation and the Goethe-Institut Bucharest in the framework of the Stability Pact for South Eastern Europe.
You may consult the agenda of the meeting and the list of participants at www.policiesforculture.org.

New PfC publication: "The arts, politics and change"
Undertitled "Participative cultural policy-making in South East Europe", the book represents a collection of papers and case studies commissioned by the European Cultural Foundation and the ECUMEST Association for the Policies for Culture programme. Proposing both theoretical reflection and practical examples of cultural policy initiatives, the book documents and builds on the activities of the Policies for Culture programme throughout the region since its launch in 2000 and the results achieved to date. The programme’s exciting experiments may serve as an inspiration for the wider community of European and non-European countries and for all institutions and individual researchers involved in examining the role of cultural policy frameworks in politically and socially unstable societies.
Edited by Cas Smithuijsen, Corina Suteu and Hanneloes Weeda and published by Boekmanstudies, Amsterdam, the Netherlands, 2005.
For more information contact info@policiesforculture.org. For orders visit www.boekman.nl.

"Izkustvo, politika, promiana" - "The arts, politics and change" also available in Bulgarian
The Bulgarian version of "The arts, politics and change" has been launched in November 2005 in Sofia. The book was translated and published by SemaRS publishing house, in collaboration with the Policies for Culture program and with the support of the Soros Centre for Cultural Policies and Next Page Foundation.
To purchase this book, please contact the publishing house at semarsh@gmail.com or contact Tsveta Andreeva, Policies for Culture local coordinator, at tsvetoma@yahoo.com.

 News from the region

Albania: Creative Cities initiative in Pogradec and Shkodra
Initiated and carried out with the support of the Swiss Cultural Programme in Albania, the "Creative Cities" project aims to develop conditions which allows people in the their cities to think, plan and act creatively, based on the specific resources, potentials and needs of their city. It thus counteracts the cultural lethargy that cities have fallen into in the past years due to lack of money, unclear institutional responsibilities, a run down infrastructure and a complete lack of any kind of development strategy. UK expert Charles Landry supports the two-project engines in the cities of Pogradec and Shkodra. Representatives of the two initiatives have also been invited and took part in the recent Policies for Culture regional networking meeting in Bucharest.
For more details write to Valbona Karakaci in Shkodra at valbonakarakaci@yahoo.co.uk and Avroviti Gusho in Pogradec at viti@adanet.com.al or visit www.pro-helvetia.org.al.

Bulgaria: Kosovo and the Bulgarian Priorities on the Balkans
The Red House Centre for Culture and Debate organised on November 21 a debate over the Kosovo statute, a delicate subject on the eve of the international UN and KFOR forces withdrawal, scheduled to start by the end of the year. It brought to the discussion the possible scenarios over Kosovo’s future, as well as the visions of Bulgarian foreign policy and the possible scenarios related to Kosovo-Bulgaria cooperation, in cultural, economic and political aspects. Among participants: Kastriot Fazliu, President of the Student Government at AUBG and Vesela Cherneva, Centre for Liberal Strategies Sofia.
For details visit www.redhouse-sofia.org.

Croatia: What kind of (cultural) institutions do we need?
Zagreb hosted on November 11-13 and 18-19, in the framework of the Zagreb - Cultural Capital of Europe 3000 (ZKC3000) platform, a series of public discussions and performances on the topic "what kind of institutions do we need?" initiated by the Center for Drama Art (CDU). The discussions aimed to tackle critical aspects related to new artistic practices in existing institutional framework - How do we problematize and discuss the role of cultural institutions today? Do cultural institutions reflect the changes in the field of artistic production and the changes in the overall context? Is there any further role of the institution but to present production and reproduce presentability? Do we need advanced institutions for advanced practices? Also, as part of the policy initiatives of the platform in the city of Zagreb (see ZCK3000 website and past issues of the bulletin), the open discussions also focused on initiating a debate about models of open infrastructure and management for hybrid public institutions for the cultural programs of civil society. They focused on two specific examples: a proposal for the establishment of a Center for Independent culture and Youth and proposals for the transformation of existing public institutions on the example of Zagreb's Student Center.
Details on the websites of ZKC3000 and CDU or by writing to info@cdu.hr.

Macedonia: Skopje hosting two regional initiatives
Skopje hosted on November 3-6 two complementary events organised in collaboration - the Balkan Dance Platform and the meeting of the Balkan Express network. Under the local organisation of Lokomotiva - Centre for New Initiatives in Arts and Culture in Skopje, the Balkan Dance Platform presented 17 performances from all over the region. Following its previous editions in Sofia in 2001 and Bucharest in 2003, the platform became an established and recognized event, both in the region and internationally. The importance and weight such an event could have for the development of the dance scene nationally is testified by the interest of dance communities in two countries - Greece and Serbia - to host the next edition in 2007. Greece will be the upcoming host of the Balkan Dance Platform. For details visit www.lokomotiva.org.mk or write to contact@lokomotiva.org.mk.
On the occasion and in collaboration with the Dance Platform, the Balkan Express network also held a meeting focusing on contemporary dance in South East Europe. Approximately 60 participants took part in 3 intensive days of discussions, debate and informal exchange. It included, among others, vivid discussions on clichés, myths and exoticism in performing arts in the Balkans, and best practice examples of development strategies in contemporary dance, along with an information and training session on management of artistic companies and international touring. The report on the meeting as well as the final participant list will soon be available on the BE webpage on www.ietm.org.

Romania: Launch of the new National Cultural Fund
The new National Cultural Fund established by law in January 2005 (see more details in the ARCult action project page) has launched early November its first call for projects. The first call comes as a result of a longer process of modification, adoption and administrative development of this new mechanism. The latter provides for the creation of a new public institution under the subordination of the Ministry of Culture and Religious Affairs which will administrate both the previously existing National Cultural Fund (more details) built by dedicated taxes, and the budgetary allocations of the Ministry of Culture dedicated to support of cultural projects. The Fund's allocations, exclusively on a project basis, will be open equally, in the framework of at least bi-annual call for proposals, to individuals, public and private cultural organisations. Decision on supported projects will be taken by experts committees nominated by the Fund's Board. The latter's composition has been appointed by the Minister of Culture. A detailed strategy of support from the Fund is under development.
Details are available in its webpage (for the moment in Romanian only) www.afcn.ro or by writing to Andreea Grecu, director of the Administration of the Fund, at andreea.grecu@afcn.ro or ecumest@ecumest.ro.

SEE prospects for EU integration
On November 9, the European Commission gave a positive opinion on Macedonia's recent EU membership application. "The prospect of EU membership is the single most important driving force behind the much needed reform process throughout South Eastern Europe. Now that this perspective has been clearly reiterated, the government in Skopje must demonstrate its commitment to the EU enlargement process by intensifying its efforts to meet the membership criteria," Special Co-ordinator of the Stability Pact for South Eastern Europe Erhard Busek said. The avis of the European Commission is a positive sign to the region as a whole and should be seen by the countries of Western Balkans as a clear indication of the European Union's firm commitment to the region. This has recently been reinforced by the start of negotiations with Croatia on EU membership and with Serbia and Montenegro on a Stabilisation and Association Agreement. The prospective opening of such talks with Bosnia and Herzegovina and the on-going negotiations on the Stabilisation and Association agreement with Albania, which are well on track, show that the whole region is clearly moving in the right direction. The upcoming European Summit in December will have to take a decision on how to proceed after the opinion given by the European Commission. "There is a growing unease in SEE about the EU's commitment to continued enlargement. Therefore, today's presentation of the enlargement strategy is of crucial importance for the political and economic development of the region as it clearly signals that the EU perspective for each and every country in the Western Balkans remains a priority", Special Co-ordinator Busek said.
Source: Stability Pact for South Eastern Europe Press Release, November 9, 2005

 Projects and Initiatives

Adoption of the UNESCO Convention on the protection and promotion of the diversity of cultural expressions
The General Conference of UNESCO (Paris, October 3 to 21) adopted the Convention on October 20 with 148 countries voting for, two against (USA and Israel), and four abstentions (Australia, Nicaragua, Liberia and Honduras). The new international normative instrument, which still needs to be ratified by at least 30 states before entering into force, is a result of two years of intense negotiations among the member states. The Convention reaffirms the sovereign right of States to elaborate cultural policies with a view "to protect and promote the diversity of cultural expressions and to create the conditions for cultures to flourish and to freely interact in a mutually beneficial manner". The International Network for Cultural Diversity (INCD), on one of the key advocates for a legally binding convention on cultural diversity, stressed that "this new legal instrument recognizes the value of cultural diversity to national and global well being and acknowledges that cultural goods and services have more than an economic value. But, the Convention is only one step in a long campaign to achieve cultural diversity, and to prevent trade and investment agreements from further eroding the right of States to support their own artists and cultural producers".
Consult the entire text of the convention or visit www.unesco.org for more details.

Travelling Academy on cultural policy teaching
A small group of teachers and academic researchers actively engaged in cultural policy education in Bulgaria, Estonia, Finland, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland and Serbia & Montenegro gathered on the 21st of November in Sofia to discuss the potential of setting up a Travelling Academy on cultural policy teaching. Conceived from within the Cultural Policy Education Group (CPEG), the Travelling Academy is foreseen as a mobile tool for implementation of the CPEG's mission of raising the standards of the cultural policy teaching. The outcomes of the development meeting will be presented to a wider group of professionals during the next CPEG members' meeting scheduled for 3 December 2005 in Amsterdam.
For more information visit www.policiesforculture.org/cpeg.

 Upcoming Events

November 24-27, 2005: IETM Plenary Meeting (Utrecht, The Netherlands)
“If you close all the windows and doors, a house will very quickly start to smell.” This was the opening sentence of Frie Leysen, Director of the KunstenFestivalDesArts in Brussels, at a conference a year ago in Amsterdam on Dutch international cultural policy. It has also been the motto of producing the Autumn Plenary Meeting of IETM in Utrecht, which will focus on bonding and bridging, by proposing, among its many workshop themes: bridging social and cultural capital; contextualisation - models of presentation of international work; cooperation and development: does art contribute?; Cities - places of conservative or progressive forces; Does structure influence art?; Art cannot not be political. Another bridge connects the current meeting with the IETM meeting in Belgrade in Spring 2005, by inviting 16 people from former Yugoslavia and Albania to come to Utrecht and Rotterdam for a working visit. The recent survey on "Funding opportunities for international cultural cooperation in and with South East Europe" (see below) will also be presented by Oana Radu, the survey coordinator.
Full programme and list of participants can be consulted at www.ietm.org.

November 25-26, 2005: Cultural Heritage - A Bridge towards a Shared Future: Second Conference of Ministers responsible for Culture in South-Eastern Europe (Venice, Italy)
The event is a follow up to the July 2004 conference in Mostar, organised by the Bosnian and Italian governments in cooperation with UNESCO and the World Bank. The Mostar conference launched a regional cooperation process on cultural heritage, whose guiding principles and action lines were indicated in the Joint Declaration and in the related Action Plan approved by the SEE Ministers during the conference. The initiative, meant at fostering cultural tourism in the region and focusing on the enhancement of cultural heritage as an agent of development and of social cohesion, benefits of the financial support of the Italian Government. Among the aims of the November conference are to: enlarge the regional cooperation process on culture and cultural heritage, opening it to new subjects and new partners (with specific attention to the role of civil society, and of local government agencies); promote transborder, bilateral and multilateral cooperation between national/local tourism agencies and economic operators, for the development of regional cultural tourism.
For more information contact Matteo Rosati, conference coordinator, at m.rosati@unesco.org or visit the website of the UNESCO Office Venice HERE.

November 30, 2005: Conditions for artistic creativity in the enlarged Europe - artists between success and misery, society and State (Warsaw, Poland)
The conference is organised by the High French-German Cultural Council in cooperation with the Institut Francais in Warsaw. The conference, which follows on the conclusions of the conference around similar topics that was held in October 2004 in Cluj (Romania), and focuses on the implications on the enlargement process for the artists in both Eastern and Western Europe. Debates will revolve around four key issues: status and responsibility of artists and the arts; Public and private funding of culture; Protection of intellectual property; and Cultural exchanges and mobility. Corina Suteu, one of the initiators of Policies for Culture, will hold one of the introductory contributions to the conference, representing as well the only SEE participant.
Details on the website of the High French-German Cultural Council: www.dfkr.org.

December 1, 2005: The Heart of the Matter - What future for the Balkans in the EU? (The Hague, The Netherlands)
The ECF-HIVOS Conference aims to complement the recent political analysis by the International Commission on the Balkans ("The Balkans in Europe's future") by adding a cultural analysis of the past and current context. It will share with Dutch and European political decision-makers, foundation representatives and artists the results of the European Cultural Foundation's Reflection Group on the Balkans. The group, moderated by journalist Chris Keulemans, explores the particular role that the arts and culture have played in the fall of the ruling systems in Yugoslavia and Albania, as well as their actual potential as factors of reconciliation, development and European integration. Political recommendations shall be accompanied by concrete cultural action in the region. Among the confirmed speakers are Fabrizio Barbaso, Director General for Enlargement, European Commission; Goran Svilanovic, Chair of the Working Table I of the Stability Pact for SEE and former Minister of Foreign Affairs of Serbia and Montenegro; Vessela Tcherneva, Project Director of the International Commission on the Balkans; and Ambassador Wolfgang Petrisch, former UN High Representative to Bosnia and Herzegovina who is also member of the ECF's Balkan Reflection Group.
For more details visit www.eurocult.org.

December 8-9, 2005: ENCATC workshop "Enhancing the European cooperation in the cultural management higher and vocational education area" (Grenoble, France)
ENCATC and the Institut d’Etudes Politiques de Grenoble, Université Pierre Mandes, are organising a European workshop in Grenoble on the 8-9 December 2005. This workshop is to look into the actual implementation and the future challenges that the academic community has to face in the in relation to the implementation of the Bologna process in the universities or training institutions. The event targeted to ENCATC members and actors of the cultural training field will gather experts and representatives of international, European and national organisations. A first day will be devoted to the current evolution of the Bologna process. A focus on the specific situation in different European countries will be offered. In order to give operational tools and to initiate new collaborations, a specific workshop in partnership development at a European scale will close this event.
For more information contact Simona Martini, workshop coordinator, at trainee@encatc.org or visit www.encatc.org.

 Opportunities

New deadline for CPEG Mobility Scheme
Deadline: 31 December 2005. Ongoing evaluation process
The Cultural Policy Education Group (CPEG) Mobility Scheme launched in March 2005 by the European Cultural Foundation is open for applications for the academic year 2005-2006. The scheme supports travel related to guest lecturing, curriculum development, and fact-finding missions in the field of cultural policy teaching in Central & Eastern Europe and neighbouring areas. Applications from academic institutions must be sent before the end of December 2005 and will be evaluated on a first come, first served basis.
For the guidelines and application forms visit the News section of the CPEG website or write to Milena Deleva at mdeleva@eurocult.org.

Gulliver's Connect 2005/2006: Mobility and Arts Work Placement Programme
Application deadline: 15 December 2005
The Gulliver's Connect programme is a flexible work place learning framework aiming to facilitate international co-operation between arts practitioners from neighbouring countries in the European Union, the Caucasus and the former Soviet Union. The Gulliver Connect programme attracts visitors who have 2-3 years working experience in project co-ordination, arts development or management at the local/regional level in their country and who wish to extend their possibilities and give an international dimension to their work. The host organisations should be an arts and cultural organisations who have demonstrated good working practices in adapting to the new situation and climate of their countries. A programme of the Felix Meritis Foundation in Amsterdam, The Red House Centre for Culture and Debate in Sofia, The New Theatre Institute in Latvia and KulturKontakt in Vienna.
For more details write to connect@felix.meritis.nl or visit the Felix Meritis website.

European Diploma in Cultural Project Management 2006/07
Application deadline: 15 January 2006
The European Diploma in Cultural Project Management is a pan-European training programme arising from the will to foster cultural diversity and cross-regional exchanges in Europe. The Fondation Marcel Hicter is the organizer and manager of the course. The objective is threefold: to strengthen the knowledge of cultural managers about European, national and regional cultural policies; to improve cultural manager's necessary skills to run co-operation cultural projects; to develop a network of European cultural managers. Each year, around 25 professionals from 20 countries are taking part in the European Diploma. Since 1989, 380 cultural managers from 41 countries followed this course. The programme is supported by the Council of Europe.
For more information and to download the application form visit www.fondation-hicter.org.

Joint European Master in Comparative Local Development (University of Trento, Italy)
Application deadline: 20 December 2005
The main objective of the programme is to provide participants with the necessary knowledge and skills for introducing, supporting and co-ordinating processes of change and transformation at the local level. The focus of the programme is local development, with the following characteristics: public, private and non governmental agents are involved; social stability and economic prosperity are strengthened, in conformity with the acquis communautaire and European standards and practices. The general approach is comparative and interdisciplinary. A number of scholarship are offered to students from counties outside the European Union, being supported by the European Commission within the Erasmus Mundus programme.
For more information write to Martina Cvjaner, programme executive director, at master-code@unitn.it, or visit www.mastercode.unitn.it.

Call for papers: 14th International Conference of the Association for Cultural Economics International (Vienna, Austria, 6-9 July 2006)
Deadline for submission: 31 January 2006
Organisers invite the submission of papers (in English) on any aspect of cultural economics to be considered for inclusion in contributed paper sessions. Papers are welcome from members and non-members in all areas of the application of economics to the performing and visual arts, heritage, media, cultural industries, cultural policy and related areas. Suggestions by scholars who wish to organize a group session are welcome. There will also be a session for PhD students/young researchers who wish to make a short presentation on their work.
To submit a proposal write to Paul Stepan at stepan@fokus.or.at after having consulted the conference details at www.acei.neu.edu

Call for papers: Methods, workshop on art-society relations. Art for social transformation
Deadline for submission: 5 December 2005
Cittadellarte/ Fondazione Pistoletto and Artfactories will organise a 2nd International Workshop on art and social transformation in society on January 24-27, 2006, in Bologna, Italy. It is in the aim of the workshop to give a survey concerning methods and processes used and developed in artistic projects intending to effect a social positive change. It makes a comparison through those various creative experiences whose theoretical and practical goal is to interact with people and social context. Projects starting from specific social topics that trough the networking of communities, private and public institutions as well, intend to create new sites and platforms for a common dialogue.
For more information or to submit your application write to methods2005@artfactories.net or visit www.artfactories.net.

Translation Scheme for basic titles in cultural policy in Eastern Europe
A small-scale translation scheme for basic titles in cultural policy is now in preparation. The scheme is a joint initiative of the Cultural Policy Education Group (CPEG) and the Next Page Foundation in Sofia. Driven by the shortages of up-to-date literature on contemporary cultural policy issues in the local languages of the CEE&SEE countries, this translation scheme will enable the translation of basic materials into some of the lesser diffused languages. The translations are envisaged to meet the needs of students of cultural policy studies. The project will start with an extensive study of the existing bibliographies in cultural policy that are currently used by the CPEG member universities and other institutions that teach cultural policy. The CPEG partner universities and a wider network of cultural policy teaching institutions are highly encouraged to contribute with suggestions as to the titles for translation. If you are a teacher or researcher in cultural policy in one of the CEE or SEE countries, you may send your proposals and questions to Milena Deleva at mdeleva@eurocult.org.
Source: CPEG newsletter - November 2005

 Publications & Information Resources

Funding opportunities for international cultural cooperation in and with South East Europe
October 2005. ECUMEST carried out this survey at the commissioning of the European Cultural Foundation, with the participation of Relais Culture Europe. The survey aims to provide an overview of those stakeholders that support cultural cooperation in the region of South East Europe. The report comes as a response to the claims of cultural operators in the region that insufficient resources are invested in cultural cooperation, despite the fact that such cooperation is of fundamental importance to the democratisation and reconciliation of the societies of South East Europe. It is also a response to the oft-repeated political statement that culture is important. It therefore identifies ways of matching support to existing needs by giving a fuller picture of what is available at present in terms of funding opportunities. The report is aimed to be only one part of a much larger process. As this process develops, it will help to identify pressing needs and efficient ways of responding to them, offering the cultural sector an overview of current priorities and mechanisms of support. This in turn should nourish debate on the role that culture could and should play in the region and the different responsibilities of the various actors involved - not only cultural actors, but funders also.
Full report is available on the ECUMEST website.

Living Heritage final report released
October 2005. The final report "Living Heritage - Community Development through Cultural Resources in South east Europe" has just been published by the King Baudouin Foundation. This book sets out the lessons learned from the unique approach to community development adopted by the Living Heritage programme between 2001 and 2005 in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Macedonia and Romania. Thus, "culture and heritage are often considered by donors active in the Balkans and even by local governments as being of lesser importance compared with the huge socio-economic challenges facing the countries of the region. However, the Living Heritage experience shows that such projects can produce significant outcomes in areas such as social cohesion, economic growth and civil society development while responding to the need of communities to value their own culture and traditions. They are powerful resources that help communities change their situation by building up their capital - human, economic, social or in other forms". The report was presented on the ocasion of an international conference held in Skopje, Macedonia, on 14-15 October 2005.
The report is available in hard copy as well as for downloading at www.kbs-frb.be or at www.living-heritage.org, where you can also find separate country reports released on the same occasion.

Norden Balkan Culture Switch - an evaluation
2005. "In the realm of cultural projects there is a tendency to focus exclusively on the achieved results, without necessarily taking into account aims, processes, resources and perhaps most of all long-term effects. The criteria of success usually applied are audience appeal, budget balancing as well as media coverage among others. These are all significant factors, but if an appraisal of cultural project is to offer a broader perspective in terms of justifying the amount of resources spent on the projects, it must approach the actors and the processes themselves". This statement stands as starting point of the evaluation of the processes of cooperation between the Nordic and Balkan countries in the framework of the Norden-Balkan-Culture-Switch 2003-2005. The latter represents a series of artistic and cultural exchanges between the countries in Western Balkan and the Nordic countries focused on young professionals in both regions and supported by the Nordic Council of Ministers. This evaluation has focused on parameters related to aims and expectations, management and communications processes. The results, conclusions and recommendations point at important aspects to be taken into considerations in future design as well as evalutation of cultural cooperation programmes.
Consult the full report on the website of the Nordic Council of Ministers.

tranzit: With Three Years of Hindsight
autumn 2005. This publication documents the first three years of activity of tranzit (mid-2002/2005) - a long term initiative in the field of contemporary arts and theory initiated and supported by Erste Bank Group in Central Europe. The reflection on Tranzit's experience in its endeavour to generate opportunities for artists, curators and theorists to develop creative strategies for new developments in arts and society; on the overall context in the countries addressed and the place of contemporary arts within it, give an insight relevant for the cultural sector all over Central and Eastern Europe.
For more information write to office@tranzit.org or visit www.tranzit.org

Online on Artfactories: Development of training tools for autonomous creative spaces
September 2005. This online resource represents a collection of texts, presentations, and encounters and is the fruit of a two-year collaboration between Artfactories, the Amsterdam Maastricht Summer University - AMSU (the Netherlands), the NGO Truc Spherique (Slovakia) and the NGO Culture and Information center K@2 (Latvia) in the organisation of the course "Development of training tools for Autonomous Creative Space in Europe" designed for professional cultural operators in this field in the framework of AMSU. It serves to give ideas and direction to any organisation trying to establish their own space. Texts provide examples of functioning methods of operation, a historical view of the movement of the establishment of independent cultural centers, theoretical framework documents regarding organisation structures, cultural policy and trends in urban cultural life, as well as sources for finding funding and partners.
Consult it on the website of Artfactories HERE.

European Cultural Policies 2015: A Report with Scenarios on the Future of Public Funding for Contemporary Art in Europe
October 2005. "In a setting of the increasing precarity of working and living conditions, the field of cultural policies is also becoming more and more a space of action for neoliberal governmentality. This fact is the most important point of reference for the prognosis of developments for cultural policies and cultural funding in Europe over the next ten years, as negative effects can be expected at every level (from the local to the national to the supranational)". Among them "the loss of autonomy in terms of content in art production, cultural work and cultural policies, as well as an increasing appropriation of the political and a reduction in funding for aspects relating to policies of democracy in art and culture". Against this background, "European Cultural Policies 2015" attempts to sketch out probable developments in the next ten years on the basis of specific programs. The study investigates developments on EU-level as well as on local/regional/national levels. The book is a cooperation between IASPIS - International Artists Studio Programme in Sweden, eipcp - European Institute for Progressive Cultural Policies (Vienna) and Abäke (London). Editors: Maria Lind, Raimund Minichbauer.
It is available in hardcopy or can be consulted online at www.eipcp.net.

Assistance to arts and culture festivals
October 2005. Compiled by Peter Inkei, director of the Budapest Observatory with assistance from the IFACCA secretariat, the report summarises responses from a number of national arts funding agencies to questions about how they support and evaluate festivals. The report also contains a selection of references and resources on arts and cultural festivals.
Read full report at www.ifacca.org/files/artsfestivals.pdf.

Creative Sector - an Engine for Diversity, Growth and Jobs in Europe
September 2005. The ECF recently commissioned a paper highlighting the potefindingsntial of the arts, culture and media industries in terms of their contribution to diversity, growth and jobs in Europe. Summarizing main empirical findings in the field, the paper deplores that the renewed "Community Lisbon Programme - An Agenda for Growth and Jobs" does not take account of the strength of the creative sector. It discusses recent research and debates, identifies occupational or 'creative clusters', and draws to some conclusions regarding the types of action to be taken by the EU and national governments to compensate global market inequalities and dependencies. The paper has been delivered by Andreas Wiesand (ERICart-Institute), in cooperation with Michael Söndermann (ARKStat).
To dowloand the paper visit www.eurocult.org.

New Cultural Portal in Croatia: www.kulturpunkt.hr
Kulturpunkt.hr emerged from the Clubture platform which connects and furthers interaction and
cooperation among various NGOs from the independent and non-institutionalized cultural scene in Croatia. The aim of the portal is to connect various actors of the independent cultural sector in Croatia as well as to give them much more visibility, the more so since this scene is given little attention by the Croatian media. The portal covers news, announcements, events, competitions concerning the independent cultural and artistic sector as well as contemporary art in Croatia; it also features press coverage arts and culture in Croatia, information on cultural and artistic NGOs in Croatia, interviews and reviews referring to the independent scene, as well as a column dedicated to the perception and penetration of pop culture in the society.
For more details write to Dea Vidovic, editor and visit www.kulturpunkt.hr.

Portal on Culture Rights and Human Development setup by Interarts
This portal is currently being set up by the Interarts Foundation - as working tool and as a platform for interaction - as part of its research and cooperation process on cultural rights and culture in human development; a process, which includes as one of its key elements the Congress on Cultural Rights and Human Development organised in the framework of the Forum Barcelona 2004.
For detalis write to culturalrights@interarts.net and visit the website at www.culturalrights.org

Online resource center launched by the Centre for Creative Communities
This online resource contains numerous articles, reports and case studies that highlight the interdependence of the different sectors working to address social, educational and community development issues. With a predominantly UK and European focus, it aims to bring the perspectives of these sectors together in discussing and advancing innovative processes that put creativity at the centre of social change and visitors to the site are encouraged to send their own case studies and ideas.
Consult it at www.creativecommunities.org.uk
For further information or contributions write to info@creativecommunities.org.uk