Policies for Culture news

InSIGHT: New publication of the Policies for Culture Programme to be launched on
May 31 
InSIGHT is a bi-monthly electronic publication prepared in the framework of the Policies for Culture programme. Each issue will feature two analysis and opinion articles dedicated to key cultural policy issues and the general cultural environment in South East Europe. The first issue will present an editorial by Corina Suteu and articles by Vjeran Katunaric, "National enthusiasts, European stakeholders?" and Aleksandar Djeric, "First Serbia's Creative Cluster. How to plan, develop and maintain it?". InSIGHT will be distributed and downloadable in html format at the programme's website www.policiesforculture.org.

Addressing cultural policy research: Policies for Culture announces a first workshop to take place in Belgrade on October 2-3, 2004
This international event will take place in the framework of the recently launched Task Force for Cultural Policy Research in South East Europe. The workshop aims to identify the state of affairs in the field of cultural policy research in SEE and more specifically the relationship between policy and research in each of the countries; to raise awareness of liabilities of the lack of research, on the one hand, and assets resulting from the policy supply with independent research results, on the other; to set an agenda of most urgent topics of research, as well as methodologies to be applied in order to easier convert research findings into policy papers; to identify potential partners in each of the countries and to help at developing a network of researchers and research institutions/programs in the region and ways of better linking research and decision-making. The Task Force has prepared a first Statement as point of departure to the workshop. It was also made available to the participants to the conference "Networking for the Arts in Europe" (Cork, Ireland, May 20-22) in the framework of the presence of the ECF-initiated Forum for Cooperation with SEE (FCC).
Visit www.policiesforculture.org to consult the Statement.

Action project update: Cultural policy in Zlatibor region - Towards local cultural reform in the cities of Arilje, Bajina Basta and Pozega (Serbia)
Undertitled "Towards local cultural reform in the cities of Arilje, Bajina Basta and Pozega", this programme represented a follow-up to the project "Towards local cultural policy development" which was implemented in the year 2002 in four Serbian municipalities, including that of Uzice. Its goal was to propose a step-by-step process which would lead to the design of effective cultural policies in three towns of Zlatibor region and to the launch of a systematic reform in the field of culture and in other spheres of the social life. The result of this process is represented by the cultural policy papers for each municipality (now available online in the project's page), which will be submitted to local governments for reviewing and possible adoption.
Consult the papers in the page dedicated to this action project.

Action project update: Platform for a New Impact of Culture in Montenegro
May 26 marked a new public event in the framework of this project - the round table "Activation of alternative sources of financing culture in Montenegro". The meeting brought together cultural operators (leading managers of cultural institutions, art academies, legal experts etc.), who have discussed the different potential alternative mechanisms for funding cultural activities in the specific context of Montenegro. During the round table, the awarded artworks on cultural policy funding in the framework of the competition launched by the project were also announced. The two awarded postcards and other four selected will be distributed with the daily newspaper Vijesti and its cultural supplement on May 29, thus accompanying with an artistic proposal the project's endeavours to reconsider and reform the cultural funding mechanisms in Montenegro. All six selected works can be viewed in the Artist's corner on the programme's website. The following event will take place on June 1, with a presentation held by Aldo Milohnic from Ljubljana on "The economic argument in advocating for culture".
Details in the page dedicated to this action project.

 News from the region

Bulgaria: International Forum of MPs "Culture as a Factor for Stability in South East Europe" (Sofia, National Assembly, 14-16 May 2004)
Following the initiative undertaken by the Chairman of the Parliamentary Committee for Culture at the Bulgarian National Assembly, Stefan Danailov, the first meeting under the aegis of the International Forum "Culture as a Factor for Stability in South East Europe" took place in Sofia on 14-16 May. The Forum aims at mobilizing the efforts of the MPs responsible for cultural affairs in the Parliaments of SEE countries in view of raising the importance of culture for the stability of the region. 12 delegations from 10 countries (Albania, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Greece, Macedonia, Romania, Slovenia, Serbia & Montenegro, Turkey) have taken part to the event. A final declaration was adopted by the Forum emphasizing the crucial role of culture as an instrument for mutual understanding, building confidence and good relations among countries in the region, taking into consideration the rich diversity and its preservation as a conflict-prevention factor. During the presentations and open discussion the role of active dialogue between the institutions and the third sector was emphasized as a basis for quality work on the elaboration of new legislation. The contribution of the Policies for Culture programme in raising awareness through its action projects in SEE was underlined by Virgil Nitulescu, member of the delegation of the Lower House of the Romanian Parliament and active participant to Policies for Culture.
For more information write to Tsveta Andreeva, Policies for Culture Local Coordinator in Bulgaria, at C.Andreeva@culture.government.bg.

Bulgaria: Public discussion "Culture, communities, development" (Sofia, May 26)
The initiators of the Workshop for Civic Initiatives Foundation - Sofia organised this discussion as a follow up of the Community Arts Week (11-17 May 2004), part of the Living Heritage programme of the King Baudouin Foundation. The Community Arts Week and the public discussion were the culmination of sharing opinions and experiences acquired through the programme activities. The discussion intended to result in the meeting of different points of view of institutions, organisations, practitioners, business and media on the issue of culture - the arts and heritage as a potential but underestimated resource for social development.
Details are available at here.

Macedonia: Launch of an open competition for cultural NGOs by the Ministry of Culture
The Ministry of Culture of Macedonia has recently launched, for the first time, an open competition for cultural NGOs and established a selection committee which will assess the submitted applications. The commission set up inside the Ministry of Culture is chaired by Violeta Simjanovska, Executive Director of PAC Multimedia Skopje and initiator of the "Debate Center". The latter, one of the Policies for Culture associated projects initiated in the year 2001, represented a key policy debate and advocacy platform in Macedonia.
For more details write to Violeta Simjanovska at vsimjan@multimedia.org.mk.

 Projects and Initiatives

Agenda 21 for Culture. 4th Porto Alegre Forum of Local Authorities (7 - 8 May 2004)
"Agenda 21 for culture. An undertaking by cities and local governments for cultural development" was approved on 8th May 2004 in Barcelona, written by a network of cities, under the initiative of Barcelona and Puerto Alegre, in view of the Universal Forum for Cultures.
Details are available here.

Cupore - Foundation for Cultural Policy Research in Finland
The Foundation was established in 2002 by the University of Jyväskylä and the Finnish Cultural Foundation. The purpose of the Foundation is to monitor the development of Finnish and international cultural policy and to promote research in the field. It maintains a Research Centre whose task is to produce and disseminate policy-relevant high quality research and contribute to the formation of an environment where such research and cultural policy expertise can flourish.
For more details visit Cupore's website at http://www.cupore.fi/.

 Upcoming Events

August 25-28: The Third International Conference on Cultural Policy Research (Montreal, Canada)
The third International Conference on Cultural Policy Research is organized by François Colbert and the Carmelle and Remi Marcoux Chair in Arts Management, HEC Montreal, in cooperation with the International Journal of Cultural Policy. ICCPR'04 aims to provide an outlet for the interdisciplinary and international exploration of the concept, role and impact of cultural policies. It is intended to reflect a broad perspective on cultural policy, encompassing culture both as a "way of life" and in the narrower sense of the arts and cultural industries. The conference is concerned with institutional policies as well as with the wider discourses relating to the general conditions of culture.
For more information write to the Carmelle and Remi Marcoux Chair in Arts Management at iccpr@hec.ca or visit http://www.hec.ca/iccpr/.

September 23-26: La Rencontre de Brno: Heritage and local and regional authorities in Central and Eastern Europe
"Les Rencontres", Association of European Cities and Regions for Culture, is holding a thematic and regional meeting in Brno, Czech Republic. Held in one of the newly acceded countries of the EU, on the invitation of the City of Brno, it will be centred on the protection and rehabilitation of Architectural Heritage of the 19th and first half of the 20th centuries. The aim of the meeting is to bring together high-level experts, academics and elected officials mainly from Central Europe to present case studies and reflect on the best way to rehabilitate this heritage, using the expertise and knowledge of practitioners from all over Europe.
For further information or subscription details, please contact Jan Bartos at info@lesrencontres.org or visit http://www.lesrencontres.org/.

 Opportunities

University of Arts in Belgrade: Postgraduate Studies in Cultural Management and Cultural Policy in the Balkans
First application deadline: May 31. Final application deadline: September 15.
The postgraduate programme is organised by the University of Arts in Belgrade, in partnership with the French universities Lyon II and Institute of Political Studies in Grenoble, as well as a series of regional partners among which the ECUMEST Association. It enjoys the support of the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs, with the participation of UNESCO and the Central European Initiative. The programme is open to graduates with university degree and to professionals with proved experience in the field of culture (at least two years) from the Balkan region as well as other European countries with an interest in the region. It aims to train the future managers of cultural organisations and cultural project leaders by providing necessary theoretical and practical tools for development and implementation of cultural policies and cultural projects. Applicants are encouraged to send their dossiers as soon as possible. French-speaking applicants from the region are advised to ask at the French Embassy in their country for scholarship opportunities. For more details write to Marijana Cvetkovic, project coordinator, at medjunar@arts.bg.ac.yu or visit www.arts.bg.ac.yu or www.ecumest.ro to download brochures and application forms.

University of Trento: Joint European Master in Comparative Local Development for the Balkans and other Areas in Transformation
The Application deadline: June 30, 2004
The programme, which will take place from September 2004 to February 2006, is the result of the international, integrated cooperation among the University of Trento, Budapest University of Economic Sciences and Public Administration, University of Regensburg, University of Belgrade and the University of Ljubljana. The Master is based on criteria such as the importance of local development, within the framework of a broader strategy concerning the general development of South Eastern Europe (SEE) and the areas in transformation or the crucial role of qualified young professionals, who already cover key-positions for the local development of their own area. A limited number of scholarships is available for participants from the following SEE countries: Albania, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, FYR Macedonia, Republic of Moldova, Romania, Serbia and Montenegro. More details and the application forms are available here.

 Publications & Information Resources

The International Creative Sector - UNESCO meeting report
On June 5-7, 2003 the Center for Arts and Culture organised a convening of 33 European, American and Latin American experts to explore how cultural participation and audience development differ among Europe, the U.S and Latin America, titled the "International Creative Sector". Hosted by the University of Texas in Austin and sponsored by the Center, UNESCO, and the President's Committee on the Arts and Humanities, the conference was second in a series of UNESCO meetings about current issues in the arts and cultural industries. The final report including the proceedings and a brief synopsis is available here.

Diplomacy that Works: "Best Practices" in Cultural Diplomacy
2003, Center for Arts and Culture. Former ambassador to the Netherlands Cynthia Schneider writes about successful examples of improving mutual understanding.
Consult the paper here.

The Policy Documentation Center at Central European University
May 2004. The Center for Policy Studies at the Central European University, Hungary launched an on-line collection of policy papers from central and eastern Europe and the NIS. At present, the Policy Documentation Center (PDC) holds over 650 papers on policy issues as diverse as smuggling, internet governance and primary education reform. Many papers come from think-tanks based in the region, but others come from university based research institutes. The database is a free and continually expanding resource.
Access the PDC at http://pdc.ceu.hu.

Global Roaming: Mobility beyond Europe
April 2004. An IETM publication linked to the "On the Move" project. This short guide to global mobility is written by Judith Staines for artists and cultural operators. It is concerned with professional mobility, travel to and work in places beyond Europe.
Consult it online here.

An International Evaluation of the Finnish System of Arts Councils
2004. This report made by Theodoor Adams, Pertti Ahonen & Rod Fisher (Publications of the Ministry of Education, Finland) presents the findings and recommendations of an international team of experts, appointed by the Finnish Ministry of Education, to evaluate the Finnish system of Arts Councils (the Central Arts Council, State Artform Councils, the Regional Arts Councils). The main task of the evaluation was to assess the appropriateness and efficiency of existing structural solutions in delivering support for artists and art and to consider whether the system should be strengthened towards more of a decision-making instrument in the field of Finnish arts policy.
Consult the evaluation report in the web pages of the Ministry of Education.

Report of the International Seminar Cultural Indicators of Human Development in Africa (Maputo, Mozambique, 3-5 March 2004) organised as Pre-Forum to the Congress on Cultural Rights and Human Development (Barcelona, August 23-27)
Organised by the Observatory of Cultural Policies in Africa (OCPA), Interarts, UNESCO and the Forum Barcelona 2004, the Seminar was one of several regional meetings held to prepare the Congress on Cultural Rights and Human Development. It also provided an opportunity to initiate OCPA's research programme on cultural indicators and to contribute to the preparation of a regional consultation on culture and NEPAD (New Partnership for Africa's Development). The report is available online here.