On Thursday 30 March, the Council of the EU’s Cultural Affairs Committee will discuss ways to better understand the specific needs and strengthen the participation of local communities in the cultural sector. This discussion will feed into the Swedish Presidency of the EU Council’s review of the recovery, resilience and sustainability of the cultural and creative sectors (CCS) (https://aeur.eu/f/624 ) (see EUROPE 13103/14).
For the time being, Sweden proposes focusing on two priorities: preparing the CSS for future challenges through improved knowledge of the sector and taking into account local cultural scenes.
Better knowledge. In-depth knowledge of the sector, the Presidency argues, can help to leverage the sector’s recovery to focus on preparing it for future challenges. For this reason, national delegations will be invited to share their experiences in terms of dialogue with stakeholders, studies on the characteristics of the whole value chain of the sector and best practices that can enable the CSS to prepare for unexpected phenomena.
Furthermore, the Presidency invites the European Commission and the EU countries to draw inspiration from the “cultural governance” action of the Work Plan. It calls for the development of a new model of cultural governance with an innovative and cross-disciplinary approach to address “current challenges in a comprehensive way”.
Local scenes. The delegations will also reflect on ways to take into account local scenes in the development of cultural policies and to promote the participation of all, including the most vulnerable, in culture.
Here too, the Presidency calls on the Member States and the Commission to draw inspiration from the Action Plan. While stressing the need for cultural institutions as a whole to be accessible to all and to promote spaces for dialogue, the plan pays particular attention to libraries.
As foreseen in the EU Work Plan for Culture 2023-2026, the review will be finalised by the end of 2023 by the Spanish Presidency.
To read the document: https://aeur.eu/f/625 (Original version in French by Hélène Seynaeve)