Innovative Examples

The recognition of culture’s contribution to development has taken place not only at the national but also at the city level in Ukraine. Cities such as Lviv and Vinnitsa have elaborated their own development strategies where culture plays an important role. These strategies are needs-based and demand-oriented. In Vinnitsa, for instance, the strategy document states that the aim is to have a “developed structure of culture and diverse cultural life”, encouraging an environment that “produces innovative and creative ideas.”

The city of Luhansk carried out a cultural mapping, auditing its cultural spaces and resources. The project strengthened the dialogue and partnerships between the city’s cultural operators, creative community and authorities.

• support for individual writers, especially young and beginning authors who show literary potential - the support is provided via assistance in publication, attendance at international book fairs, etc.;
• promotion of intercultural dialogue via translation processes that operate as a bridge between languages; in particular since 2007 a conference of translators and publishers from several countries in the region has been held, the effects of which have included enabling Armenian society to learn about books published in other countries;
• an annual festival called “Return to Books”, which has been held since 2009 with the purpose of appreciating the role of books and reading in bringing people from different cultures together;
• designation of Yerevan as “World Book Capital”, an honour that has promoted literary diversity via a series of city-wide events and exhibitions;
• implementation of a procedure for the free distribution and sale of literature published in Armenia with funding support from the state.

Switzerland has put in place a system of indicators entitled “Monitoring Sustainable Development” (MONET) covering a range of aspects of sustainable development as it is reflected in social cohesion, economic efficiency, and ecological responsibility. The inclusion of culture as an essential component of this system focuses mainly on its attention to the impact of the arts and culture on social cohesion, in areas such as cultural participation and the preservation of cultural heritage.

The government of the Canadian province of Quebec has elaborated an “Agenda 21 for Culture” as a basis for its efforts to integrate culture into the province’s sustainable development programme. The Agenda establishes principles and objectives which cover cultural, social, economic and environmental sustainability. The strategy emphasises cultural diversity, sustainable use of cultural resources, and promotion of creativity and innovation. It is recognized for the manner in which it engages the interests and participation of all branches of government, civil society and the private sector.

Namibia’s Policy on Arts and Culture is implemented under the National Development Plan Two (NDP2) that includes provisions to optimise the economic contribution of the arts and culture, and to support artists, cultural organisations and others across all areas of the arts.

This approach has been further integrated into the country’s Medium-term Plan.

The Creative Industries Promotion and Development Strategy has been in operation in Lithuania since 2007 with the objective of encouraging the establishment of creative industries, improving their competitiveness and increasing their contribution to the economy. One measure for implementing this strategy is support for art incubators co-funded with the European Regional Development Fund. An art incubator is a non-profit organisation which provides its infrastructure and facilities to artists and others working in the creative industries in order to enable them to create and present their works to the public. The art incubators also initiate business start-ups, and encourage local communities to participate in cultural life.

Latvia 2030 is a long-term strategy guiding the country’s economic and social development. This strategy explicitly includes culture, in particular the nation’s human and cultural capital, as essential elements in the development programme. It sees Latvia’s creative potential as one of the main driving forces of development. The objectives of the strategy are reflected in the National Development Plan (NDP) 2007-2013 adopted in 2006, and the Strategic Development Plan (SDP) 2010-2013 adopted in 2010. Both of these instruments give strong emphasis to the creative sector. The SDP is explicitly designed to increase the country’s competitiveness, with priority for economic growth, social security and reforms in the public sector. In the cultural arena it aims to develop creative industries, to expand audiences, and to increase the export of cultural services.

One of the goals of the 2009 – 2013 National Youth Programme was to meet the cultural needs of the country’s youth. The accompanying Action Plan included measures aiming to make culture available to every child. They included supporting informal arts education, promoting cultural exchange programs for youth, providing co-financing for youth clubs, supporting young artists and involving representatives of youth associations in the activities of cultural councils at the local, regional and national levels.

In addition to the above, the government funded additional activities through a Call for Proposals, including:

• organizing numerous quality cultural activities accessible to children;
• ensuring adequate venues and infrastructure for children’s cultural activities;
• monitoring and evaluating the activities in order to improve them.

This multi-pronged ‘Joint Program’ (JP) aims to promote culture as a driver of economic development for vulnerable groups in four regions of Peru: Ayacucho, Cusco, Puno and Lambayeque (2010 – 2012, co-funded by ILO, WTO, UNIDO, UNDP, UNESCO and FAO). These regions have been selected both because they are poverty-stricken and because of their potential for inclusive development, once an enabling environment has been created. The JP also targets market access and the sharing of successful business models in ‘inclusive cultural industries’. It seeks to strengthen public-private structures in each region, with entrepreneurs as active partners in building marketing and general business-relevant capacities among the most vulnerable groups that also involves building the capacities of local and regional governments. It also proposes a regulatory and public policy framework. Care is being taken to consolidate lessons learned, so that JP outputs and outcomes are disseminated to all its stakeholders, partners, networks, etc., with a view to its replication. JP is led and coordinated by the Ministry of Foreign Trade and Tourism and partners include the Ministry of Culture and its regional directorates, producers associations and NGOs. Finally, it has set quantified targets such as the following: employment provided for 200 inclusive cultural industry entrepreneurs; 4,800 government officials, private sector leaders and community leaders (of which at least 30% women) made aware of inclusive cultural industry opportunities; 100 students trained and 100 trainers trained (of which at least 30% women and 50% from the poorest segment of the population); 1,300 representatives of public sector, private sector and civil society informed about the issue and its opportunities; 120 members of parliament made aware of and favourable to the proposed regulatory framework.

This programme, put in place and led by the National Council for Culture and the Arts (CONACULTA), in cooperation with other relevant bodies in the cultural field, seeks to address the country’s needs in a wide range of cultural domains ranging from heritage, both material and immaterial to all forms of cultural expression, arts education and participation. It contains a special focus on promoting understanding of the development potential for municipalities, states and regions of the arts and culture in general and the cultural industries in particular. Encouraging diverse cultural expressions as a basis for union and social cohesion is a key objective, together with others such as the promotion of access to, enjoyment of and participation as regards cultural goods and services, the provision of spaces for cultural production of quality and increasing the contribution of culture to social welfare. The programme’s main axes are heritage and cultural diversity, cultural infrastructure, national and international cultural promotion, public incentives for creation and sponsorship, training and research in various cultural fields, the promotion of reading, culture and tourism and, last but not least, the cultural industries. The programme is stated to be the product of a broad process of consultation with the country’s artistic communities, intellectuals, academics, civil society entities and cultural operators.

This policy aims to encourage the promotion and maintenance of cultural diversity in the book sector in France. It is based on the action of the National Book Centre (CNL) as well as numerous partners. The law on fixed book price adopted in 1981 has a threefold objective: (i) the equality of citizens before the book, which shall be sold at the same price throughout the country, (ii) maintaining a dense decentralized network of bookstores, especially in disadvantaged areas, iii) supporting pluralism in the creation and publishing of books, especially for difficult works. In 2011 a new law established a single price for the digital book and a support network of libraries and media centers involving all institutional actors. The CNL and its partners are also committed to promoting foreign literature in France, through a program of support for the translation of foreign-language works into French and organization of promotional campaigns for these works in France. Regarding the promotion of French books abroad, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the CNL and its partners annually spend more than ten million euros for this purpose through modalities such as translation aids, transport aid, support for authors’ creative work, participation in major international fairs, the professionalization of French bookstores, creation and production of quality French publishing, promoting and supporting ideas, knowledge and scientific culture expressed in the French language, with the help of a network of 300 media centers and direct aid to the various actors of the French abroad.

The Argentine Cultural Industries Market (MICA) was held in 2011 to promote the country’s design, music, performing arts, audiovisual art, publishing and video games producers in domestic and international markets. Organized in a single space, it was a focused point of articulation between producers and the state agencies engaged in promoting the cultural industries (which in Argentina account for more than 300,000 jobs and 3.5% of GDP). The market was elaborated by different public agencies working closely with the relevant private sector counterparts, viz. the Argentine Book Chamber, the Argentine Publications Chamber, the Association of Argentine Videogame Developers, the National Theatre Institute and others. It involved all the different ministries concerned as well as specialized agencies. The event was also supported by foreign Embassies and international organizations (SEGIB, etc.). It had exhibition stands for each sector as well as for all national public agencies and each province of Argentina. Lectures by industry experts on key challenges facing the sector, workshops and debates, theatrical and musical presentations and the like were also offered. Presentations were organized at related international events such as the Guadalajara Book Fair, Womex, Medellin Music Market, the Frankfurt Book fair and Uniconvention. More than 34,000 people visited or took part in the event as a whole. 

The Ministry of Education and Culture (MEC) Centres have been built up since 2007 to facilitate citizens’ access to educational and cultural goods and services together with scientific and technological innovation, as well as favour social integration and citizen participation. They operate particularly for the benefit of population groups that have been the most disadvantaged due to economic, educational and territorial reasons or as a result of some kind of disability. They have made it possible to bring cultural and educational goods and services to rural areas. The Centres seek also to promote awareness of rights: human, social, political, environmental, gender and cultural. Their outreach, dissemination and development-related activities include visits by artists, scientists and technical experts, exhibitions, debates and other activities, as well as non-formal education projects; promotion of digital literacy is a particular focus. The Ministry works with provincial authorities as strategic partners, while the National Telecommunications Authority serves as a technological ally. A noteworthy aspect of this scheme has been the systematic gathering of impact indicators for the period 2007-2011: ‘5676 activities, in which cultural and educational goods circulated between 114 towns and villages of up to 5000 inhabitants, for which 3787 artists, workshop organizers and performances were contracted at an average cost of $4,300.00 per activity, which means on average 4 activities per month. About 75% of the population (3 out of 4 inhabitants) took part at least in one activity’.

Nigeria has taken measures to foster international cooperation both within and outside its borders. Thus, the African Art Expo held in Nigeria has created an avenue for the promotion of various cultural expressions from African countries. Nigerian Cultural centres have been established in China and Brazil and are being planned in six additional countries.

Working to refine its institutional framework with respect to international relations and cooperation, Mongolia set out in 2011 new Foreign Policy Guidelines and a new Directive on the Advocacy of Mongolian Culture and Arts Abroad that take into account the State Policy on Culture. These documents reflect the view that in order to help intensify Mongolia’s development in culture and arts, it is crucial to promote access to international markets for Mongolian cultural goods and services and increase the capability of the cultural and arts institutions of Mongolia.

To this end, Mongolia has signed agreements and protocols in the field of culture with over twenty countries in Asia and other regions of the world. Cooperation plans have been established between Mongolian and foreign artists, cultural entrepreneurs and professional art associations to conduct exchanges of art performances and exhibitions, train specialists, improve facilities, conduct joint studies in culture and history, publish books, organize cultural days and participate in international art and culture competitions, festivals, meetings and symposia.

The Ibero-American Summits have adopted a number of cultural cooperation programmes such as Ibermedia in the cinematographic and audiovisual sector; Iberescena for the performing arts; Ibermuseos, in the field of museums and museum studies; Ibermusicas strengthening the Ibero-American musical space for the protection of musical heritage and for the promotion of new creations; Iberoquestas, to give support to youth orchestras and spread musical diversity; Iberrutas, for the protection of migrant rights from an intercultural perspective; and Iberarchivos, to promote archive development in Ibero-America. Each member country makes a financial contribution to the programmes.

The 18 participating countries of the Ibero-American Support Fund Ibermedia finance its work through annual contributions. Its objectives include the encouragement of coproduction, distribution and screening of Ibero-American films and the promotion of training for professionals of this sector. An evaluation of the Ibermedia conducted in 2008 established that it had contributed in a significant way to the modernization and development of the film industry in the region. The Ibermedia financing for co-productions may be the only resource available for the growth of national cinema. The evaluation indicated that US$ 110,000 from financial aid has had a multiplier effect of almost 1000%.

The overall objectives of the French international cooperation policy in the domain of culture are: to accompany artists, authors and cultural operators from countries in the South; support the exhibition of their work and contribute to their recognition in international markets; support independent cultural industries in the perspective of sustainable development; contribute to the development of institutional capacity building and management skills in the cultural sectors of countries of the South. French policy to support culture in countries of the South has long recognized the crucial importance of culture in its international political, economic, development and social policies. In a multitude of ways it has integrated culture through legal, institutional and financial measures and through many frameworks, policy and programmes.

France recognizes the importance of culture as a factor in sustainable development in its ODA programmes, especially in Francophone Africa. Avenues for the allocation of ODA resources include the development of sustainable tourism at heritage sites, assistance for publishing, a range of measures in the audio-visual industries, and the encouragement of the innovative use of new information and communication technologies.

One concrete example of this policy is the World Cinema Support Fund (Aide aux cinémas du monde) dedicated to international co-productions. This new fund was jointly created by the Ministry for Culture and Communication and the Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs, and is managed by the Centre National du Cinéma et de l'Image Animée (CNC) and the Institut français. The Fund has replaced a funding programme that was specifically reserved for countries on France’s development priority list. It is now open to all countries and grants support as a subsidy either before or after completion of a project. Subsidies are granted to foreign feature-length film projects that are seeking support from French co-producers. In 2012, it has a total budget of 6 million euros.

In 2009 a comprehensive strategy was formulated in Denmark in order to strengthen the internationalization of Danish cultural life and promote international cultural exchange. The new strategy is focused on five strategic priorities, such as “the artist in a globalized world” “professionalization and networking in a global market” and “foreign culture in Denmark.”
An International Cultural Panel (ICP) was established in 2010 bringing together representatives of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Culture, Ministry of Business and Growth as well as the Danish Arts Council and the Danish Arts Agency Heritage Agency of Denmark, the Danish Film Institute, the Danish Centre for Culture and Development (DCCD), the Danish Cultural Institute and the centres for Crafts, Architecture Centre and Design.

The ICP adheres to nine principles of international cultural work summarized in the Danish report. The main challenges are: to stay focused on building sustainable, professional working networks with foreign actors and the art and culture scenes of other countries and the necessity to cooperate across Ministries and key players working with cultural exchange.

Brazil’s policy has three goals: a) encourage international co-productions, b) support the participation of Brazilian films in international festivals and c) promote Brazil in the international audiovisual sector. The policy is designed to facilitate national producers internationally to encourage partnerships and access to financing. Brazil has a number of international co-production treaties with various countries which helps this process.

A major challenge has been to encourage Brazilian producers to become accustomed and qualified to work with international industry standards (given the size of Brazil’s internal market and language barriers, producers usually work locally). US$ 35,7 million has been allocated to implement this policy.

The National Council of Culture was established in Paraguay in 2010 and includes, along with central and local governmental actors, representatives of various cultural sectors and industries. The Council’s sectoral Working Groups launched the same year have become the main instrument of involvement of civil society in cultural policy-related debates and decision-making. They have contributed to the first study of Paraguay's audiovisual industry, the draft Cinema and Audiovisual Law and in a draft revised Book Law.

Norway counts roughly 16 500 civil society organizations active in the field of culture. The voluntary arts and cultural sector has been acknowledged as a vital contributor to cultural diversity since the first White Papers on culture were presented to the Parliament in the 1970s. Voluntary organizations are recognized as vital partners for public authorities in implementing new measures in the cultural field, and public authorities are called upon to cooperate with voluntary organizations to achieve cultural policy objectives and secure the independence of the voluntary arts and cultural sector.

The Norwegian official hearing scheme obliges Government Ministries and their agencies to circulate policy proposals, including cultural policies, for general review to all public and private institutions and organizations concerned including non-governmental and voluntary organizations. The body that circulates a proposal for review should also consider using other ways to ensure participation on the part of those affected, e.g. through the use of information and communication technology, meetings, etc. The period for review is normally three months and no less than six weeks.

The U40 network offers young people Under 40 – postgraduates, PhD students, young professionals– the opportunity to participate in the international debate on the implementation of the Convention.

The 2011-2012 strategic objectives of the U40 Mexico include contributing to the visibility and application of the 2005 UNESCO Convention in the 31 States and 1 Federal District of Mexico. Education and awareness-raising, as well as the enhanced involvement of civil society and private enterprises with Convention are also on the agenda.

To work towards these objectives, the U40 Mexico and the Toluca Town Hall organized in 2011 the Inter-American Meeting for Cultural Diversity that brought together 43 young culture experts and professionals from Mexico and abroad. The meeting consisted of a series of four conferences open to the public and three workshops that discussed the implementation of the Convention at the local, national, regional and international levels.

Civil society organizations are increasingly involved in shaping cultural policies in Latvia, actively bringing forward concerns of civil society to public authorities. The following activities are undertaken by civil society: (a) active involvement and defending positions concerning the planning of the State budget within the sphere of culture; (b) participation in advisory bodies established under the Ministry of Culture, the Latvian National Commission for UNESCO and other public institutions; (c) advancing international cooperation and networking, promoting new forms of art (for example, digital art) and raising visibility of topical issues of contemporary artistic expressions; (d) bringing forward the issues of education and developing cooperation with higher education institutions; (e) reaching direct cooperation between civil society organizations and the Ministry of Culture concerning the exchange of information.

Regular meetings are held between the representatives of the Ministry of Culture and civil society, in order to discuss, analyze, improve and develop cultural processes in Latvia. The main counterpart for the Ministry of Culture is the Alliance of Culture, a network uniting three large associations and 5000 arts and cultural education institutions and organizations, as well as arts professionals, artists, producers and activists.

In March 2007, the Federal Government designated the German Commission for UNESCO (DUK) as the National Point of Contact for the information exchange and implementation of the Convention in Germany. The work of the Point of Contact is funded with an annual sum of EUR 51,000 (USD 68,000) from the Federal Foreign Office. On the basis of this mandate, the Point of Contact has since initiated numerous projects and measures with a focus on awareness-raising and the participation of civil society, more recently in the Arab region.

For instance, in June 2009, together with the International Federation of Coalitions for Cultural Diversity (IFCCD), the DUK organized the U40 World Forum on the occasion of the Second Conference of Parties to the Convention (UNESCO Headquarters, Paris). Through a worldwide selection process, 50 young experts from 34 countries in Africa, Asia, Latin- and North America, as well as Europe, were selected to participate. The Forum provided a platform for an exchange of information and for getting acquainted with initiatives for the promotion of cultural diversity from all the regions of the world. The DUK continues to provide the Secretariat for the expanding U40 network.

Ecuador has recently established a Citizen Participation Council, in an effort to improve the flow of information between the Government and citizens, as well as to promote participative governance. Local, regional, and national institutions are working together to create a cultural information system by sharing information with the Ministry of Culture. This information is then fed back to the community in awareness-raising programs at the local level.
The Citizen Participation Council is, by constitutional right, the fifth power of the State. The Council oversees the Tranparency Secretariat, the agency that monitors the accountability of the State. In the framework of the Council, activities and initiatives such as the Cultural Participation Programme actively engage civil society.

The International Federation of Coalition for Cultural Diversity (IFCCD) comprises 43 national Coalitions worldwide and is dedicated to the promotion of the Convention. The IFCCD thus groups over 600 professional culture organizations representing creators, artists, independent producers, distributors, broadcasters and editors in the publishing, motion picture, television, music, performing arts and visual arts fields. The director general of the Canadian Coalition, who also acts as the executive director of the Federation, carries out several international missions each year to promote the Convention at civil society and governmental meetings, such as the Organization of American States, the Commonwealth and OIF (Organisation international de la Francophonie).

Nearly two-thirds of the national Coalitions are in African and Latin American developing countries. The exchange of information promotes the development of common positions, allowing the Federation to actively participate in the work of the Convention’s bodies.

Civil society’s participation in developing and implementing cultural policies and measures is an important characteristic of Canada’s governance model. For example, in 2009 the Government organized national copyright consultations to provide all Canadians the opportunity to voice their opinion on how the government should address the modernization of copyright laws in an increasingly digital-based context. Canadians were able to participate in this consultation in various manners, including a focus group and an online submission centre that respectively allowed for 2,500 comments and 8,000 submissions to be collected. Nine round tables gathering over 100 participants were held across the country, with the objective of obtaining points of views from experts and organizations. Moreover, the live broadcast of two public meetings on the Web allowed more than 800 Canadians from across the country to participate in the conversation in person and over the Internet. Following this consultation, a bill entitled the Copyright Modernization Act was introduced to the House of Commons.

National public expert and advisory councils have been created under the Ministry of Culture for specific domains of activity. Members of the councils include civil society representatives and representatives of academic institutions (universities, art schools and the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences). The councils are consulted in the process of elaboration of new cultural policies and measures, or when specific situations or issues arise.

One of the tasks tackled by the councils is the preparation of a draft National Strategy for Development of Bulgarian Culture and Arts up to 2020.

In Brazil, civil society participates in the creation, implementation and monitoring of public cultural policies in cooperation with the Ministry of Culture, National Council of Cultural Policy, various councils at the municipal level, etc.

During the development of the National Plan for Culture 2011-2020, which is the first Brazilian Government policy document referring to the 2005 Convention as the legal framework, the Ministry of Culture organized a series of workshops on cultural policies in all States of the Federation. These workshops targeted artists, students, researchers and cultural entrepreneurs and discussed, inter alia, the content and issues related to the Convention. Managers and specialists of the Ministry of Culture participated as speakers and as trainers in these workshops.

The Brazilian example illustrates a large-scale consistent effort undertaken by the Government to promote the Convention throughout the country, targeting specifically artists, cultural professionals and entrepreneurs.

The Austrian Working Group on Cultural Diversity (ARGE) was set up in 2004 as a ‘network of networks’ including among its members associations, unions, academic institutions and individual artists. It is funded by the Federal Ministry for Education, Arts and Culture.

Each network/interest group within the ARGE liaises with its constituencies on issues of common interest. In this way, the ARGE’s decisions potentially represent more than 3,500 individuals active in the arts and culture. A specificity of the ARGE is the participation of representatives of the governments of the Lander at ARGE meetings.
It is also noteworthy that the Convention Points of contact within the Federal Ministries responsible for culture, the arts, education, foreign affairs, internal affairs, law, economy and trade, science and media participate in ARGE meetings ensuring that all relevant stakeholders work together to implement the Convention. It obviates challenges in continuity when civil servants, politicians or civil society representatives change jobs or are shifted to other departments.

With the entry into force of the Convention the ARGE extended its fields of activity to encompass (i) sharing and exchange of information, (ii) providing expertise and know-how on cultural policy developments to public authorities, (iii) organizing awareness-raising activities and (iv) monitoring the implementation process as well as developing concrete proposals on how to further this implementation process.

This working group provides a unique forum for continuous dialogue and exchange between representatives of civil society and the public authorities from all government Ministries on matters relating to the Convention.

France supports mobility of artists from developing countries to participate in cultural seasons and festivals and provides dedicated grants and residences programmes (over the past ten years, 1000 artists from developing countries have benefited from these programmes). Specific mobility programmes for artists such as Beyond the Walls targeting young creators in the fields of visual and performing arts and Louis Lumière targeting young film directors are implemented, along with initiatives addressing cultural professionals coordinated by Bureau d’accueil des artistes et professionnels étrangers and sponsored by the Ministry of Culture and Communication.

A special effort is made to foresee and resolve problems related to entry visas for artists and cultural professionals from developing countries. France has developed a framework so that cultural professionals are updated on visa requirement on a fairly regular (twice yearly) basis. France recognizes that visa facilitation is a recurring issue throughout the cultural sector which must constantly be addressed.