The protection and promotion of the diversity of cultural expressions are the basis of the cultural policy of the Federal Government, the Länder and the local authorities in Germany. They promote a culture of participation of civil society actors at all levels. According to the 2018 Report on Cultural Funding (Kulturfinanzbericht), public spending for the protection and promotion of culture and the arts amounts to 0.34% of gross domestic product. Co productions on an equal footing and the dismantling of inequalities are important goals for international cultural cooperation.

This report presents 100 sample measures that strengthen sustainable systems of governance for culture. In this context, the strong trend of Länder and municipalities compiling longer-term cultural guidelines and cultural development concepts continues. In these efforts, they are actively responding to demographic, digital and ecological transformations. The innovative capacities of cultural infrastructures and institutions are becoming even more important. Cultural diversity is now the rule, not the exception. Artistic projects and cultural education are contributing to dialogue in society. During the reporting period, many refugees arrived in Germany from crisis and war zones. Some of the measures reported on here were in response to this development.

The plurality of media systems continues to guarantee freedom of opinion and a diversity of contents. It provides all citizens with various entry points to the media while ensuring that the populace has a presence in the media. A “media diversity monitor” has now been actively deployed across Germany.

Multi-year transformation programmes for museums, archives and libraries designed to expand their digital competencies are responding to the digital environment’s challenges and disruptions. The promotion of digital creativity as a tool of democratic popular culture and media culture must be institutionalised at some point in the future.

Model projects that stabilize and strengthen the efficacy of socio-cultural work play an important role in boosting the competencies and capacities of civil society entities.

Cultural content and forms of expression from countries in the Global South have continued to gain visibility thanks to international cooperation, co-productions, mobility, preferential treatment and artist residencies. Cooperation with cultural actors in Africa was further increased, partly in response to the debate, ongoing since 2017, on questions related to German colonial history and the handling of collections from colonial contexts. The successful programmes for publishers and for emerging cinematic talent have been further deepened and expanded. In 2019, they actively participated in the new medium-term cooperation initiative “Fair Culture” on the concept of preferential treatment in the artistic and cultural sector.

The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development shapes the role of culture in strategies for sustainable development. The German Sustainable Development Strategy, initially adopted in 2017 and revised in 2018, was the first to use the concept of a “culture of sustainability” as a guiding principle, whereby public programming funds for transformative cultural projects were made available. Important sectors of the creative industry, such as film and television, are developing prototypes for ecologically sound production methods.

In the framework of international and development cooperation, one focus is the structural contribution of the artistic and cultural sector towards the attainment of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), particularly in countries of Africa and the Near East. The Federal Government promotes the economic strength and innovative capacities of this promising sector, which creates jobs and prospects for young entrepreneurs in particular, and opens up new fields of business.

Promoting human rights and fundamental freedoms is a requirement for implementing this UNESCO cultural convention.
Due to gender disparities, society misses out on quality, quantity and diversity of cultural content and forms of expression. Available talent is left untapped. Mentoring programmes to promote women, as well as other initiatives, were significantly expanded, the risk of violence was reduced and, overall, gender equality was embedded transversally in many different projects. This is also a focus of Germany’s Presidency of the Council of the European Union in the second half of 2020.

By taking new measures, such as the Martin Roth Initiative, to protect artists and cultural professionals under threat, by intensifying its cooperation in the International Cities of Refuge Network, and by releasing general statements in response to developments, Germany has acknowledged in political terms and reinforced in practical terms the importance of protecting artistic freedom. Illiberal democracies and political systems that are increasingly re-nationalising present a challenge to artistic freedom and international cooperation.

In 2019, Germany submitted to UNESCO a 40-page implementation report on the key aspect of the social and economic status of artists and cultural professionals in the digital environment. That implementation report is included as an annex to this Periodic Report.