Europasekretariat Deutscher Kultur-NGOs

Where is culture in the Von der Leyen’s Commission? Immediately after the presentation of the new college of commissioners on September 11 Culture Action Europe stated: “Within the 26 unusual portfolio titles EC president proposed, ‘culture’ as such has gone missing. Von der Leyen entrusted Commissioner Mariya Gabriel, the former Commissioner for the Digital Economy and Society from Bulgaria with Directorate-General for Research and Innovation as well as the Directorate-General for Education, Youth, Sport and Culture. However the word culture does not figure in her new portfolio’s title: ‘Innovation and Youth’. Neither does research and education.”

“Myself and the whole cultural sector is very concerned about the latent downgrading of culture in the name of Ms Mariya Gabriel’s portfolio. “- said Robert Manchin, president of Culture Action Europe.

Culture Action Europe  will continue to advocate to put culture at the heart of public debate and decision making and work within changing institutional arrangements to foster the contribution of culture to the different policy domains.

With an open letter and a public campaign CAE is urging the President to bring culture back.

The 2019 Edition of Culture Action Europe’s Beyond the Obvious conference from 23-26 October 2019 in Konstanz/Kreuzlingen focuses on cultural practices in non-urban territories.

“Culture Crops: cultural practices in non-urban territories” sparks the debate on peripheral territories. Where does their territory begin and where it does it end? How do they see themselves and how are they seen by others? What are they and how do they work?

• Dynamics & Organisation: How does cultural work in peripheral territories take place and how is it organised?
• Urban-Rural Discrepancies: What is the difference between urban visions of the rural and what the rural is today?
• Blurred Borderlines: Where does the rural begin and where does it end?

Culture Crops will be the conference on the road. Various thematic itineraries are proposed to the participants in order to experience the diversity of models of practice present in the region. These visits include facilitated debate and exchange between similar practices from other parts of Europe and offers an opportunity for learning and peer-to-peer exchange.

Register before 13 September 18.00 CET to get the Early Bird Fee!

View the preliminary program here. For more information and the complete concept notes have a look on the conference website.

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Open Call for Projects!

Do you have a cultural project that deals with non-urban territories? Are you running an initiative based on a dialogue with the rural social and environmental context? Are you intervening with the audiences outside of big cities? Is your project reflecting on cultural and social innovation in peripheries?

Be part of the Culture-Crops-Agora: Culture-Crops-Agora is an informal forum that showcases local and European projects acting within the non-urban territories. The aim of the agora is to bring different perspectives from arts, heritage, agriculture, research, politics, activism etc., mix initiatives from Switzerland and Germany with similar projects coming from all over Europe and to create an open space for networking.

What is Culture Action Europe looking for? What does CAE provide? Have a look here and send your proposal before 22 July 2019!

On 21 and 22 March 2019, the Culture Action Europe (CAE) Members Forum took place in Brussels. In view of the European elections, the members exchanged their regional implementations of the CAE European Election Campaign. The common goal is the best possible positioning of cultural interests in a new EU Parliament from the second half of 2019 on.

Likewise, ideas and wishes for the new EU Creative Europe program after 2020 were discussed. Parallel to the negotiations for the new EU Multiannual Financial Framework 2021-2027, the individual programs of the EU will be reorganized. The issue of mobility of cultural workers received special support here and the call for an appropriate definition and positioning of cultural education in the final drafts of the new Creative Europe program.

Another exchange took place on structural issues of Culture Action Europe. Internal networking was discussed concerning thematic or regional working groups, the so-called “hubs”. The CAE Board also presented the current Culture Action Europe Strategy Paper with thematic focus:
• Redraft of EU programs relevant to the cultural sector and negotiations on the Multiannual Financial Framework of the EU 2021-2027
• Working conditions in the cultural sector in Europe, with a particular focus on income conditions and the social protection of artists and the conditions for international mobility of cultural workers in Europe and beyond.
• Freedom of expression and cultural rights, with the elaboration of the legal framework at national levels as well as corresponding regulations at EU level.
• Artistic and cultural research, in particular the so-called STEAM Practices, which stand for Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Mathematics, and put the added value of today’s artistic practices in research and development forward.

The first plans for the CAE annual conference Beyond the Obvious were also presented, which will take place from 23 to 26 October 2019 at the German-Swiss border near Konstanz / Kreuzlingen.

The Culture Action Europe EP Elections 2019 Campaign aims to foster a stronger recognition of the cultural dimension of the European Union and culture’s contribution to Europe. Cultural and creative sectors advocate for the culture and Europe that is democratic, diverse, fair, free, human, inclusive and vital.  The Campaign gives voters the ability to make an informed decision about the role of culture in the political party programmes and to encourage voters to make their voice heard. Read the Culture Action Europe appeal in full here and take a look to a list of questions to candidates and programmes.