Brussels | 29th september 2009

On Tuesday 29 September, the Civil Society Platform on Access to Culture presents its recommendations and further actions in public during the Culture Forum in Brussels organised by the European Commission.

50 European-wide organisations, networks, foundations, civil society initiatives from the cultural sector worked since 5 June 2008 in three working groups dedicated to ‘Audience Participation’, ‘Creativity and Creation’ and ‘Education and Learning’ towards the formulation of a comprehensive position paper including 9 recommendations with stated objectives, proposed actions and expected results. They are addressed at the European Commission, Member States, local and regional authorities and cultural institutions.

The Platform

- Positions Access to Culture in a human/cultural rights perspective;
- Places Access to Culture upstream in cultural policy-making (with a strong call to also mainstream culture in other policy fields);
- Formulates clear priority areas for action to develop the conditions of creation, education and participation across Europe.

The civil society platforms initiated by the European Commission in 2008 (on cultural and creative industries, intercultural dialogue and access to culture) are a channel for cultural stakeholders to provide concrete input and practice-based policy recommendations and – in this way – actively contribute to the implementation and further development of the
European Agenda for Culture.

Next steps of the Platform foresee to include the wider sector into the consultation and endorsement process of the Paper, identify suitable actions in different stages of policy making and organise a strong positioning of its goals in the overall European policy.

The European Culture Forum from 28-30 September brings together participants from culture civi l society, Member States and EU institutions to take stock of progress in implementing the European Agenda for Culture. Keynote speeches, panel discussions and workshops wi ll all feed the debate, built around the three strategic objectives of the
agenda: cultural diversity and intercultural dialogue ; culture as a catalyst for creativity ; and culture as a vital element in the EU’s international relations.