Culture et Création | Actions de suivi | Programmes | Suivi du colloque

Follow-up actions

Colloquium Follow-up

The Commission has set up a follow-up mechanism for the Colloquium « Culture and creativity, vectors for development » in order to maintain the momentum and to implement the commitments announced by the Commissioner in his closing speech. (See Brussels Declaration).

Among the first series of actions scheduled to be implemented by the European Commission the following actions are already in process:

Introduction of the « cultural » dimension in the political dialogue with ACP states and in the development policies of the Commission

An effort to raise awareness and to reflect around the cultural dimension of development and culture as a "cross-cutting/mainstreaming issue" in the development projects touching all sectors has been launched following the study on “Culture and social cohesion” commissioned by AIDCO. In this respect, AIDCO organized a first seminar in November 2009 and is currently developing a pilot training programme for the Union’s Delegation staff in different partner countries. In the same spirit, DG DEV is also preparing awareness raising seminars to promote the relation culture-development vis-à-vis local authorities that will be organized in cooperation with the Delegations on the spot.

New programmes/initiatives

The Thematic Programme « Investing in People » : A specific support for the cultural sectors: following the recommendations of the professionals, the subject for the call for proposals in 2010 was the governance of culture. The declared objective is to support the projects which include operators from several different countries (the beneficiaries of this programme will not be just ACP states, but almost every non-OCDE country), focusing on the reinforcement of the non-state sector (professional and business associations, civil society, museums, etc.) and the structuring of the different cultural areas (development of networks and services for creation, production, circulation of cultural goods and services, skill strengthening, etc.). The call for proposals is expected to be published before the end of the first semester of 2010.

INTRA-ACP Programme, 10^th EDF : The setting-up of a new Culture programme at the Intra-ACP level in partnership with the ACP secretariat has been scheduled to begin in late 2010. The objective of this programme will be to favor – through South-South, North-South, and South-Nord exchanges – the circulation and distribution, the co-production, the know-how transfer and a better structuring of the cultural industry in ACP countries.

Strengthening the culture spots in the national and regional (NIP/RIP) of the ACP countries

NIP : The still ongoing mid-term review of the country strategies in the 10^th EDF was the occasion to identify concrete opportunities to integrate culture in certain national programmes. A positive example, and a direct consequence of the dialogue that began with the April 2009 Colloquium, is Burkina Faso, where a new “Culture” programme currently under development has been identified in the mid-term review. In the case of other countries, “cultural windows” have been identified within already existing programmes that have not been implemented yet (in particular in the frame of programmes supporting civil society, local development or the reinforcement of governance).

RIP : The review of the PIR is expected for 2011. The regional programmes contribute in particular to:

The structuring of the regional cultural sectors, which are not viable at the country level, in order to support the development of operators that can assume the different functions of the value chain at the regional level
The emergence of regional excellence poles in a concrete sector (training, professionalization, technical support)
The development of circulation, diffusion and commercialization platforms for goods, services and cultural works at the regional level.

Setting up a Follow-up Committee of the Colloquium

The Follow-up Committee is a consultative instance for the European Commission, set up in order to circulate the information between the Commission and the professionals, to widen contacts, to create synergies, to increase awareness amongst member states, cultural institutes and private organizations, and also to support the Commission in the brainstorming, conception of the cooperation programmes dealing with the relation between culture and development.

The Follow-up Committee is chaired by the services of the Commission and composed by artists, experts in ACP/ EU cultural industries as well by representatives of various institutions ACP/ EU working in the field of Culture and Development.

The Follow-up Committee had its first meeting in Gerona in the frame of the Seminar Culture and Development, organized on the 4^th and 5^th May 2010 by the Spanish presidency in cooperation with the Commission. Report

Culture and creativity