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The Civil Society Platform for Access to Culture

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.

To advocate for these standpoints the Platform produced its Policy Guidelines Document and a comprehensive Tool KIT.

Recomendations

On June 9^th 2009 the Platform endorsed the Policy Guidelines document which is the outcome of the working process of its first year of existence. The document is directed to the European Commission, Member States, local and regional authorities and cultural institutions.

It places access and participation within a human rights framework and puts forward nine recommendations with stated objectives, proposed actions and expected results:

Understanding the needs of all publics

Data collection, research and consultations - to improve policymaking in the field of access to culture.

Overcoming linguistic barriers

Language education and support to translation - to remove linguistic obstacles to access to culture.

Supporting highly qualified professionalism

Social protection, education and training programmes - to ensure professional development and growth and, in turn, broaden the diversity of the cultural offer.

Improving funding and procedures

More diverse and flexible funding opportunities, easier access to information - to facilitate access to funding to a larger group of artists and cultural professionals.

Advancing mobility and exchange

Mobility funding, spaces for encounters and exchange, support to diffusion of artistic processes and products – to increase mobility, and integrate cultural stakeholders in foreign actions.

Promoting the cultural use of new technologies

Increased access to new technologies to public and cultural actors, while insuring appropriate protection of creators’ and interpreters’ rights – to increase the cultural potential of new technologies.

Stimulating learning through culture

Recognition of the synergies between education and culture and support to such projects in all appropriate funding instruments – to increase the access to culture through education and the access to education through culture.

Positioning access to culture upstream and transversally in all cultural policy-making

Participatory policymaking, interdisciplinary policy working groups – to improve specific and general policies promoting access to culture.

Raising awareness of the legal frameworks on access to culture

Information, ratification and implementation of all legal instruments on access to culture – to translate international commitments on access to culture into genuine policies.