About

What is Voices Of Culture?

Voices Of Culture is the structured dialogue between the cultural sector in the European Union and the European Commission. It provides a platform for civil society representatives of the cultural sector to give input to the European Commission on a range of topics.

Successful applicants are invited to a Brainstorming Meeting on behalf of their organization. A Brainstorming Report is produced by participants after the Brainstorming Meeting. This Brainstorming Report is then presented to and discussed with the European Commission at a Dialogue Meeting in Brussels, Belgium.

Voices Of Culture launches regular calls for applications on different topics, which are salient in the policy making process of the European Commission.

Please check the CALL FOR APPLICANTS section on our website for open calls.

Voices Of Culture provides travel, accommodation and catering for participants during meetings. Please note, that the writing of the Brainstorming Report is the responsibility of participating organizations and is not financially remunerated by Voices Of Culture.

VOICES OF CULTURE PROCESS

BACKGROUND

In 2007, the European Agenda for Culture, adopted by the Commission, set out three strategic objectives, namely the promotion of cultural diversity and intercultural dialogue, the promotion of culture as a catalyst for creativity and the promotion of culture as a vital element in the Union’s international relations. It also introduced two tools for cooperation in the field of culture at EU level: the Open Method of Coordination (OMC) with EU Member States and a Structured Dialogue (SD) with civil society.

Under the OMC, experts from ministries of culture and national cultural institutions meet five to six times over a 1.5 year period to share good practice and produce policy manuals or toolkits, which are shared widely throughout Europe. Within this framework, EU Member States exchange information on how they design policies and funding schemes. This form of cooperation, referred to as the Open Method of Coordination, is used in many policy areas.

Through the Structured Dialogue, the Commission maintains a regular dialogue with civil society. During this process, stakeholders provide key ideas and messages that can also be shared with the relevant OMC experts. This dialogue with the culture sector provides a framework for exchanging views and information, and ensures that the voice of civil society organisations is heard.

From 2008 to 2013, the Structured Dialogue has been made up of two complementary strands: the European Culture Forums and the Civil Society Culture Platforms (Intercultural Europe; Access to Culture; Cultural and Creative Industries).

The Forums were organised by the European Commission every two years, with the last edition taking place on 7-8 December 2017 in Milan. However, as of 2015, the second strand of the Structured Dialogue has taken another form, with the launch of Voices of Culture.

PARTNERS

Through an open call for tender, the European Commission has selected the Goethe-Institut, to implement the 'Voices Of Culture' project.



The Goethe-Institut (GI) is the
international cultural institute of the
Federal Republic of Germany, and
operates worldwide.