“Democratization of the Arts? Through the Arts? New strategies for Arts and Culture Education in Europe”: Stiftung Genshagen

The conference assembled experts and stakeholders representing the fields of arts, culture, education, science and politics from 18 European countries and enabled international and interdisciplinary exchange and networking. The program combined theoretical inputs and discussions with best-practice presentations of projects and institutions from all over Europe. Various approaches to active cultural participation and examples of practical implementation were presented to derive initial recommendations for strategies on the national and European level.

In times of massive transformation challenges and strong societal polarization worldwide, approaches to active cultural participation and creative participatory formats can open up spaces of dialogue and enable necessary negotiation processes in society. Precondition for this is broad access of different social groups to educational offers in the cultural sector, as well as active involvement and co-creation of cultural offers. Ideally, greater citizen participation also contributes to the development of resilient cultural institutions as important pillars of a strong democracy and civil society. Sustainable democratization of cultural education can only succeed if stakeholders in politics, science and culture cooperate closely. Concepts and case studies discussed at the conference provide practical guidance in this matter.

Partners: European Network of Observatories in the field of arts and cultural education (ENO); Institute for Museum Research– State Museums Berlin; Representation of the European Commission in Germany

Supported by: GLS Treuhand e.V.

Closing of the conference: Celebrating the 10th anniversary of the European Network of Observatories (ENO) with all present members on stage
Representing the cooperation partner Institute for Museum Research (Institut für Museumsforschung) , director prof. Dr. Patricia Rahemipour welcomed the participants at the opening of the conference
Panel discussion on Funding Approaches and Funding Strategies for a Cultural Education Fostering Democratization with Barbara Gessler, Head of the Representation of the European Commission in Germany (facilitation), Mathias Irminger Sonne, Head of Culture and Communication at the Royal Danish Embassy Berlin, Dr. Kathrin Hahne, Head of Department “Culture and Society; Monument and Cultural Heritage Protection”, Federal Commissioner for Culture and the Media, and Robert Piaskowski, Director of the National Centre for Culture, Warsaw
Group discussions during the workshop on Civic Engagement and Participation in Cultural Institutions
Occasion for exchanging thoughts and further discussion during lunch break
Keynote by prof. Gert Biesta on the “Relationship between Democracy and Arts Education”
Keynote on “Cultural Citizenship and Popular Culture” by prof. Dr. Joke Hermes
Standing ovations for the numerous inspirational insights provided by the conference
Plenary discussion on current challenges in the field of arts and culture with Aron Weigl, Executive Director and Head of Development, Educult – Institute of Cultural Policy and Cultural Management, Sara Brighenti, Deputy Commissioner of the National Plan for the Arts, and PD Dr. Michael Wimmer, political scientist specializing in cultural policy
Panel discussion with Aron Weigl, Executive Director and Head of Development, Educult – Institute of Cultural Policy and Cultural Management, Dr. Angelos Agalianos, Senior Policy Officer at the Cultural Policy Unit of the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Education, Youth, Sport and Culture, Baiba Moļņika, General Secretary of the Latvian National Commission for UNESCO, and Prof. Dr. Susanne Keuchel, Director of Genshagen Foundation and Chair Person of the European Network of Observatories (ENO), drawing conclusions of the conference