Basic principles of cultural policy implementation in Europe and tasks for Ukraine

Abstract

The paper studies cultural policy at the European level; national policies in the field of culture and the policy of the EU in the sphere of culture and arts; cultural policy regimes in Europe. Three common political priorities are analyzed: the first concerns the preservation of cultural and historical heritage; the second is to support art and creativity, which differs from the previous model of state patronage; the third is the relationship between democracy and culture - this means equal access to culture; the fourth is seen as a means to achieve economic goals.

It is stressed that the sphere of culture as a sphere of public administration has a certain specificity, which does not allow to apply standard approaches and methods to it.

The policy of the EU proposes to appeal to the following areas and tools of public administration in the field of culture: protection of languages and national cultures; the development of the sphere of culture and arts through providing support (including financial), to cultural organizations and institutions, in the form of creation of governmental cultural institutions and governmental grants; participation in the cultural life of the whole population, in particular, in the form of ensuring cultural human rights, encouraging the development of mass culture, as well as in the form of developing library resources; implementation of restrictive and prohibitive measures against anti-culture and subcultures, aggressively hostile and destructive in relation to traditional forms of culture; restoration, protection, preservation and transmission of the cultural and historical heritage; support for literature and art, cinema, theater, circus, music; support of cultural and recreational projects; support of folk art and creativity; support of cultural and cognitive tourism; control, supervision and licensing in the field of cultural heritage.

Culture Watch Europe proposes to improve cultural governance and cultural policy in Europe by: formation and revision of cultural policy standards; providing online information; involving prospective analysis and forecasting by addressing current issues and new trends.

Today, cultural policy at the European level is oriented towards funding pan-European networks for solidarity among European cultural organizations that support art projects. Another task of cultural policy is to expand the capacity of national cultural institutions (for example, the British Council, the Goethe Institute) to implement large-scale projects in the field of cultural diplomacy.

In the paper the EU priorities regarding the sphere of art and culture are defined. The opportunities for Ukraine are outlined (based on the European experience and best practices). The specific tasks for Ukraine are revealed, including: development of collective practice of cooperation of representatives of creative intelligentsia; bridging the wide gap between institutionalized state-supported culture and independent artists; introduction of measures to overcome the practice of local communities refusing to actively participate in current initiatives in the field of cultural tourism in cities and regions; the use of new creative centers; expanding the access of independent specialists to the cultural infrastructure; development of favorable rules and overcoming bureaucracy; acquisition of modern equipment in the socio-cultural infrastructure; development of crowdfunding as an important alternative source of funding for small cultural projects; introduction of competitive procedures in the financing of culture; increasing motivation to stimulate sponsorship and private investment in culture; expanding access to alternative sources of funding for culture and the arts; raising awareness and proper use of copyright; raising the level of officials in matters of transparency and involving the public and other stakeholders; promoting creativity in the field of education at all levels; formation of strategic and managerial skills among professionals in the field of culture; active use of public space for cultural and creative activities; strengthening communication and marketing strategies and practices of cultural and creative projects; encouraging internationalization and cooperation.