If you're a cultural organisation struggling for resources, time and energy, how can you join forces with other similar organisations, instead of competing with them? If you're a policymaker, how can you create conditions to support this type of cooperation? What about the crazy way many small cultural organisations seem to operate? Is it creative chaos, disfunction, or something else altogether?
Announcing the launch of a new ENCC publication
The ENCC has been working on local cooperation models for several years, starting with a seminar in Timisoara in 2018. Today we're happy and excited to announce that we're launching a new in-depth publication on the topic, by cultural policy analyst Raluca Iacob: Local Networks: (a guide to) Reimagining the Work of Cultural Organisations.
Download the publication as a PDF
This digital publication is not your usual toolkit for organisational development. Starting from practical questions and theoretical insights, it offers reflection tools rather than step-by-step advice. It scrutinizes the way cultural organisations work and opens perspectives for rethinking and change that are anchored in research and existing theory rather than in common wisdom and hopeful thinking.
'The guide regards culture as a socially-connected pursuit, a way to relate to and engage with the world of facts and the world of ideas, and to transform them while we also allow ourselves to be transformed. This is a culture that is aware of its impact on people and communities.'
(from the foreword by the author)
It also offers a treasure box of case studies of local cultural networks across Europe, from ENCC membership and beyond.
Join us for a presentation and informal discussion with the author and guests
On March 25th, author Raluca Iacob will talk about how the guide was developed, present a few highlights, then open up an informal discussion with Piet Forger, Culture Director of the City of Leuven (Belgium) and Njomza Dragusha, practitioner and researcher from Termokiss cultural centre in Pristina (Kosovo). Starting points for the dialogue include how public authorities can encourage local cooperation and networking, and why social anarchy can be an interesting model for cultural organisations.
Who should attend?
Practitioners from cultural centres and other social and cultural organisations, members of local, national or international socio-cultural networks and initiatives; practitioners willing to build a local cooperation network or to connect with existing networks; researchers, cultural managers, educators; policymakers; other stakeholders connected to culture, society and the arts.
Practical details
The event will happen online on Thursday, March 25th, from 2:30 pm to 3.45 pm CET.
To participate, please register here. You'll receive a zoom link by email a few days before the event.
