Yemen Creative Hubs II

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he Yemen Creative Hubs are a European Union–funded collaborative initiative between six partners in and outside Yemen aimed at supporting civil society and the cultural sector in Yemen. As lead partner, the Goethe-Institut has been implementing the project since 2022 together with the Basement Cultural Foundation in Sana’a, the Aden Again Cultural Foundation, Madarat in Mukalla/Hadramout, Your ECHO, and Yemen Art Base. The second project phase began in April 2024 and will run until 2028. It builds on the competencies, networks, and outreach developed during the first phase, while placing a stronger emphasis on sustainability strategies designed to enable the long-term strengthening of the established infrastructure in the respective contexts. The project aims to contribute to strengthening individual cultural practitioners and artists, as well as civil society organizations and the cultural sector in Yemen, through capacity-building measures, infrastructure in the form of Creative Hubs in four cities and regions, and accompanying activities and sustainability strategies such as Art Resilience Stores.EDUCULT already evaluated the first phase of the Yemen Creative Hubs. The mid-term evaluation of the second phase focuses on the activities implemented between 2024 and 2026 and the results achieved so far. It examines current project progress, including sustainability strategies developed to date, and identifies needs for adjustments and refinement in order to systematically support project partners in achieving the intended outcomes. To this end, a mixed-methods approach is applied, combining existing monitoring data with qualitative data collection. This includes interviews with project partners as well as discussion groups with target groups in Yemen.

RISE Bookselling

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“RISE Bookselling – Resilience, Innovation and Sustainability for the Enhancement of Bookselling” aims to make bookselling socially, economically and environmentally sustainable, as well as adaptable to future trends and challenges. A key objective is to strengthen the role of bookshops in promoting literacy and fostering a joy of reading. RISE Bookselling is a project run by the European and International Booksellers Federation (EIBF) and co-funded by the Creative Europe Programme of the European Union.

Within this framework, EDUCULT has been commissioned to develop the RISE Reading Promotion Toolkit for bookshops. The Toolkit aims to provide booksellers with practical, hands-on resources to foster reading motivation and literacy, while also identifying policy needs to support the sector more effectively.

The development of the Toolkit is based on a comprehensive research process, including a systematic review of existing literature, reports, and data on reading literacy and reading promotion. Booksellers, reading promotion initiatives and agencies, NGOs, and education partners will contribute their insights through qualitative interviews conducted across 20 selected RISE network member countries.

Research and development activities focus on reading literacy among children aged 9–15, a group identified as critical for promoting and sustaining reading habits, while taking socioeconomic circumstances into account. A gender perspective is applied throughout, with particular attention to boys, who continue to be disproportionately affected, resulting in a persistent gender gap.

Literacy and reading skills play a fundamental role in accessing knowledge and education, enabling social participation, and strengthening democratic resilience by fostering critical thinking, empathy, informed citizenship, and resistance to disinformation and propaganda.

The RISE Reading Promotion Toolkit will combine actionable guidance for bookshops and professionals engaging with young readers with strategic policy recommendations.

It will include four main components:

  • A report on literacy, reading skills, and attitudes towards reading among children aged 9–15, drawing on existing literature to identify key findings, trends, and gaps
  • A catalogue of actionable best practices, with a particular focus on initiatives that successfully engage boys
  • A practical checklist for booksellers with varying levels of experience and differing capacities
  • An overview of policy needs and corresponding recommendations

Spotlight – Netzwerktreffen der Popularmusikbranche in Regensburg & Oberpfalz

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Under the title “Spotlight – Netzwerktreffen der Popularmusikbranche in Regensburg & Oberpfalz” (“Networking Events for the Popular Music Industry in Regensburg & Upper Palatinate”), a project consortium comprising the Association for Pop Culture in Bavaria, musicBYwomen*, the Forum for Cultural and Creative Industries Regensburg, the District of Upper Palatinate, and the Cultural Office and Creative Authority of the City of Regensburg implemented a total of four networking events between April 2025 and February 2026. The project took place within the framework of the infrastructure funding provided by Initiative Musik and with the financial participation of the consortium partners, and was aimed at actors in front of, behind, and on stage — including artists, producers, event organisers, management professionals, labels, journalists, photographers and videographers, and technicians from the Regensburg and Upper Palatinate region.

The networking events pursued the goal of strengthening exchange and collaboration within the industry while also providing substantive impulses for professionalisation and funding. In addition, EDUCULT, together with blooom, conducted an accompanying needs analysis, which used a survey, four focus groups, and participant observations to systematically identify the structural, financial, and organisational support needs present in the region. The findings of this analysis formed the basis for an evidence-based further development of existing and future funding and support offerings.

Measures to support artists and cultural professionals

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This evaluation will compile findings from three different Goethe-Institut projects:

• Space for Freedom and Feminism (Bangalore, India/Germany)
The project leverages progressive feminist thinking to create and support communal “spaces” in Bangalore as platforms for knowledge exchange and networking. The aim is to empower women, gender minorities, and marginalised people to occupy and reclaim spaces in art and aesthetics that have historically been denied to them, thereby offering a safe space for egalitarian, intersectional, and inclusive feminist perspectives.

• Dealing in Distance (Southeast Asia – Indonesia, Philippines, Vietnam/Germany) This participatory project brings together Southeast Asian artists and the diaspora in Germany in focus groups, network meetings, and residencies (in Indonesia, the Philippines, and Vietnam in 2025) to explore identity in the context of migration and homeland through artistic exchange and to create new connections. The process will be concluded with a mobile mini festival in all three countries, presenting the resulting works and perspectives as well as other artistic contributions from an open call.

• Kulturgarage (Alexandria, Egypt) Since 2024, the Kulturgarage has been offered as a short-term work, training, and event space for artists of all disciplines, similar to an artist residency, in a historic air-raid shelter near the Goethe-Institut Alexandria for periods of 3–8 weeks. Equipped with an office, library, multifunctional hall, and basic technical equipment, the Kulturgarage aims to strengthen the local cultural scene and its resilience.

All three projects share the common goal of supporting artists, cultural practitioners, and civil society actors who work in illiberal contexts or belong to the diaspora. Despite this common goal, the projects differ in their approaches and target groups in order to best achieve the overarching goal of providing support. In addition, the projects are located in different regional contexts. The evaluation focuses on the question of whether and how the three subprojects contribute to strengthening artists, cultural professionals, and civil society actors in their respective contexts and approaches. On the one hand, the evaluation aims to examine the immediate results the projects have already achieved; on the other hand, it seeks to identify approaches for achieving a lasting impact. In addition, the evaluation aims to show the extent to which the Goethe-Institut, with its measures and project activities, contributes to promoting cultural scenes and civil society structures in general. The methodological approach uses the situation analysis developed by Adele Clarke to reflect the diversity and complexity of all three projects.

This results in

1. situation maps that inventory central elements (actors, discourses, locations, rules, materials),

2. social worlds & arenas maps that structure these elements according to spheres of action (e.g., local scene, transnational networks) and lines of conflict,

3. position maps that visualize different points of view on key issues (e.g., freedom, empowerment, resilience).

This flexible approach reveals informal power relations, institutional frameworks, and divergent interpretations, thus laying a solid foundation for comparative findings and transfer recommendations.

Cultural development on the Styrian Iron Road

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Several rounds of discussion among regional cultural stakeholders in the Leoben district provided the impetus for a LEADER project aimed at strengthening the Styrian Iron Road as a cultural region. The goal is to strategically advance cultural life across the municipalities, increase its visibility, and deepen collaboration beyond municipal and genre boundaries. At the same time, initial groundwork is being laid for a potential application as a cultural hub within the framework of the Styrian Cultural Strategy 2030.

At the outset of the process, we carried out a needs and potential analysis to identify the strengths, development opportunities, and areas for action within the cultural region. Building on this, we facilitate development workshops in which concrete measures are agreed upon. We also support the implementation of cultural forums to which all cultural stakeholders in the region are invited. In addition, the flow of information to municipalities and cultural practitioners is supported through regular external inputs, for example, on funding opportunities or cooperation offers. The aim of these joint activities is to develop defined thematic priorities for the municipalities and pilot measures to strengthen the presence of culture in public and digital spaces, across municipal and genre boundaries.

Concretely, we are developing a concept for the structural optimisation of cultural work in the region. The pilot measures and regular cultural meetings, as formats for exchange and learning, will strongly improve strategic coordination across the region. The result will be a shared understanding of regional cultural goals and a clear profile for the Styrian Iron Road as a vibrant cultural region.

 

Fit für den deutschen Arbeitsmarkt (FIMA)

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The FIMA project by the Goethe-Institut supports young people from Mexico, Colombia, and Brazil in preparing linguistically and professionally for the transition into vocational training and employment in Germany. Key objectives are to clarify the effectiveness and relevance of the programme’s offerings and to identify opportunities for improvement in future cycles. The focus is on pupils and young adults as participants, their (future) employers in Germany, and the labour market and educational institutions involved.

The accompanying evaluation is based on the Theory of Change and the Goethe-Institut’s “Kultur wirkt!” approach. It captures goal attainment at both output and outcome level, as well as short- and long-term effects at the individual and societal level. To this end, we conduct a needs analysis of participants and employers, and systematically analyse the project’s design, structure, processes, and potential for transfer. The focus is on qualitative methods, supplemented by secondary data analyses and online surveys of participants and employers.

The evaluation reveals how well the project prepares participants for everyday life, vocational training, and employment in Germany, and which factors hinder or facilitate successful transitions. Key outputs include a Theory-of-Change-based impact analysis, concrete recommendations for improvement, and guidance on transfer and scaling opportunities in the field of labour and training migration. In doing so, we support the Goethe-Institut in making FIMA demonstrably more effective and in developing it further.

Sport-Freunde

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“Sport-Freunde” is a project of “Fremde werden Freunde” with the aim of creating low-threshold, free sports activities with psychosocial elements for people with a history of flight or migration. Sports and leisure activities are offered in schools and out of school at locations in Vienna and Linz. These include various sports such as basketball, Thai boxing, aerobics, soccer, running and chess.

Evaluation design

The impact evaluation assesses the extent to which the project objectives are achieved and what effects the project has on the target groups. To this end, the existing impact model is critically reflected upon and further developed.

Methods

A mix of qualitative and quantitative surveys allows the evaluation questions to be answered comprehensively. Based on a quantitative before and after survey, effects on the participants are identified. Participant observations, interviews and focus groups with participants as well as interviews with stakeholders provide conclusions about their assessments and experiences in individual “Sport-Freunde” offers.

Raising Europe’s Stars

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The international youth project “Raising Europe’s Stars” connects young people and encourages them to engage with European politics, democratic processes and shared values.

In a multi-stage learning format, the participants first dealt with the European Union and its structures in local groups. In regional workshops, they then took on the role of political decision-makers for the first time before conducting political debates on topics such as the Green Deal and European security in a main international event – a three-day simulation game in the Rhineland-Palatinate state parliament. The project combines traditional political education with innovative methods such as role-playing, peer learning and intercultural exchange.

The summative evaluation is based on the Theory of Change, in line with the Goethe Institut’s Kultur wirkt! approach, and Most Significant Change. The aim is to review the achievement of objectives at output and outcome level as well as to ascertain short-term effects on the target groups and a plausibility check of long-term effects on the target groups and at social level.
Data is collected by a combination of qualitative and quantitative methods such as interviews and focus groups with project managers and mentors as well as peer-to-peer interviews and an online survey with young people.

European Capital of Democracy

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ECoD NPO was founded in 2021 by the Innovation in Politics Institute GmbH with the goal of strengthening democracy in Europe. To this end, each year a European Capital of Democracy is designated. In collaboration with civil society and a citizens jury, the title-winning city organizes and implements a Year of Democracy with a wide range of activities and events. Following the first two Capitals of Democracy, Barcelona and Vienna, a comprehensive evaluation of the impacts and processes shall be carried out in the future. To this end, EDUCULT, together with the ECoD program team in Vienna, is developing an impact logic and an evaluation concept through document analyses and development workshops.

Relevant Museum

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“Relevant Museum” started in 2019 as a two-day symposium in Hamburg. Since 2020, it has been organised as a collaborative programme in Germany, Austria and Switzerland. In 2025, employees from 18 museums are part of the programme. Annually changing experts curate impulses, collegial advice is provided via digital communication channels and a modular toolbox is also being developed.

Evaluation design

The questions relate to the course of the programme to date, the added value for the participants and the museums, the development of skills and the promotion of innovation in museum work. The evaluation is intended to support joint reflection and serve the strategic impact orientation of the foundations.

Methods

In addition to interviews and focus groups with programme participants, an online survey will be directed at all current and previous participants.