Newsletter 02/2018

Dear friends and partners of EDUCULT,

welcome to the EDUCULT-Newsletter starting off the new season in English: EDUCULT takes Europe!

The European Heritage Year is in its last quarter while EDUCULT is launching two new Erasmus+ projects. „Co-Creation“ aims at compiling good practices and innovative approaches for a co-creative cooperation between volunteers and professionals in culture associations, public culture institutions and the culture departments of municipalities that promote the „transformative potential“ of new public governance as well as creative empowerment. „Culture Factor“, realised together with Polish, Danish, Hungarian and Italian partners, will focus on international cultural exchange and cooperation in adult education.

While new projects emerge, the on-going „BRIDGING“ project continues to produce new results. The English version of a survey about co-creative and participative action in amateur and volunteer arts in five European countries has been published. It highlights the urgent need to define more precisely what arts education and lifelong learning should look like in order to link different social groups.

The International Conference on Cultural Policy Research in Tallinn at the end of August was particularly intense. Three of EDUCULT’s collaborators took part and presented current research results on the governance of arts education for discussion in its own panel. In general, at the conference it became clear that the sector of cultural policy research, oscillating between quantitative and qualitative methods, spans a broad field and has to repeatedly tie in with neighbouring disciplines in order to deal with relevant questions. Digitisation is one of these areas that received widespread attention in Tallinn – a topic that EDUCULT will also be dealing with more intensively in the near future.

Last but not least, the evaluation of the European Heritage Label has entered the final stage. After the last steering group meeting in Brussels, the final report is being prepared.

Have a look in these and other current projects. As always, we wish you an inspiring read!

Your EDUCULT team

EDUCULT IN ACTION provides current information on our projects.

EDUCULT TALKS introduces people with diverse backgrounds.

EDUCULT IN EXCHANGE informs about international exchange and co-operations.

EDUCULT INFORMS about international affairs, projects and meetings.

Wimmer’s Quarterly

Kids Dress Warm!

Reflections on the disputed territory between the return of grading and being held back on the one hand and the occupation with art as a form of the system liberating personality formation on the other.

Recently Heinz Fassmann, the Minister of Education of the ruling conservative/right-wing coalition, has launched another “school package”. It sees itself as a deliberate attempt to counteract the liberal and artistically motivated tendencies of current school developments. The planned measures are particularly concerned with the Neue Mittelschule (New Secondary School), which would be closed immediately. [read more] 

EDUCULT in Action

BRIDGING Survey Report

EDUCULT and its partners have published the “State of the Art Report” about co-creative and participatory activities in the sector of amateur arts, voluntary culture and heritage. The report analyses the results of five national surveys and interview rounds conducted by the project partners. Presently, EDUCULT is developing a pilot course that will disseminate the information to learning providers. [read more] 

MAX

EDUCULT conducted a summative evaluation as well as an impact analysis of the programme “Max – Artists in Residence an Grundschulen” (artists in residence at primary schools). The impact analysis focused on the significance of “Max” for students, artists and school development. Alongside interviews with programme managers and a round table discussion with cooperation partners, a focus analysis was also carried out at three schools and student experiences were gathered by a research laboratory. Based on the empirical data collected, EDUCULT formulated recommendations for the further development of the programme. In July 2018, the report was presented in front of the Brandenburger Tor Foundation. [read more] 

“Politik im Freien Theater”: REICH

EDUCULT is evaluating the 10^th theatre festival “Politik im Freien Theater” (politics in the independent theatre). This year the festival will focus on the topic “REICH” (rich) and will take place in Munich from the 1^st to the 11^th of November. Together with festival management, EDUCULT concretised the objectives of the evaluation at the August kick-off meeting. The evaluation design and the research methods have been adapted to suit these objectives and now the first interviews, which will happen prior to the festival, are being prepared. [read more] 

European Heritage Label

The aim of this evaluation has been to assess the implementation of the European Heritage Label (EHL) action from its creation in 2011 until 2017. As an interim evaluation, its purpose has been to take stock of the achievements in that six year period with an eye for potential improvements in future implementation. At the beginning of October, EDUCULT took part in the last steering group meeting in Brussels. Together with our partner organisation PPMI (Vilnius) and representatives of the Directorate General “Education and Culture”, we presented and discussed the draft of the final report. Now we are finalising the report in the last phase of the evaluation. [read more] 

EDUCULT Talks

EDUCULT Talks: with Reynier Diaz

EDUCULT spoke with Reynier Diaz, a Cuban artist, conservator and restorer who lives and works in Vienna. Aside from his work for the “Museum of Finest Cuban Arts,” he is also an active artist in Vienna as well as a student at the Universität für Angewandte Kunst studying conservation and restoration. He discussed his time studying in the Netherlands and the cultural differences between Cuba, the Netherlands and Austria. He also touched on his professional experiences as a foreign restorer and conservator in Vienna, and about his plans for the future. [read more]

EDUCULT in Exchange

ENO Meeting Leeuwarden

On October 18^th and 19^th 2018 the Sharing Arts & Heritage Conference will take place in this year’s European Capital of Culture, Leeuwarden. Aron Weigl will participate in the international conference, which offers professionals and policymakers the chance to meet and discuss how cultural education and participation relate to challenges of access, social cohesion, heritage and cooperation. He will also attend the Meeting of the European Network of Observatories in the Field of Arts and Cultural Education (ENO) the day before, acting as the Austrian representative alongside KulturKontakt. The Dutch ENO member LKCA (Cultuureducatie en Amateurkunst) is organising the Sharing Arts and Heritage Conference. [read more]

10^th International Conference on Cultural Policy Research

The biennial International Conference on Cultural Policy Research took place from the 21^st to the 25^th of August 2018 in Tallinn, Estonia. The EDUCULT research team participated in a panel discussion dealing with questions on cultural policy in culture education. In addition, longtime member of the Scientific Committee Michael Wimmer handed over his function to EDUCULT Managing Director Aron Weigl as part of the conference meeting. [read more]

On the Way to a New Learning Culture: 10 Years of KulturSchule Hessen

Michael Wimmer will attend an event titled “On the Way to a New Learning Culture: 10 Years of KulturSchule Hessen” (culture schools in Hessen). At the event he will participate in a panel discussion on the contributions of culture to personal development and value mediation in school. For ten years now, the Cultural Ministry of Hessen has focused on the expanding arts education in schools so that students have varied opportunities for learning about themselves while also developing an intercultural understanding. These discussions contribute to the European Commission’s recent educational initiatives in the vein of cultural policy in school. The event will be hosted in Brussels on Wednesday, October 17^th.

EDUCULT informs

ELIA Biennial Conference Rotterdam

The largest conference on Higher Arts Education offers an opportunity to join international colleagues in a 3-day programme featuring high-profile speakers, plenary discussions, paper presentations, best practices, networking events, mobile sessions at cultural institutions in the city and more. The 15th ELIA Biennial Conference will be held in Rotterdam and will explore the role of arts in creating resilient cities in times of global change. [read more] 

Call for Papers AIMAC

Researchers are invited to submit proposals for paper presentations at the 2019 AIMAC conferences. The prestigious academic conference will focus on various sectors of the arts and cultural industries, with opportunities to share experiences and lessons from dozens of countries. Proposals from any relevant discipline will be considered, so long as they offer an original academic contribution to the study of cultural management. The conference will be held from the 23^rd to the 26^th of June 2019 and is hosted by the Ca’Foscari University Venice. The language of all submissions should be English and the deadline for abstracts is October 31^st, 2018. [read more]

IETM Munich Plenary Meeting 2018

Through the central theme Res Publica Europa, IETM Munich will take a fresh look at the idea of Europe.  To survive and thrive, Europe must develop a shared frame of reference for the multiplicity of identities at its heart: national, regional, local and communal. The meeting will open up a dialogue that questions the meaning of European identity and the role of art professionals in giving it content and definition. Participants can reflect on the future of Europe and the identities that exist within it today, and how these concepts relate to the globalized world. There will be many opportunities to meet local artists, become familiar with controversial positions, and advocate for the arts. [read more]

Open Call for a Work Residency

From January to June 2019 Arbeitsplatz Wien is offering a residency of 5 weeks for rehearsal space, as well as office desk and storage space throughout the entire period. Artists must be based in Vienna and are eligible if they are at the start of their artistic journeys and/or have fallen out of a financial support system and are currently in some sort of a transition period in their careers. The space is located at Siegfriedgasse 23, 1210 and applications must be filled out online by October 15, 2018. [read more]