La Commission européenne lance un appel pour participer à un dialogue sur le thème Inclusion sociale – Travailler avec d’autres secteurs qui se tiendra les 17 et 18 avril 2018 à Bruxelles (Belgique). La date limite de candidature est le 8 janvier 2018.

L’appel est ouvert aux représentants des secteurs culturels et créatifs (organisations professionnelles, institutions culturelles, organisations non-gouvernementales, réseaux européens, fondations, organisations privées, etc.) dotés d’une expertise notable sur la thématique « Inclusion sociale – collaborer avec d’autres secteurs », qui souhaiteraient contribuer à des discussions avec la Commission Européenne.

Les organisations des 28 pays membres peuvent soumettre, en anglais, leurs candidatures en ligne jusqu’au 8 janvier 2018.

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In the Council Work Plan for Culture 2015-18, EU Culture Ministers agreed to prioritise policy collaboration among Member States on the contribution of culture to social inclusion. A working group of Member States’ experts has been established, under the Open Method of Coordination, with the following mandate:

• Topic: Fostering the contribution of culture to social inclusion. How can public policies encourage and support cultural institutions in working within partnerships with other sectors (healthcare, social care, prison service etc.)?
• Instruments and working methods: Experts will map existing public policies dealing with social inclusion through culture and identify good practices.
• Target outputs and timeline: 2017-18 – Guidelines for policy makers and cultural institutions.

In Decision (EU) 2017/864 designating 2018 the European Year of Cultural Heritage (EYCH), the European Parliament and Council defined objectives for the year including to

• encourage approaches to cultural heritage that are people-centered, inclusive, cross-sectoral
• promote [making] cultural heritage accessible to all -including people with special needs
• raise awareness of Europe’s cultural heritage in particular by focusing on hard-to-reach groups

To feed into the social inclusion working group and the European Year, the Commission would now like to hear the views of organizations working in these areas, particularly those actively partnering to deliver culture and heritage projects in healthcare, social care, prisons and deprived communities.

Two meetings will be held in 2017 to discuss the issue (brainstorming and dialogue meetings), in which it is proposed to structure discussions around three questions, set out below:

1. Which recent projects in Europe best demonstrate the effectiveness of culture and heritage activities in fostering social inclusion, in partnership with other sectors? With a particular focus on projects for which evaluations are available. (Participants will be invited to choose 2 projects each to present briefly at the brainstorming meeting; a list will then be collated to inform the group’s work).

2. What are the main success factors and obstacles for culture and heritage organizations in

• a) delivering projects in health, social care and prison settings?
• b) reaching people in deprived communities?
• c) challenging “exclusionary”/ discriminatory attitudes in the wider population?

3. What (more) might public authorities do to facilitate effective partnership working between culture and heritage organizations and other sectors, in projects to promote social inclusion?

It will be open to participants to propose additional or different issues to focus on during the two meetings. In doing so they should bear in mind topics already discussed in the Voices of Culture process, such as the Inclusion of Refugees & Migrants through Culture, and Promoting Intercultural Dialogue through Culture in Shared Public Spaces), to avoid duplication but build on their findings.

The Brainstorming Session on Culture for social inclusion – partnering with other sectors represents the opportunity for a group of around 30 European civil society stakeholders in the cultural sector and 5 non-cultural stakeholders to exchange ideas on this topic and to present these to the European Commission. The group will brainstorm on 17-18 April 2018, and then have the opportunity, in September 2017, to discuss the main ideas (to be summarised in a Brainstorming Report) with the European Commission at a Dialogue Meeting in Brussels.

Calendar:

1. Applicants will be informed whether they have been selected, based on the criteria below, or not, by January 2018.
2. The selected participants are requested to come mandated by their organisation/network to the Brainstorming Session on 17-18 April 2018. Part of the preparation expected from participants in the Brainstorming Session will be to answer the questions under the theme description in cooperation with their network and peers. The answers will then be summarised into a paper, which will be a starting point for discussion on 17 April 2018.
3. The Brainstorming Session is a short gathering of a day and a half, which serves as an opportunity for the cultural sector to brainstorm together and structure the ideas they would like to convey to the European Commission at the Dialogue Meeting at a later stage.
4. The summary of the discussion will be compiled in a Brainstorming Report, drafted by volunteers from the group of participants itself during the meeting. The Brainstorming Report will be finalised remotely in collaboration with the whole group between the Brainstorming Session and the Dialogue Meeting.

The call is open to representatives of the cultural and creative sectors (professional organisations, cultural institutions, non-governmental organisations, European networks, foundations, private organisations, etc.) with relevant expertise on the topic “Culture for social inclusion – partnering with other sectors”, who would like to contribute to discussions with the European Commission. Organisations applying must be from one of the 28 EU Member States.

• Thematic expertise – organisations with relevant expertise on the theme of the meeting, including those able to contribute empirical evidence to support the discussions;

• Large multiplying effects – organisations representing a large number of stakeholders and different European countries and/or able to disseminate the outputs widely;

• Geographical balance – umbrella organisations representing different national or European civil society bodies or stakeholders as well as organisations based in countries from all corners of the EU;

• Sectoral balance – organisations representing a wide range of cultural and creative disciplines as well as different types of organisations, as appropriate;

• Gender balance – we will try to ensure that a roughly equal number of men and women are present, as appropriate. 

The Brainstorming Session will take place over a day and a half on 17-18 April 2018.

Voices of Culture will book and cover the costs of your travel and accommodation, according to the budget and regulations provided by the European Commission. Please take into account that your travel and accommodation will be booked based on cost and time efficiency; economy class only and one to maximum two nights of accommodation, depending on your city of departure/return in relation to the start and end of the Brainstorming Session.

Please note that local transfers to and from airports or train stations at place of departure are at own expenses, unless otherwise agreed in writing with the organisers prior to confirmation of bookings and only if you do not reside in the city of departure or your return destination.

To contribute to local transport, subsistence and any other expenses that may arise within the city where the brainstorming session takes place, you will receive an amount of 45 Euros in cash upon arrival in the venue.

If the selected participant cancels or requires changes in the booking of travel and accommodation after confirmation, the organisers reserve the right to invoice any additional expenses to the expert, except if such a situation occurs due to events proved to be outside his or her control. In this case, the organisers are open to discuss and facilitate any additional requests or suggestions, within reasonable limits, in relation to the budget provided by the European Commission and subject to agreement in writing prior to the execution of the Brainstorming Session.

To prepare the application and to enable a consultation process with your network(s), you will find the application form in word format here. The application form has to be filled online. No other way of applying will be accepted.

To apply, please click here.

Deadline for completing the application form is 8 January 2018, 12:00 CET.