An International Culture Conference under the Danish EU Presidency
at HEART – Herning Museum of Contemporary Art, Denmark

What is it all about? The conference highlights the cultural diversity of Europe and debates the cultural perspectives of the European project in the next Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF) of the European Union 2014-2020, for which decisions will be taken in 2012.

Next step is a conference dealing with the relationship between national cultural policies and the future cultural policy of the European Union. The conference offers a nuanced and informed debate with a focus on possibilities, perspectives and challenges for culture in the next EU budget, especially within the next EU Culture Programme Creative Europe and the next generation of EU’s Cohesion Policy and structural funds.

The conference will also target the links between the European Commission’s proposals for funding and programmes in the field of culture for 2014-2020 and the Commission’s suggestions as to how parties within the UNESCO convention on diversity can meet the convention’s objectives.

Who comes? We have asked a broad range of agenda-setting policy- and decision-makers, civil servants, opinion-makers, journalists, researchers, NGO's and artists from Scandinavia and the European Member States to contribute to the conference, - and we hope you would like to join us too!

Why? In order to participate in in-depth debates on the issues and contribute in formulating a series of reflections or recommendations about the cultural role of the EU and its complementarity with national and regional cultural policies for 2014-2020. The recommendations will be passed on to an international working group, which will follow up on the conference results.

When and where? The conference will take place on June 7th-8th 2012 in Herning in the Central Denmark Region.

Where can I get more information? You can get more information about the conference and the programme in the two attached documents: Idea - Next Step and Draft Programme - Next Step. You can find more information and you can follow the progress of the program on our website: http://www.nextstepeu.com/

Who is behind it? The conference is organized by DSI Swinging Europe and the Danish Center for Arts & Interculture under the Danish EU Presidency.
 
The conference has been developed in close collaboration with the Central Denmark Region - the office for Regional Development, the Municipality of Herning, the Ministry of Culture, the Institute of Aesthetics and Communication at Aarhus University, the Danish Cultural Institute/Copenhagen, the Danish Cultural Institute/Benelux, the HEART Museum for Contemporary Art, the Central Denmark EU Office - International Department of Central Denmark Region, the Cultural Region & Cultural Collaboration Mid-West and Culture Action Europe.

Should I go? We think that you should! We need your contribution to the process of putting Culture on the Agenda for the Future of Europe.


Yours Sincerely
The Danish Centre for Arts & Interculture and DSI Swinging Europe

For more information visit: http://www.nextstepeu.com/

'WE ARE MORE' CAMPAIGN CALLS ON MINISTERS FOR CULTURE
TO SUPPORT PROPOSED BUDGET FOR NEW 'CREATIVE EUROPE' PROGRAMME 

 
The we are more campaign calls on the EU Ministers for Culture to use the Informal Ministers' Meeting in Wroclaw on September 9th to support the 37% budget increase that the Commission recently proposed for its new Culture and MEDIA programme Creative Europe in 2014-2020.
 
In the face of Europe-wide cuts in the arts, culture and heritage, 20.000 Europeans have signed a manifesto to ensure vital support to culture in the next EU budget. Even if direct support for arts and culture through the current Culture Programme only represents 0.05% of the total EU budget, it is still a Programme of great symbolic value that makes a difference to the access and diversity of the arts available to all European inhabitants.
 
One year after the launch, the we are more campaign has received high-level institutional support and endorsements by artists. It has also inspired actions among cultural organisations and individuals across Europe and beyond. The campaign website includes a wide range of advocacy tools, and campaign material is now available in more than 30 languages. National campaign co-ordination groups have so far been set up in Sweden, France and Poland.
 
The we are more campaign will run until 2013, when the EU decides about its next multiannual budget. The campaign promotes culture, heritage and the arts, together with education, social cohesion and environmental sustainability, as key areas in which the EU has to make more bold investments if it wants to reach its growth objectives and Europe to remain a thriving democracy in the future.
 
On September 8-11, the Europe-wide campaign we are more will attend the European Culture Congress in Wroclaw, Poland, to continue to mobilize support for the campaign and put pressure on Ministers for Culture to defend the European Commission's proposal for increased support to culture in the next EU budget.
 
The force behind the we are more campaign is Culture Action Europe, a coalition of more than 100 organisations and many artists across Europe, in strategic partnership with the European Cultural Foundation.
 
If you would like more information about the 'we are more' campaign, or to schedule an interview with a campaign representative during the Congress in Wroclaw, please contact Campaign Co-ordinator Emma Ernsth  on T +32 (0)-471 69 78 80 or emma.ernsth@cultureactioneurope.org
 
Culture Action Europe rue de la Science, 10 B-1000 Bruxelles T. +32 2 534 4002 F. +32 2 534 1150 www.cultureactioneurope.org