We are excited to introduce you to a joint Hivos, European Cultural Foundation and Prince Claus Fund project: Forces of Art. See the Forces of Art website to learn more about how arts and culture shape societies across the world.

In the open letter, published on October 30, 2020, Culture Action Europe, along with other 109 pan-European cultural networks and associations calls the European Union (EU) and EU member states to protect culture as part of the coronavirus recovery plans and dedicate at the very least 2% of national Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF) budget to culture and creative sectors.

On Wednesday 14 October, the Europa platform sent a letter to the ministers involved in drawing up the Dutch plans for the European recovery and resilience fund prior to the EU Member States are expected submitting the first plans for the EU Recovery Fund. Read the full letter in Dutch here.

The open letter on the European Democracy Action Plan and freedom of artistic expression is submitted in response to the public consultation launched by the European Commission on the European Democracy Action Plan (EDAP). We - signatories - call on the EU to take positive action to monitor and promote freedom of expression in all its forms and submit the following recommendations.

Arts and culture will not be the same after COVID-19. The new situation requires new approaches and solutions at local, national and European level. We must re-imagine the future, despite of the current social, health and economic challenges. We teamed up with Culture Action Europe to map emergency initiatives and measures carried out across Europe

We are proud to be members of the consortium implementing the Cultural Relations Platform (CRP) - an EU-funded project launched in April 2020, designed to support the European Union to engage in international cultural relations.

Ahead of the European Council meeting on 19 June, we call on the Member States to: Double the budget of Creative Europe to 2,6 billion euros, as the core programme for reinforcing European cultural cooperation. (#Double4Culture). Make sure that the additional funds stemming from the Next Generation EU initiative, such as REACT-EU, reach cultural operators.

In preparation for the press conference of ministers of culture, the Europaplatform wrote a letter calling on Dutch Ministers to support the cultural and creative sectors in Europe with concrete actions, measures and finance, as the problems are very urgent due to the Covid-19 crisis. The letter highlighted current and future problems and possible actions and chances.

As a part of a series of essays, the Kulturpolitische Gesellschaft (KuPoGe) asked selected individuals to contribute. Our head of Public Policy, Isabelle Schwarz contributed with an essay on a new approach to the design of European cultural policy.

The world of arts, culture, heritage and creativity will not be the same after COVID-19. The state of emergency at both local and national level has forced governments to redirect their resources to respond to the most urgent needs at home and this has left little room to address issues on a European scale. In a joint appeal with Culture Action Europe we look forward to a post-Covid Europe and formulate recommendations to the European institutions.

On September 23rd members from across the political spectrum of the European Parliament, including the Chair of the Culture Committee, Ms Sabine Verheyen, and over hundred representatives of arts, cultural and heritage organisations and networks from across Europe gathered at BOZAR in Brussels, to debate the place of arts, culture and cultural heritage in remit of the future European Commission.