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COVID-19 solidarity and emergency response in Europe Back

COVID-19 solidarity and emergency response in Europe

17 Jun 2020

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 that address the effects of the COVID-19 outbreak on culture, arts, creative sectors – with the aim to identify key challenges and possible gaps, or needs, yet unaddressed by the policymakers. With these findings, based on a large number of available resources, we hope to contribute, along the numerous sector-driven initiatives, to a better understanding of this situation, and to try to generate ideas for future scenarios at the European level.

What measures would help the most?

The survey respondents pointed out these measures as vital for their life and work:

  • Governments support for wages for individuals and organisations – to compensate for the losses and temporary insecurity of income;
  • Structural support for cultural and creative organisations (micro, small and medium) – to enable their basic functioning during and after the crisis through specific financing;
  • Temporary tax relief for cultural and creative sectors during and after the lockdown;
  • Flexible subsidies and grants, which are not too prescriptive to work as anti-shock, and give space to recover from the losses and missed opportunities;
  • Measures to enable cultural and creative sectors to switch to new innovative and technological solutions;
  • Other support from philanthropic sector, sponsors, mutual support in the professional communities, support by regions, solidarity initiatives etc.
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