By Mario d’Angelo (Professor at ESC Dijon Bourgogne) and Paul Vespérini (consultant at Idée Europe)
What is the place of networks and platforms in the culture field (including creative industries) both in European culture politics and co-operation policies?
This development is happening even as the European Union is launching its new program “Creative Europe” in which it will indeed to strengthen “established” networks and platforms (i.e. with legal forms) representing different activities or different professions (including creators, artists, experts, policy makers etc.) or different issues. Questions concerning “culture and power” necessarily include an examination of the different aspects of networks in the European culture field.
Action theory and policy making theories have analyzed networks as being appropriate forms which correspond to the growing complexity of post-modern societies. Several features have been pointed out among which:
The significant expansion of established networks ever since its pioneering times at the end of the 70s[2] is not surprising. Networks have become a relevant form both in working methods, which are visible in the entire culture sector, and in representing common interests of specific activities or issues. Nowadays, interaction between European institutions and established networks has become a cornerstone for co-operation and exchanges in the culture field as well as for policy making at the European level.
A network can gather organizations operating in an identified activity like European Broadcasting Union or represent very specific activities or issues (e.g. multidisciplinary cultural centers in regenerated sites like Trans Europe Halles). Some networks gathering local authorities with broader aims are invested in culture (e.g. ENTP, the European New Towns Platform, which is involved in projects dealing with culture and development).
To conclude, one could say that the networks have to achieve their expected missions mostly through two critical success factors:
To contact the authors :
References
Deru, J-P. (2011), Development of Cultural Networks in Europe: Challenges and Trends, available on: http://www.culturecongress.eu/ngo/ngo_bestpractice_deru
D’Angelo, M. (2013), Gouvernance et politiques culturelles en Europe, Paris, collection Innovations et Développement n°11, éditions Idée Europe, available on: http://idee-europe.eu/publications/
ERICarts Institute (2008), Mobility Matters: Programmes and Schemes to Support the Mobility of Artists and Cultural Professionals in Europe, Study for the European Commission.
Tims, C., Shelagh, W. (2013), The Invisible Hand. Art in the transition to another economy, available on http://ietm.org/sites/default/files/invisible_hand_0.pdf
Young, L., Everitt, J. (2004), Advocacy Groups, Vancouver (BC), University of British Columbia Press.
Links
Creative Europe: http://ec.europa.eu/culture/creative-europe/video-interviews_en.htm
Culture Action Europe : http://www.cultureactioneurope.org/
European Office Music: EMO: http://www.emo.org/onair_news.php
European Broadcasting Union (EBU): http://www3.ebu.ch
ENTP (European New Towns and Pilot Cities Platform): http://www.pilotcities.eu/
Eurocities: http://www.eurocities.eu/
ICOMOS (International Council on Monuments and Sites): http://www.icomos.org/en/
IETM (Internationa network for contemporary performing arts): http://ietm.org/activities
IMZ (International Music + Media Center): http://www.imz.at/
Open Society Foundations: http://www.opensocietyfoundations.org/
Trans Europe Halles (TEH) ; http://www.teh.net/
[1] Information and communication technologies (ICT) possibilities is a favorable factor in networking capacities of individuals, groups or organizations in particular by diminishing distance constraints and by allowing for real time communication, and therefor, diminishing the costs.
[2] UNESCO initiated the first sector-based and cross-countries entities composed by professionals and built to tackle worldwide issues (e.g. ICOMOS -International Council for Monuments and Sites- created in 1964). This vision has been applied at the European level in cultural issues first by the Council of Europe and then the European Community.
[3] Foundations like Open Society Foundations are working like networks.
Instantaneity, hyper-choice, innovation.
» See publication
The age of curation : From abundance to discovery
» See publication
Creators, producers, distributors Who really has overall control ?
» See publication
L'Atelier BNP Paribas: Big Data: Big Culture?
» See publication
How harmony can triumph over cacophony.
» See publication
How does sharing data contribute to improving the way we experience our day-to-day lives in the city?
» See publication
The imperative of moving towards business-model hybridisation
» See publication
Culture, territories and Powers - The spirit of Atlas
» See publication
Cultural behavior and personal data
» See publication
After the Big data revolution comes a second centered upon Open data and sharing
» See publication
The question of ownership of personal data is at the heart of this year’s Forum d’Avignon.
» See publication
Update of the first report published in 2010.
» See publication
Create, share and protect.
» See publication
Generation #hashtag : a new wave of content in the age of digital natives
» See publication