Dear Compendium Friends and Users!
Since the re-launch of the Compendium online information system in January
2007, we have been working to improve, add content and technical features to
the system. We would like to take the opportunity to thank
all of our partners and in particular our users for their continued
and invaluable support and collaboration.
Welcome Denmark!
The Compendium community is proud to introduce Denmark as a new country . There are now 39 cultural policy country profiles to choose from.
Some Highlights:
- Denmark is in the middle of a fundamental structural transformation of the public sector due to the Local Government Reform. According to the reform, counties are no longer responsible for culture.
- A local media institution took part in creating the television channel I-TV, a television channel for and about immigrants.
- Following the passing of the Media Act 2006, Danish Radio became obliged to provide news coverage in the most spoken foreign languages in Denmark.
- From January 2007, the majority of arts training institutions will be financed solely by the state.
New Updates Available!
Six country updates were recently posted online:
Austria, Canada, Finland, Monaco, Portugal and San Marino.
Some Highlights:
- Austria: The Austrian Foreign Ministry presents its first international cultural policy document.
- Canada: The Department of Canadian Heritage identifies eight new cultural policy priorities
- Finland: On 12 June 2006, the Parliament of Finland ratified the UNESCO Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions.
- Portugal: New performing arts programme (IPAE) recently launched.
- San Marino: San Marino hosts international conference on the relationship between emigration and development, in co-operation with the Council of Europe.
TIP! See latest developments in Country Profile News.
Compile Individual Reports 
A new clipping service has been added to the website. Simply click on the icon beside each chapter title to add a specific chapter to your information basket. When you are finished, click on the icon in the upper left hand column (beside the printer button) to generate a full report containing all of your clippings.
Generate Comparative Reports 
You can create a Comparative Report which compiles information from different Compendium sub-chapters and from different countries. Use the print report button and try it out.
Expert in Focus
New member in the Community of Practice
Peter Duelund, Copenhagen
TIP! You can find a list of all Compendium authors, their contact details, CVs and photos under National Experts. Information on the Compendium editors, special advisors and web developer is available from Contact.
Dialogue Forum
Join the Dialogue Forum by sharing information on what you are doing in your country to promote intercultural dialogue
Coming Soon!
Updated profiles from France and Liechtenstein.
New Web Features
- improved accessibility for people with disabilities
- use of open-source databases to exchange and reassemble information in a more flexible way
- google-friendly indexing of content.
Helping Us to Help You
Thanks to those who have taken the time to complete the new User Survey.Your answers are kept confidential, yet are very important to make sure that this tool remains relevant and can continue to inform your decisions, cultural policy -making activities and/or comparative research and analyses.
Link to Us
If you would like to make a link to culturalpolicies.net on your own website, we have created banners for you, which you can easily place on your site. Choose your favourite banner and download it directly onto your computer. Don't forget to link the banner with the url http://www.culturalpolicies.net
Cultural Diversity and Intercultural Dialogue
The Compendium table monitoring the ratification and future plans to implement the articles of the 2005 UNESCO Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions has just been updated.
With the 2007 re-launch of the Compendium, intercultural dialogue has become an important issue; thanks to the preparatory work of the authors and editors over the past years and to financial support received earlier by the Dutch, Finnish, German, Hungarian and Monaco Governments as well as the European Cultural Foundation. This work will also contribute to the Council of Europe’s White Paper Exercise on Intercultural Dialogue.
In view of the 2008 European Year of Intercultural Dialogue, the ERICarts Institute is currently conducting a “Study on national approaches and practices in the European Union in relation to intercultural dialogue”. The Compendium is an important source for this project. Experts of the study meet with Compendium authors in their annual conference held in Zagreb on the 19th of May (Hotel Dubrovnik, open to visitors at 14h). For more information, please see http://www.interculturaldialogue.eu.
In Memoriam ELS BAETEN (1947-2007)
The entire Compendium Community is saddened by the loss of our colleague ELS BAETEN on March 8th, 2007. Joining the Compendium Community in 2000, Els was a committed expert not only to the advancement of the Belgium country report, but to the entire Compendium methodology and system. For nearly a decade, she was an active Board member of ECURES, the founding organisation of the European Institute for Comparative Cultural Research (ERICarts). The crucial question of how to initiate and conduct a meaningful intercultural dialogue within Europe and with other parts of the world has been of particular interest to Els and her work. It was through her constant European involvement that, in many countries, the Vlaams Theater Instituut became a synonym for best practices in the study and promotion of the performing arts.
Els Baeten was born in 1947 in Turnhout. In 1969, she graduated as a sociologist from KULeuven where she began working for the Study Group for Cultural Promotion at the Sociologisch Onderzoeksinstituut (Sociological Research Institute). Together with Prof. Urbain Claeys she conducted research into cultural distribution, participation and other aspects of art and cultural policy. In the 1980's, she carried out studies for de Warande in Turnhout and the Vlaams Theater Circuit (VTC), the precursor of the Vlaams Theater Instituut (VTi) founded in 1987. Since then she remained at the VTi as a policy researcher. Els published and edited numerous books, research reports and articles on art and cultural policy in Flanders, Brussels and Europe.
We remember a wonderful and loyal European colleague and a good friend. Our thoughts go out to Els' family, friends and colleagues.
ERICarts / Council of Europe / Compendium Authors.
Answering Your Questions
Contact the Compendium Editors for overall questions and comments:
Kathrin Merkle, Council of Europe
Danielle Cliche, Andreas Wiesand, ERICarts
Contact the Web Master with your technical questions:
Jörg Torkler, Medianale Group