Cultural Diversity and Cultural Policies

Working Definition

National cultural policy objectives, programmes and measures that support cultural diversity and which address: 

• the pluralistic ethno-cultural linguistic identity and origin of cultural creators, producers, distributors and audiences;
• a diversity of artistic and other cultural content which diverse audiences can have access to through the media or other distribution channels;
• the diversity of actors which are involved in decision-making, regulating and /or funding creators and their works. 

The Compendium Addresses Cultural Diversity

Since the beginning of the Compendium project, cultural diversity as a component of cultural policy making has been treated as a transversal issue. This means that there is no specific chapter in the Compendium country profiles on cultural diversity. Rather, there are several strands of related information and data found in various sub-sections of individual Compendium country profiles. Some of them are: cultural minority groups, language diversity, media pluralism and artistic creativity/content production. 

Such information could assist national government and NGOs in their efforts to begin monitoring cultural policies and measures which support cultural diversity, as promoted in the 2005 UNESCO Convention on the Diversity of Cultural Expressions.

Please send your comments to: info@culturalpolicies.net