The Ministry of Culture is responsible for coordinating international cooperation within cultural policy. It is also responsible for the cultural attachés (kulturråd) at Swedish embassies. Cultural attachés currently exist at the Swedish embassies in Berlin, London, Paris (also heading the Swedish Institute in Paris), and Washington, and at the Swedish Permanent Representation to the European Union in Brussels. These representatives of Swedish culture are appointed by the Ministry of Culture but integrated in each embassy (part of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs).
The Swedish Institute (SI) is a public agency that promotes interest and trust in Sweden around the world (web page). Its core activities include:
- Analysing how foreign target groups perceive Sweden, and how this affects opportunities for Swedish actors abroad.
- Providing expert support to both private and public actors wishing to communicate the image of Sweden and Swedish skills.
- Spreading information about Swedish values and experience in the fields of innovation, sustainability, culture and creativity.
- Increasing cooperation in the Baltic Sea region, which is a prerequisite for long-term development in Sweden and the region itself.
- Supporting projects that encourage democratic development in our partner countries.
- Establishing relations between Swedish partners and the decision-makers of tomorrow around the world.
- Actively promoting mobility for students, researchers and skilled labour to and from Sweden.
- Providing funding and other support for Swedish language tuition and knowledge-enhancement programmes focusing on Sweden abroad.
- Running the Swedish Institute in Paris.
Aside from embassies, the SI, and the Swedish Institute in Paris, Sweden is also represented abroad by the Swedish Institute in Istanbul and the Swedish Institute in Rome. These last two have their main activities in the areas of education and research, but are also of some importance for cultural contacts, including in the museum and heritage sector. They are supported by the Swedish state through the Ministry of Education and Research.
Much of Sweden’s international cooperation in the cultural sphere takes place within Nordic cooperation, one of the most extensive regional systems of cooperation anywhere in the world. Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, and Sweden are members of the Nordic cooperation, as well as the self-governing areas of Faroe Islands, Greenland, and the Åland Islands. Work in the Nordic cooperation is organised by the Nordic Council of Ministers and the Nordic Council (based in the parliaments of the member states). Cultural policy and cultural cooperation are among the central areas of this cooperation. The Nordic Culture Fund and Nordic Culture Point fund cultural cooperation between the Nordic countries.
Additional to this are special exchange programs and cultural centres focusing on cultural and academic exchange between specific Nordic countries. On behalf of the Nordic Council of Ministers, the Swedish Agency for Cultural Policy Analysis maintains Kulturanalys Norden, reporting on cultural policy in all the Nordic countries (website of the Nordic Council).
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