Bring cultural foundation in order in every municipality
In early March, the Dutch Council for Culture issued 'De culturele basis op orde', a report with the subtitle Art, heritage and media for everyone, in every municipality, everywhere in the Netherlands. The report was issued on the eve of the municipal elections on March 16 and contains a substantive agenda for municipal investments in culture and media.
The council notes that in more and more municipalities there is less and less money available for basic cultural facilities. This has consequences for the well-being and cohabitation of residents and makes a municipality less attractive as a place of business. The council believes that the cultural basis for everyone in every municipality must be put in order and identifies a number of areas in which municipalities can invest: amateur art, cultural education, libraries, local media and heritage. The council also points out the importance of physically offering space to local makers.
The council notes that in more and more municipalities there is less and less money available for basic cultural services.
Reason
In April 2021, the council calculated that the national budget for culture, heritage, media and libraries would ideally be increased by 477 million euros in the new cabinet term. With such an investment, the council argued, the national government could contribute "to making the cultural sector and the media sector accessible and relevant to everyone in the Netherlands, and to ensuring that (more) workers in these sectors are paid fairly." The council also stated that the cultural sector and the media sector can contribute substantially to the social and economic recovery of the Netherlands from the corona crisis. The new cabinet is structurally investing 170 million euros in the creative and cultural sector.
The cultural and media sectors can contribute substantially to the social and economic recovery of the Netherlands
The council explicitly sees a thriving culture and media sector as a joint responsibility of the national government, provinces and municipalities, and emphasizes that national investments for residents of municipalities can only bear fruit if those municipalities themselves (and the provinces) are also committed to strengthening their cultural ecosystem, and choose to invest in it in the coming period.
Download 'The cultural foundation in order' here
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