Covenants on urban cultural regions

Pilot projects have emerged from the profiles in order to stimulate cultural innovation in the region. At the moment, six provinces are supporting innovative projects with a matching scheme (financing from both the province and the national government). This makes it possible for initiatives that are not yet mature enough to be funded by the basic infrastructure or the six cultural funds.

The urban culture regions with which covenants have been signed are: BrabantStad, Zeeland, 025 Arnhem Nijmegen, Stedendriehoek, Ede-Wageningen, Utrecht, Leiden, Rotterdam, The Hague, MRA, Flevoland, Zwolle, Twente, Limburg and We The North. Covenant agreements have also been reached with Landsdeel Oost, which includes 025 Arnhem Nijmegen, Stedendriehoek, Ede-Wageningen, Zwolle and Twente. 

BrabantStad

Agreements have been reached in which, among other things, the commitment to the 'Culture Education with Quality' programme has been confirmed. Within that programme, extra attention will be paid to, among other things, equal opportunities and possibilities for secondary education and vocational training. The Culture Governance Code, the Fair Practice Code and the Diversity & Inclusion Code receive extra attention and cultural heritage is also mentioned separately in the covenant. Both OCW and the BrabantStad partners are committed to not reducing subsidies to cultural institutions for the period 2021 to 2024. 

Flevoland

The agreements with Flevoland focus in the coming years on cultural education and participation, public collections, compliance with cultural codes, monitoring heritage and the mutual exchange of information. The national government has decided to invest 330,000 euros annually in the development of Flevoland's cultural infrastructure. In a number of years a new museum of art is to open its doors in Almere, where the Flevoland landscape art collection will be part of. Next year an art pavilion will open as the first part of the museum on the Floriade grounds. 

Stedendriehoek

The Stedendriehoek is a cooperation between a number of municipalities around Apeldoorn, Deventer and Zutphen. In the culture covenant with OCW the region embraces its special geographical location (Veluwe, IJsselvallei) and focuses on cooperation within and beyond its borders. "Region Stedendriehoek will discuss with the governments involved, including OCW, to further form a connecting zone between East and West Netherlands." 

We the North

In We the North, the provinces of Drenthe, Groningen and Friesland and the municipalities of Emmen, Assen, Groningen and Leeuwarden work together. In the coming period, We the North wants to work together with OCW on strengthening the northern cultural infrastructure. In addition to the subjects that are included in all covenants, the covenant states that they want to set up an agenda to further develop the quality of the northern cultural sector together. We the North will focus on consolidating the gains of 2017-2020 and also wants to put the North on the (inter)national map. With the four-year experimental programme, We the North mainly focused on talent development, whereby talented people from the North in the areas of theatre, dance, pop music and visual arts can make a good start on their careers. 

Zeeland

The Zeeland metropolitan cultural region has made agreements with OCW in the covenant 2021-2024 about the matching arrangement 'expansion and renewal'. Furthermore, there is a lot of attention for stimulating cultural exchange and cooperation with Flanders. Ghent's ambition to be a candidate for the European Capital of Culture in 2030 was also included in this research. It has also been established that the Vleeshal and the Zeeuws Museum are of national and international significance and form part of the basic cultural infrastructure. During the term of the covenant, the national government will invest in a number of projects each year. € 745,000 in these institutions, to which the province will add € 2,743,000 by.