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Exchanging experiences - Evaluating achievements

Haus der Kulturen der Welt, Berlin, 7-8 December 2009

Organizer: The Cultural Manager programs of the Robert Bosch Stiftung

(Robert Bosch Kulturmanager in Mittel- und Osteuropa, Kulturmanager aus Mittel- und Osteuropa)

Over the past years, the Robert Bosch Stiftung has placed an emphasis on the Western Balkan countries through its scholarship programs for cultural managers in and from Central and Eastern Europe (www.kulturmanager.net; www.moe-kulturmanager.de) and remains interested in exchanging experiences with other funders and supported individuals and organizations in the region.

The Idea

The expert talk encourages an open dialog between important finders in the area of culture (and in particular those from German-speaking regions), individuals and institutions receiving funding, local decision-makers as well as experts and those engaged in the cultural sector in the Western Balkans. The conference deals with the countries that belong to the geographical area called the Western Balkans: Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, Croatia, Macedonia, Montenegro and Serbia.

The discussion about the various forms which support can take – project funding, cooperative and co-production programs, policy making, capacity building and support for networks, support for individuals and further training, as well as institutional funding – should help create a broad overview of the funding landscape in the region.

Group B – Policy Making, Capacity Building and Supporting Networks

Political and structural conditions are a decisive factor in successfully funding cultural projects. A number of initiatives have taken on the task of improving these general conditions.

Questions and topics:

What is the cultural and political context of funding initiatives in Southeastern Europe? How can the general conditions be shaped, and what are the limits? How can “cross-sector” cooperation be put in place? How can we bridge the gap between finders and recipients, as well as between civil society and governments? How can networks be established, nurtured and effectively

strengthened?

Short talks will be given by:

- Dr. Alida Bremer, S.Fischer Stiftung / Focus Croatia at the Leipzig Book

Fair 2008, Münster

- Philipp Dietachmair, European Cultural Foundation, Amsterdam

- Doris Pack, MEP and Committee on Culture and Education of the European

Parliament

- Violeta Simjanovska, University of Tourism and Management, Skopje

- Dimitrije Vujadinović, BalkanKult Foundation, Belgrade