Policy Review Cultural Participation 2001-2020

Significant APE and Dialogic have conducted a review of the cultural participation component of cultural policy for the Ministry of Education, Culture, and Science (OCW) (article 14 of the OCW budget). The Minister of OCW is responsible for creating conditions to sustain, develop, and socially and geographically distribute cultural expressions. Considerations of quality and diversity are leading in this regard. This is complementary to cultural offerings that come about without government involvement. A key aspect of cultural policy is promoting cultural participation. This policy review covers the period from 2001 to 2020 and focuses on the cultural participation component of cultural policy. We identify the following three strengths of the instrumentarium of the national government's culture (participation) policy:

1. The instrumentarium is broad, covering almost all aspects of culture (participation) policy and has remained stable over the years;
2. The Dutch cultural system (of which the Cultural Basic Infrastructure (BIS) is a key component) is highly transparent with limited political interference;
3. It is focused on (artistic) quality.

We identify the following three weaknesses of the instrumentarium of the national government's culture (participation) policy:

1. The instrumentarium mainly consists of indirect tools aimed at the supply side, with few instruments directly focused on cultural participation;
2. There is limited innovation and diversification due to establishment bias (subsidies often go to established cultural institutions) and performance indicators;
3. Many steps still need to be taken to ensure inclusivity, diversity, and accessibility.

The report titled “Cultuur van en voor iedereen” has been presented to the Dutch Parliament by the State Secretary for Education, Culture, and Science (OCW). The report can be accessed here. The State Secretary's letter presenting the policy review on cultural participation can be found here.