Training in cultural policy and management: international ... - Encatc

Foreword
Foreword
The training of cultural development personnel has continually been on UNESCO’s agenda since the
mid 1970s. UNESCO has been organizing meetings and co-operative projects for studying the
evolution of training needs, programmes and methods, as well as training sessions for cultural
development personnel at various levels and in all regions.
The major worldwide changes that have taken place since the second half of the 1980s in the
economic, technological and cultural environment have entailed new requirements in the cultural
professions and in the training of cultural development specialists.
This necessity was reaffirmed during the 1998 Stockholm International Conference on Cultural Policies
for Development, which emphasized the need for an increased professionalism within the cultural
sector itself, the urgency for improvement of service delivery and accountability, as well as
management and administration of its institutions and agencies.
As a follow-up to the Stockholm Conference, an international meeting of experts was organized by
UNESCO in November 2000 for the appraisal of training needs and the mapping of existing training
systems in the various regions of the world.
With regards to Europe, including the Russian Federation, the three Caucasus countries, and part of
Central Asia, this complex task was carried out by the European Network of Cultural Administration
Training Centres in close co-operation with the Division of Cultural Policies and Intercultural Dialogue
at UNESCO.
This document provides a survey of the current situation, and shows an impressive contrast between
sophisticated training systems in Western Europe and the USA, and the situation in Eastern Europe
and former Soviet Union countries. It gives an analysis of the shortcomings and difficulties in adapting
the former training systems to the new needs which have evolved with the current social, political and
economic changes.
The document also contains a directory with updated information on the existing training facilities,
courses, and curricula for cultural development personnel in the field of cultural policies,
administration, management, facilitation, cultural entrepreneurship, etc.
This information, made available on the Internet as well as in printed form, should allow graduate and
post-graduate students and practitioners to more easily identify training courses and programmes that
correspond to their needs.
Furthermore, the document constitutes an important tool for developing co-operation among training
centres, in addition to developing training materials and programmes adapted to their needs, at a
time when the principle of cultural diversity requires new cultural strategies and policies as well as
competent and highly skilled professionals for their implementation.
Katérina Stenou
Director
Division of Cultural Policies and Intercultural Dialogue
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