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

Survey on institutions and organisations ...
UNESCO and other international organisations, notably the Council of Europe, have in recent years
been placing increasing emphasis on the need to develop and promote advanced courses and
programmes, and - not least - research within this field. Notable developments have been the creation
of UNESCO Chairs in fields such as cultural and media policy, and a series of commissioned studies,
expert meetings and surveys (including the present one) under UNESCO’s Programme for –2000-01
and 2002-03.
The Council of Europe’s work in relation to both cultural policy and management standards and
training (e.g. through the series of national cultural policy reviews) has also been very relevant.
Furthermore, the Council’s far-reaching moves towards the standardisation of the levels, descriptions
and quality assurance systems for all European university qualifications by 2009 under the Lisbon
Convention of 1997 and the Bologna Declaration of 1999 will require comprehensive reviews and
revisions of just about every university-based programme over the coming few years. For example,
the national higher education qualifications and quality assurance for English universities and colleges
expects all the country’s higher education institutions to complete before the end of 2004 the required
review and revision of the specifications, objectives and assessment standards of each of the country’s
many thousands of university qualifications and courses.
Towards common standards of education, training and professional development
Employers, professional bodies, and educational institutions alike are calling for all cultural sector
professional education and management programmes to place more and more emphasis on what
might be termed “generic” (including management) skills within their curricula and practical work,
rather than just concentrate on specialised policy and skills. This is seen as essential if their alumni
are to take on the wider, and probably rapidly changing, roles that are likely to be demanded of them
in the future, For example, in the United Kingdom national “generic” standards for the content of
every management training programme, first articulated in the “Management Charter” of 1989, and
updated as the national Management Standards of 1998, have now been adopted as the core of the
management programme and qualification standards for all major fields of employment and economic
activity, and will eventually cover most if not all of the estimated 3 million jobs that have a significant
management content.
These standards are based on demonstrating the competences that are required "to achieve the
organisation's objectives and continuously improve its performance". Seven key roles and
competences are identified for all who have any sort of managerial or supervisory responsibilities, i.e.
just about all established professionals, not just those whose job titles include words such as
“manager”, ”director”, or “supervisor”. These, it is argued in the Management Standards, must now be
competent to:
Manage Activities
Manage Resources
Manage People
Manage Information
Manage Energy
Manage Quality
Manage Projects
Within the cultural sector, the Cultural Heritage National Training Organisation (CHNTO) adopted the
national Management Charter standards and competences in the late 1990s, and some CHNTOvalidated
professional training programmes for the museum, gallery and heritage sectors have already
revised their programmes to include, or make more explicit, these objectives. Metier, the parallel
national training organisation which is currently developing vocational qualifications and standards for
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