Why we need European cultural policies: the impact of EU ...

Foreword The Cultural Policy Research Award (CPRA) was launchedin 2004 with three main aims in mind: to support and promote young talents in cultural policyresearch, to strengthen cultural policy research as an academic discipline, and to contribute to aknowledge-base of issues related to European cultural integration.The two organisations behind the award – the European Cultural Foundation (ECF) and theBank of Sweden Tercentenary Foundation (Stiftelsen Riksbankens Jubileumsfond) – recognizedthe importance for young cultural policy researchers of having proper frameworks for theirresearch projects – frameworks which would enable them to carry out their projects, which wouldguide them through this process, and which would later promote the results of their research.The CPRA encourages the analysis of contemporary cultural issues from a European perspective,using a comparative approach and considering the issues from a cultural policy point of view.Research projects are evaluated and selected with regard to their intrinsic quality as well as theirpotential contribution to cultural policy thinking and design.The first CPRA winner was Ms Nina Obuljen, a junior research fellow at the Institute forInternational Relations (IMO) in Zagreb and now Assistant Minister of Culture of the Republic ofCroatia. Her research project on the influence of EU enlargement on cultural policies in transitioncountries was selected because of the importance of its subject-matter, its sound researchmethodology, and the potential use of its conclusions in public policies.We congratulate Nina Obuljen for her academic endeavour and professional rigour.The completed research project is an achievement indeed, and we hope it will contribute toa better understanding of the impact of Community policies on culture and the possibility ofstreamlining these effects positively. It should certainly inform debates on a European agenda forcultural policies.We also thank the CPRA jury, which was chaired by Prof. Dr. Milena Dragicevic-Sesic of theFaculty of Dramatic Arts in Belgrade, for its continued and committed involvement in the project’spilot phase (2004-2006). The jury members’ advice and selection are greatly valued by both theECF and the Bank of Sweden Tercentenary Foundation.This is the first in a series of publications which will present the completed CPRA researchprojects. We hope it will serve the field of cultural policy research and that of cultural practice.We also hope that the CPRA series will help talented young researchers to gain a greaterprofile within their own academic disciplines and within the academic circles of Europe andpossibly beyond.Isabelle SchwarzCultural Policy Development Manager, European Cultural FoundationForeword7