{"id":2640,"date":"2025-12-10T15:44:10","date_gmt":"2025-12-10T15:44:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/intercult.se\/2025\/12\/10\/we-are-participating-in-folk-och-kultur-2026-the-place-of-culture-in-the-future-of-europe\/"},"modified":"2026-01-16T09:01:44","modified_gmt":"2026-01-16T09:01:44","slug":"we-are-participating-in-folk-och-kultur-2026-the-place-of-culture-in-the-future-of-europe","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/intercult.se\/en\/2025\/12\/10\/we-are-participating-in-folk-och-kultur-2026-the-place-of-culture-in-the-future-of-europe\/","title":{"rendered":"We are participating in Folk och Kultur 2026: &#8220;The place of culture in the future of Europe&#8221;"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Welcome to Intercult&#8217;s and Europa Direkt Stockholm&#8217;s seminar at the Folk och Kultur Convention in Eskilstuna, <\/span><b>on February 5<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">!<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><br \/>\n<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The title of the seminar is &#8220;<\/span><b>The place of culture in the future of Europe<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">&#8221; and will focuse on how the role of culture is shaping future EU policies and budget negotiations. At a time when Europe is dealing with a series of crises, from the erosion of fundamental values to wars at its borders, it is crucial to position culture as Europe&#8217;s reliable <\/span><b>compass<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. The discussion will be based on the recently launched <strong>\u201cCulture Compass for Europe\u201d<\/strong> \u2013 the European Commission&#8217;s strategic framework that sets out 4 directions for the EU&#8217;s future work on culture.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The seminar takes place at <strong>Hotel Bolinder Munktell &#8211; \u00c5ngv\u00e4lten\/T\u00e4ndkulan Thursday, February 5, 2026, time: 11.15 &#8211; 12.15. <\/strong><br \/>\nMeet leading experts and stakeholders from European networks and institutions for a conversation on why culture must be seen as a necessity, not a luxury, and how we can shape Europe&#8217;s future cultural policy together.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>Participants:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Moderator: <strong>Iwona Preis<\/strong>, CEO, Intercult and Smart Coop SE<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Panelists:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Mats Berglund<\/strong> (MP), Chair of the Swedish Parliament&#8217;s Culture Committee<\/li>\n<li><strong>Simon Norrthon<\/strong>, President, Scen &amp; Film trade union<\/li>\n<li><strong>Sara Edstr\u00f6m<\/strong>, Chair, KRO (The Artists&#8217; Association of Sweden)<\/li>\n<li><strong>Ann Traber<\/strong>, Case officer, Swedish Arts Council, Creative Europe Desk Culture<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Link to the seminar at <a href=\"https:\/\/folkochkultur.se\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Folk och Kultur&#8217;s website<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<h5><b>Background: <\/b><\/h5>\n<h6><b>What is the Cultural Compass?<\/b><\/h6>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Launched on November 12, 2025, the Culture Compass for Europe is the European Commission&#8217;s new strategic framework for culture.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Culture Compass aims to guide EU policy by highlighting 20 flagship actions and four strategic directions:<\/span><\/p>\n<ol>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">A Europe that upholds and strengthens European values and cultural rights.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">A Europe that empowers artists and cultural workers and supports citizens.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">A Europe that uses culture and heritage to become more competitive, resilient and cohesive.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">An EU that leads international cultural relations and partnerships.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The launch was accompanied by a proposal for a joint declaration, <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">&#8216;Europe for Culture &#8211; Culture for Europe&#8217;<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, which sets out a long-term strategic vision to place culture at the heart of Europe&#8217;s identity.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>Read more about the Cultural Compass in <a href=\"https:\/\/intercult.se\/2025\/11\/20\/kulturkompass-for-europa\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">our November 2025 article<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h6><b>Challenges and requirements in cultural policy<\/b><\/h6>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Culture Compass and the discussion on its implementation address several pressing challenges. The cultural sector, represented by networks such as <a href=\"https:\/\/cultureactioneurope.org\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Culture Action Europe<\/a>, has contributed with a <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/cultureactioneurope.org\/advocacy\/cultural-participation-towards-the-culture-compass-a-sector-blueprint\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Sector Blueprint<\/span><\/i><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> (released in September 2025) which calls for specific actions.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Among the challenges addressed by the Cultural Compass are:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Freedom of expression<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> &#8211; Defending artistic and media freedom.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Working conditions for artists<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> &#8211; Improving fair and sustainable working conditions for cultural and heritage professionals. Many in the sector have to work multiple jobs, and young people find it difficult to afford the essentials. <\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Intellectual property rights and AI<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> &#8211; Dealing with artificial intelligence (AI) and its disproportionate impact on artists and cultural creators.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Protection of cultural heritage<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> &#8211; Special protection in conflict zones like Ukraine.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">To meet these challenges, the sector is calling for <\/span><b>stronger safeguards at EU level<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, such as an <\/span><b>Artistic Freedom Act<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">and a <\/span><b>Directive on decent work in the cultural sector<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. Culture must be recognized as a <\/span><b>fundamental part of the democratic and civil infrastructure<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h6><b>Future budget and AgoraEU<\/b><\/h6>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Year <\/span><b>2026<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> is a key year for the negotiations on the EU&#8217;s long-term budget, the multiannual financial framework (MFF) for the period <\/span><b>2028-2034<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. The implementation of Culture Compass requires sufficient financial resources.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The campaign <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Cultural Deal for Europe<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> (CDEU) continues to demand that <\/span><b>at least 2% of the future total EU budget<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">is earmarked for culture, heritage and creative sectors through a dedicated culture program. This contrasts with the current Creative Europe program which represents less than 0.2% of the budget. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The new dedicated cultural program in the next MFF is proposed to be called <\/span><b>AgoraEU<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. The aim is for AgoraEU to become a strong and well-resourced flagship program for culture, similar to Erasmus. However, many voices in the EU, such as MEP H\u00e9lder Sousa Silva, argue that 2% is not enough and that the ambition needs to be raised significantly. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Meet leading experts and policy makers involved in these negotiations and discussions &#8211; including from Culture Action Europe &#8211; to discuss how we can ensure that culture is recognized as a <\/span><b>necessity<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> (<\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">necessity<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">) and not just an asset, and how we can ensure a strong <\/span><b>AgoraEU<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">-fund to support the freedom of creation and risky projects that represent Europe&#8217;s unique added value.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>Read more about AgoraEU <a href=\"https:\/\/www.kulturradet.se\/kreativa-europa\/nyheter-kreativa-europa\/nyheter-2025\/agoraeu-ar-eu-kommissionens-nya-programforslag\/?fbclid=IwY2xjawOLzRxleHRuA2FlbQIxMQBzcnRjBmFwcF9pZBAyMjIwMzkxNzg4MjAwODkyAAEe--NlVSy6w8HbuFPB7Sbif7m9ewEcj-AOvEUyb50bw79EUIJ7bJMxvlVK1Rc_aem_QINUK-QlR5HAO7OnxUydTg\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">here<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Welcome to Intercult&#8217;s and Europa Direkt Stockholm&#8217;s seminar at the Folk och Kultur Convention in Eskilstuna, on February 5! The title of the seminar is &#8220;The<span class=\"excerpt-hellip\"> [\u2026]<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2625,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[24,23],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2640","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-europe-direct-stockholm","category-whats-new"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/intercult.se\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2640","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/intercult.se\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/intercult.se\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/intercult.se\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/intercult.se\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2640"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/intercult.se\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2640\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2703,"href":"https:\/\/intercult.se\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2640\/revisions\/2703"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/intercult.se\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2625"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/intercult.se\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2640"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/intercult.se\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2640"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/intercult.se\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2640"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}