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Conference on participatory governance in culture held in Rijeka, Croatia

The international and interdisciplinary conference "Participatory Governance in Culture: Exploring Practices, Theories and Policies. DO IT TOGETHER" in Rijeka, Croatia on 22-24 November gathered more than 180 participants, researchers, theoreticians, cultural operators, artists, practitioners, activists, policymakers and decision-makers worldwide and from a broad range of disciplines.
 
The event organised by Kultura Nova Foundation in partnership with Rijeka 2020 LLC and in collaboration with the European Cultural Foundation and IFACCA, was co-funded by the CEI Cooperation Fund.
 
During the intensive three-day programme, participants dynamically discussed about the challenges, limitations, paradoxes and perspectives that cultural research, practices and policies were increasingly facing around the concept of participatory governance in culture. The Conference explored this domain from various angles, involving topics such as the implications of participation for democratic values in public (cultural) policies; the complexities of power relations and authority devolution between and among various stakeholders; differences among private, public and common interests of all relevant stakeholders; ethics of participation; and institutional and policy change as well as innovation. Specific sessions were devoted to the participatory agenda in South-eastern Europe, local cultural policy and localising development, participatory governance in the European Capital of Culture Programme. The benefits of participatory funding and grant making for donors, grantees and communities were also debated.
 
This conference is part of the "Approaches to Participatory Governance of Cultural Institutions" project supported by UNESCO’s International Fund for Cultural Diversity.



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