During the first phase of the project, the Consortium developed six Discussion Papers—both as long versions for academic consultations and short versions for policy and stakeholder consultation—on the three axes of memory, identity, and creativity.
These papers were debated at the first CulturalBase Workshop in Barcelona (30 September-1 October 2015). This Workshop established a solid and shared base for discussion and future work for all involved stakeholders. In particular, the workshop achieved two objectives in an atmosphere of mutual learning and participation: (1) to identify and select the main issues to be further studied and discussed within each axis; (2) to assess the more general concerns emerging from policy and academic documents versus the more specific experiences and challenges stakeholders face in their everyday work.
The project’s second phase started with the online consultation with a wider pool of stakeholders across Europe. On the basis of the main issues highlighted at the first workshop, the Consortium prepared short ‘Vision Documents’ identifying the main challenges for European culture and identity. These Vision Documents were put up for discussion through the CulturalBase Platform (www.culturalbase.eu) in early spring 2016 in the run-up to the Major Stakeholder Conference.
The major stakeholder conference had a key role in the achievement of this objective. The Conference took place in Barcelona on 11-12 May 2016 under the theme “Co-creating Agendas for Culture in Europe. Memory, Inclusion, Creativity”. It brought together researchers, practitioners and the CulturalBase Advisory Board members. The working sessions were organized in small groups (Working Teams) to provide for in-depth discussions among participants, led by a Team Leader from the Stakeholders’ network. These Working Sessions led to the selection of 12 Thematic Areas that became the basis for developing research agendas and policy recommendations.
Within the Thematic Areas—and after reviewing the existing research and policy programmes, both national and European—the Consortium produced a Draft Research and Policy Agendas document that was sent out for consultation with selected stakeholders. The second CulturalBase Policy Workshop was held in Florence on 1-2 December 2016 with mid-level stakeholders to discuss our draft research and policy agenda recommendations.
Further to these discussions, the CulturalBase Consortium organised a Policy Seminar in Brussels on 31 January 2017 entitled “Cultural heritage policies for a troubled Europe. Proposals from the CulturalBase Social Platform”. This seminar brought together EU policymakers and coordinators of relevant research projects to assess the immediate challenges for cultural policy in Europe. The debate focused on the main policy-oriented results of the Platform thus far and, most importantly, the recently adopted plan for celebrating 2018 as the European Year of Cultural Heritage.
Following up on these consultations, the CulturalBase consortium has produced the final version of the Research Agenda, four Policy Briefs as well as a Roadmap outlining the main points and conclusions of this two-year project.
