INDICATORS OF EQUALITY IN CULTURAL POLICY
Achieving equality in cultural policy means ensuring that everyone has access to cultural opportunities, resources, and representation without discrimination. This presupposes that factors like social class, income, wealth, physical ability or disability, race, ethnicity and gender should not limit one's ability to engage with culture.
Common indicators of equality achievement in cultural policy include those measuring:
- accessibility and inclusivity,
- fair distribution of funding,
- diverse representation in cultural programming,
- employment diversity and representation in cultural policy development.
It is necessary first to determine the level of accessibility and inclusivity of cultural venues, events, and programming for marginalised groups and individuals with disabilities. This should be done by monitoring their participation rates in cultural activities and programs. There is a need to pay attention to the affordability of cultural activities, ensuring that financial barriers do not prevent people from diverse backgrounds from participating.
Secondly, attention should be paid to allocation of resources. Funding should be allocated in such a way as to equitably support cultural activities and projects from various types of organizations (public, private, and civic), from different parts of the country, and from diverse communities.
However, this is not sufficient. One should also monitor whether diverse cultural content, narratives, and artistic expressions are included in cultural programs and exhibitions. This could be achieved by including cultural practitioners and members from marginalised communities in developing and evaluating cultural policies. This would lead to creating cultural policies that truly address their needs.
It is also vital to ensure that there is a diversity of the cultural workforce, with representation across different cultural backgrounds and identities. There is also no need to say that cultural policies should promote gender equality and representation in cultural institutions and activities and that this is one of the crucial indicators of equitable cultural policy.
It's important to establish a framework for ongoing monitoring and evaluation of the impact of cultural policy on equality. Regularly reviewing collected data and adjusting policies to address any identified disparities is crucial. It's also important to compare cultural policy achievements with national and international standards and agreements that promote cultural diversity and equality, such as UNESCO's Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions. (PC, ITK)