CULTURAL POLICY INSTRUMENTS RELATED TO PARTICIPATION
Cultural participation includes three groups of activities that are rather different from each other: public (outdoor) cultural participation through visiting programs of cultural institutions or, more broadly, cultural events; private (indoor) cultural participation, which most often takes place in the recipient's home through the media (computers, smartphones, television, radio, etc.) and amateur cultural production, which include creative art practices or engaging in some creative hobby.
Research on cultural participation European Cultural Values (2007), Cultural Access and Participation (2013) and EU‑SILC (2015) show a trend of decreasing level of public cultural participation in Europe. The reasons for this are manifold, including the lack of leisure time, the lack of financial resources, but also the growth of private cultural participation made possible by the development of digital technology.
To increase participation in culture, a combination of strategies is needed to engage and involve people in cultural activities. The usual approach is to try to remove the physical, geographical, economic, and psychological barriers, which will make culture more accessible. The idea is that in such a way, currently under-represented segments of the population will have a higher profile in the audience.
Thus, it is necessary to invest in the development and improvement of cultural infrastructure, such as theatres, museums, libraries, concert halls and community centres, particularly in underdeveloped regions and rural areas. This can create create more opportunities for cultural participation. In the case of marginalised communities and demographic groups conducting targeted outreach campaigns can help to increase participation.
Providing financial support, grants, and subsidies to cultural organizations, artists, and events can help to make cultural experiences more affordable and accessible to everyone. Also when organizing cultural events and activities, it's important to take factors like location, timing, and cost into account. By doing so, barriers to entry will be minimised and it will be easier for people to participate in these types of activities. This is especially important for those who may not have the resources to travel long distances or pay high admission fees.
But this is not sufficient. Simply giving people the opportunity to see and hear works of art is not enough. Preparation and knowledge of the codes of art are necessary for such actions to have any effect. Therefore, audience development programs and initiatives, including integrating cultural experiences and education into school curricula, development of educational programs in media, organizing field trips to cultural institutions, and offering cultural passes or vouchers that provide discounted or free access to cultural venues, performances, exhibitions, and events, represent a necessary first step.
Research studies show that one of the key barriers to participation is a lack of leisure time. So it is worth trying to develop cultural policies for the workplace. For instance, companies could establish cultural policies that promote employee participation in cultural activities, and employers could implement flexible scheduling or cultural leave policies to enable individuals to attend events without compromising their work responsibilities
At the beginning of the XXI century, there were high hopes related to the democratizing effects of digital media. They were seen as important instruments of increasing participation and diversity in arts and culture. Developing online platforms for virtual exhibits, live streaming of cultural events, and interactive experiences can definitely widen the reach of cultural activities beyond physical locations, making participation possible for a broader audience. However, numerous studies in the last twenty years show that although digital media provide an important means of engaging new audiences, they also seem to reproduce, if not enlarge, existing social inequalities.
Increasing cultural participation also means creating preconditions for the development of productive capacities of citizens. According to Pierre Luiggi Sacco (2011) in the Culture 3.0. phase today, everyone has access to production technology that allows professional treatment of text, sound, photographs, video, and multimedia. To that extent, technological possibilities exist that can turn passive audiences into active practitioners. However, there are still social factors that prevent this from happening to the full extent. It's crucial to address these factors in order to realise the potential of cultural participation fully.
In general, the most important thing to recognise is that cultural policy measures alone cannot contribute to raising the level of cultural participation. The causes of its decline are multiple, so reversing the trend is only possible if measures of educational, media, economic, and social policies are included. (PC, ITK)