Vision of the UBC Commission on Culture

An network based cultural cooperation
The Committee of Culture wants to strengthen the network between the UBC cities in the cultural sector in order to create a working network that everybody can benefit from, when they need it, either for help and advice or for partners for projects.

We want to enhance the cooperation between the UBC cities in cultural cooperation in order to create a better understanding of each others culture and the different conditions we work in. We want the cities to initiate programs and project, that will suit their needs, and thus stimulate a user driven and bottom- up approach to cultural cooperation.

Professionalization of the cultural field
We want to promote and develop tools for the cultural field to enhance professionalism in the field, and some of the ways can be sharing of experiences in conferences, newsletters and other communication, and others can be the exchange-programs, where we achieve a hands-on and very direct learning process by discussing the professional issues that are of major interest to the parties involved.

Stratetic partnerships
The Cultural Committee wants to work strategically with central national and international bodies dealing with policy making in the cultural field. And we want to be voice for culture on local level in order to have the cultural issues on local level heard and taken into account in policies on regional, national and international level.

Research
We want to stimulate third parties to provide research on cultural issues that are important for the local level, i.e. the role of culture in social inclusion, the role of culture as an economic driver.

How do we want to achieve these goals:

1. Network based cultural cooperation:
a. To develop the exchange program even further, as this program has 3 aims, namely to stimulate professionalization, to create and develop the UBC cultural network and to stimulate project making between the UBC cities
b. To promote a more intensive cooperation between the UBC cities on cultural level, both by a small fund and by the cultural prize, which has as criteria the cooperation aspect.
c. To promote the cities to invite cultural project from the other UBC cities for local events like festivals, celebrations or part of the daily programs.

2. Professionalization of the cultural field:
a. Again the exchangeprogram,
b. Sharing experiences at meetings and conferences
c. Sharing new knowledge in newsletters facebook and the like
3. Strategic partnerships. Partners we want to develop contact to
a. Nordic council
b. Pack and the European Union,
c. Ars Baltica
d. Others
4. Research

We have found out, that research is necessary for the cultural field to promote the necessity of culture. We will thus be contacting research bodies and lobby to make them make research on necessary issues, like whether culture can help social inclusion, whether culture can really be a driver in the wish for economical growth. We are inspired by the Swedish research on culture and health, that showed the interrelationship between the use of culture and having a better health. We would like to develop programs together with
a. Nordic council
b. national or regional universities

Ms Lone Leth Larsen
Chairperson
Kolding Kommune
By-og Udviklingsforvaltningen
Kultur
Nytorv 11
6000 Kolding
Denmark
Tel. +45 79 791001
Mobile +45 23116874
Fax +45 79791370
e-mail: lola@kolding.dk
www.kolding.dk