Culture Action Europe unveils its blueprint for future cultural policies in Europe

Published as the MONDIACULT conference opened in Barcelona, bringing together cultural stakeholders to shape the future of cultural policies, this timely publication outlines a shared vision for European cultural policies.

EDN is proud to have contributed to this important initiative, ensuring that dance development organisations are represented as vital actors within the broader cultural ecosystem.

The discussion paper ‘Towards the Culture Compass: A Sector Blueprint’ sets out ten thematic briefs addressing the most urgent challenges for the arts and cultural sector – from artistic freedom and fair working conditions to sustainability, digital transformation, cultural participation, and international relations – grounded in three core arguments.

Culture as a foundational public good

Culture should not be an optional “extra” but a structural, upstream force: shaping meaning, civic identity, democratic life, and social cohesion.

Culture as structural condition for democracy

Culture underpins democratic resilience by creating spaces for dissent, imagination, contestation, collective meaning, and participation.

Need for institutional power & alignment

To empower culture’s potential, the EU and Member States must strengthen governance, embed safeguards (e.g. artistic freedom), and ensure public budgetary backing.

The Sector Blueprint is both a call to action and a roadmap. By recognising culture as structural to democracy and sustainability, it urges Europe to invest in the sector as vital infrastructure for the future.

EDN participates in the Networks Coordination within the context of Embodied Transformations, our EU-funded network project. The project connects contemporary dance professionals, organisations, and communities across Europe to foster a transformative and interdependent dance ecosystem. As an EU network for dance, EDN represents the sector and advocates on its behalf.