Breaking down barriers: how the ‘ACCESS’ programme helps promote culture for all
Project: an EU-funded network to help make culture accessible
The Purpose
Culture plays a crucial role in establishing liveable, socially connected and inclusive urban environments. However, identifying the appropriate policies to facilitate this can be challenging. To address this challenge, a coalition of eight European cities, initiated by Amsterdam and facilitated by the World Cities Culture Forum, established the ACCESS network.
The Challenge
Cities serve as vibrant centres of culture, but not all citizens participate fully. Cities across Europe have been seeking ways to identify policies that can effectively yield results and enhance accessibility for all residents. The primary objective of this network was to promote international collaboration, fostering a meaningful transformation in cultural policymaking to guarantee cultural access for every citizen. The member cities of this network include Amsterdam, Dublin, Lisbon, London, Sofia, Riga, Tallinn, and Vilnius.
Policymakers learned from failed and successful cultural policies to find solutions that suited their cities.
The Solution
The project had three main goals:
- Determine what data cities need to understand their residents’ issues and where to find it.
- Find ways to make culture accessible throughout the city, not just in the city centre.
- Help more people, especially those often left out, connect with and enjoy culture.
Teams from each city met from 2020 to 2022, mostly online due to the pandemic. They learned from failed and successful cultural policies to find solutions that suited their cities. They also tried out prototypes and applied what they learned to local policies. URBACT, an EU program for urban challenges, funded ACCESS.
The Impact
Each city formulated an action plan to address specific challenges. For instance, Amsterdam’s challenge revolved around enhancing cultural offerings in three suburban areas: Nieuw West, Noord, and Zuidoost. The initiative recognised that factors such as income, education, and country of origin influence cultural participation. Various issues, including ticket prices, physical accessibility, the distribution of cultural venues, and people’s engagement with programming, also played a role.
Amsterdam’s approach centreed on direct engagement with residents to understand their needs and aspirations. Other cities in the program, like Riga, explored expanding their cultural offerings beyond the city centre, while Sofia aimed to strengthen connections between cultural organisations and schools.
The project reached its culmination with a showcase event in Amsterdam in June 2022. Each city will continue refining its action plan, integrating the insights gained from the ACCESS network.
Source: World Cities Culture Report 2022
Images Courtesy @ Getty/Canva / City of Amsterdam
