Dutch International Cultural Policy Framework

In March 2016, the Policy and Operations Evaluation Department (IOB) published a review of international cultural policy in the 2009-2014 period. The Council for Culture issued an advisory report on the subject in the same month. The new policy framework provides responses to the recommendations in both reports. 

Key elements

The key elements of international cultural policy in the 2017-2020 period can be summarised

as follows:

• a focus both on the intrinsic, social and on the economic value of culture;
• an emphasis on the importance of exchange, networks and reciprocity: international cultural policy is more than an export policy;
• a cohesive, comprehensive country strategy, with a central role for DutchCulture and more scope for tailor-made approaches and initiatives from the field;
• a commitment to the binding role culture can play internationally, with a focus on the arc around Europe;
•  support for cultural diplomacy worldwide.

Main objectives

These key elements underpin the main objectives set out in the framework:

1. a strong cultural sector, where international exchange and sustainable cooperation ensure increasingly higher quality, and which is recognised and valued abroad;
2. more room for the arts to contribute to a safe, just, future-proof world;
3. culture will be used effectively as a tool of modern diplomacy.