Cultural policy is an important issue worldwide, a focus point for a growing number of public debates, conferences, academic research work, official documents and educational programs. It seems that professionals dealing with policy issues in the cultural sector still lack well moderated and maintained open online spaces to exchange viewpoints, argue and criticize on diverse matters related to cultural policy. Several examples of blogs and forums in Europe, Australia and North America (selected below), show that such online spaces are initiated by individuals, groups of researchers, of organisations interested in the subject. Very few of these blogs have a real “collective spirit” and actively invite cultural policy decision-makers and researchers to write their opinion on a specific subject matter, or initiate a well-elaborated online debate. Web 2.0 tools have already offered us a great technological background to shift our roles from “passive users of information” to “active participants” who can create and change online content, promote ourselves, make our work and production visible to millions of people worldwide with just one click. Do we use sufficiently the potential of the new technologies for our debates on cultural policy across Europe? It seems that we do very little in this respect: we still prefer “offline” meetings and hard copy publications and documents, rather than digitalising of cultural policy content, initiating webinars and podcasts, participating in online forums, creating common blogs and facilitating the online transfer of cultural policy practices from one country to another, as well as the accumulated knowledge from one generation of policy-researchers to another.

Sensing this gap, LabforCulture initiated and moderates an European Cultural Policy Group, as well as Young Cultural Policy Researchers Forum. Have a look on the information we have collected on cultural policy events, publications, online tools facilitating research, viewpoints of prominent researchers and much more. It is easy to initiate a discussion thread, to post an opinion, or to upload your publication: you just have to sign in!

Other blogs and forums on Cultural Policy

A Cultural Policy Blog: A blog about Australian and international cultural policy by Ben Eltham.

BoingBoing blog: a collective blog of more than 70 authors writing viewpoints on: technology, culture, science, business and more.

Creative Economy: Blog space of Australian Policy Center for Creative Industries.

Creative Europe on facebook: a digital space to share ideas and discuss trends concerning culture, media and creativity in the European Union. It’s an open platform of debate on how to spur innovation, imagination and renewal in Europe.

CreateQuity: A virtual think tank exploring the intersection of the arts with a wide range of topics including politics, economics, philanthropy, leadership, research, and urban planning; a hub for next-generation ideas on the role of the arts in a creative society, initiated by Ian David Moss.

Culture 360 (Asia-Europe cultural cooperation portal): blog space: Stimulating the cultural engagement between Asia and Europe and enhance greater understanding between the two regions.

Electric Aplhabet: Writing and publishing in the digital near-future: A blog by Kate Eltham – a writer and creative industries professional based in Brisbane, Australia.

European Public Policy Blog: Views on government , policy and politics in Europe

Fracturedatlas blog: A blog run by US based non-profit organisation, helping artists and arts organizations function more effectively as businesses by providing access to funding, healthcare, education, and more, all in a context that honors their individuality and independent spirit.

KEA Blog on sport and culture: Related to creative industries, cultural, entertainment, media and sport sectors, as well as European cultural policy issues.

Michael Geist’s blog: Canadian blog on music, copyright law, piracy and more.

Newmatilda.com: Provides intelligent coverage of Australian politics, business, consumerism, civil society, international affairs, media and culture.

Public Knowledge Policy Blog: A Washington DC based public interest group working to defend your rights in the emerging digital culture; provides information on information technology, creative industries, education issues and more.

Research Hub Blog: A blog,s managed by the Australia Council for the Arts research team.

Read this blog post also on LabforCulture.

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Credit image: http://folusho.com/exploring-web-2-0-social-media-networking-and-web-2-0/