The European Commission has recently released a report on “Information Systems to Support the Mobility of Artists or Other Professionals in the Cultural Sector: a feasibility study”.
Conducted by ECOTEC, it aimed at analysing the precise needs of these professionals and existing gaps in what concerns information systems on the different legal, regulatory, procedural and financial aspects to mobility.
Moving and working in between member-states can involve considerable barriers. Even though the free movement principle dates back to the Treaty of Rome (1957), the EU acknowledges the persistence of several obstacles. Information shortcomings and lack of labour markets transparency are certainly among the most relevant.
Analysis on the mobility of art and culture workers, some on behalf of the European Commission and with almost a decade now, have recognised the actual impact of a deficient access to information on the decision to move or on the success of mobility experiences. See:
ECOTEC´s study has tried to shed light and systemise how and where cultural operators source the information that enables their mobility to take place. They need a diversified set of information that is rapidly changing and outdating, spanning from regulatory issues at national and EU level; funding, job and training opportunities; and country, regions and cities cultural profiles.
The general EU info points such as EURES (for jobs), EUlisses (for social security issues) and Ploteus (for learning opportunities), among others, are not much used by the cultural sector that does not know them and finds the raw information provided not targeted enough.
More than the absence of information, in some cases even abundant, what is lacking is structured knowledge. I mean information that is organised and adapted to the particular needs of the sector. The lack of competences to access and manage information that is multilayered is what actually acts as an obstacle to mobility.
The need for information relates in fact to the so called 5th freedom or the free circulation of knowledge, after capitals, goods, services and persons. The EU has endorsed a short time ago the need to reinforce the mobility of knowledge within the renewal of the Lisbon Agenda.
Formal and informal networks and professional organisations, replacing the role of diasporas in traditional migration, have been interpreting and channelling this know-how to the sector. Some networks are quite active in supporting and providing information to cultural operators willing to create, study, produce, tour, meet and get inspired across-borders in Europe. On-the-Move, the performing arts traveller’s toolkit and the Compendium for Cultural Policies and Trends in Europe are two complementary examples of online resources that provide information to artists and cultural operators on the move.
LabforCulture.org is itself another example. As a networking platform for information on European arts and culture, it was precisely created to fill in this gap. I advise you to read our background on the About Us section in order to find out why.
Another mission of this study was to make recommendations to national and European actors with a view to setting up a Europe-wide system of information or, in other words, to create EU Cultural Mobility Contact Points (CMCP). Some pilot projects are already being set up involving many of these networks and organisations across Europe and capitalising on their expertise and experience. I will surely come back to this issue in later posts to let you know in more detail some of these projects! So stay tuned!
Tagged as:
5th freedom, EU culture policy, European Commission, freedom of movement, mobility, networks, obstacles to mobility
LabforCulture is a partner initiative of the European Cultural Foundation. LabforCulture is grateful for the support provided by its funders.
