Information shortcomings are one of the major obstacles to mobility and cross border cooperation in the culture sector. In order to start up filling in this gap the European Commission requested a study to map and evaluate existing websites which are used as a means for exchange of information and debate on culture, artistic expression and as a space for an exchange of opinions on the European project.

The result is CultureMAP, a research conducted by Empirica (DE) with the collaboration of P.A.U. Education in Barcelona and IBK Remscheid, Germany. You can consult the draft publications as well as get to know the virtual platforms analysed in www.culturemap.net. The draft outcomes of this study will be discussed this 19^th March in Brussels. If you happen to be in town in this date and you are willing to contribute to the debate, just register here. Participation is free.

The CultureMap study gives a perspective on how the cultural field is doing in the virtual space that translates quite well the main challenges facing the sector today. In fact the virtual space just reproduces some of the sector´s main assets but also fragilities.

The research team based their report in a survey conducted to 388 cultural websites and all of them are portrayed in a searchable Knowledge Base. This online database is a work in progress offering the possibility for other actors in the cultural area in Europe and beyond to submit their own cases. All proposals will be analysed before they are publicly released.

The website contains also a Case Study section with a list of 28 websites analysed in more depth which are considered best practices (check the selection criteria in the final report). LabforCulture is among them! The evaluation provided for each website, including a list of strengths and drawbacks can be useful to rethink and to further improve these platforms. Yet the comments made seem not to have taken into account the framework conditions of each case. An important exercise would be to analyse weaknesses and assets in view of material and human resources available, for instance. 

Moreover the overall report provides a detailed picture of all the websites and portals analysed in terms of: legal nature, geographical scope, artistic disciplines, cultural domains, target groups, purposes and activities, language policy, functionalities, users contributions facilities, website technique and updating, and financing.

At the end, practical recommendations are issued on ways to enhance the use of internet as a means of information exchange and debate for the culture sector, but also as a way of reaching out to audiences and citizens and to enhance a dialogue on the European Project. However, in my view, some of these recommendations shall be reconsider as nowadays makes no sense aiming at a one-stop-shop approach. The digital space as a free flow of information can not and should not be enclosed in one big portal. Nevertheless strategies need to be drawn in view of synchronising and coordinating resources among information sources and providers in order to avoid duplicating efforts and to facilitate the life of users.

On the other hand it is very interesting to see how this analysis and depository of the cultural field presence in the virtual space mirrors the vitality and vulnerability that characterises this sector in the “real world”. Just by reading the conclusions on the websites profiles we come across the same old issues: scattered efforts and the need for coordinating strategies; insufficient know how and skills; lack of sustainability and financial security, among others.

Yet when analysing the huge list of the existing cultural websites and portals, one can get a fascinating overview of how active and diversified the cultural scene actually is despite all troubles.

Hopefully the European Commission will critically consider all these recommendations, consult with the sector and translate them into policy actions in line with the goals of the European Agenda for Culture. The virtual space can be a good ground to test and reinforce the development of the desired common European cultural area.