Implementing UNESCO's Convention on Cultural Diversity at the regional level: Experiences from evaluating cultural competence centers

Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

Authors

  • Diana Betzler

This article deals with the question of whether regional cultural competence centers foster the diversity of cultural expressions and how the objectives of the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization's (UNESCO) Convention on Cultural Diversity are implemented. By introducing the Convention on Cultural Diversity, the conditions of regional cultural policy governance, and the idea of regional cultural competence centers, a framework for evaluation is outlined. The evaluation of four regional cultural competence centers in the Swiss Central Region shows that fostering cultural diversity is complex and has many different approaches and effects. The final discussion concludes that principles such as interculturality, freedom, and access for all under the Convention on Cultural Diversity can promote a diversity of cultural expressions but that these criteria have to be set from outside - for example, by public funding institutions - so that regional actors implement them.

Original languageEnglish
JournalInternational Journal of Cultural Property
Volume27
Issue number4
Pages (from-to)511-525
Number of pages15
ISSN0940-7391
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 01.11.2020

    Research areas

  • cultural diversity, cultural policy, evaluation, UNESCO
  • Cultural studies