Mission Statement – engl.
What is the Federal Congress on Cultural Policy (Kulturpolitischer Bundeskongress)?
The German Association for Cultural Policy (Kulturpolitische Gesellschaft) and the Federal Agency for Civic Education/bpb (Bundeszentrale für politische Bildung/bpb) have jointly organised the Federal Congress on Cultural Policy (Kulturpolitischer Bundeskongress) every two years since 2001. It is funded by the Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and the Media (Beauftragter der Bundesregierung für Kultur und Medien), and the Association of German Cities (Deutscher Städtetag) is a congress partner.
Starting from the premise that cultural policy is democratic policy, the congresses address the »trigger points« of societal debates. At the same time, they form a series with both a past and a future, since each congress builds on the key findings, discourses, and unresolved questions of the previous one. The chosen themes take up focal issues in social and cultural-policy discourse in Germany and beyond. Alongside the differentiated, research-based exploration of a complex field, the congresses also develop practical approaches and workable concepts.
The Federal Congress on Cultural Policy (Kulturpolitischer Bundeskongress) is at once a knowledge platform, a space for discourse and experimentation, and a networking event. Interdisciplinarity, the transfer of knowledge from academia into practice and back again, and shared learning from one another are especially important. To support this, the congress offers a wide range of impulses, controversial discussions, artistic interventions, and international perspectives. The programme is developed and implemented in a participatory way, together with Critical Friends and through open calls for participation that help shape individual formats. Exchange among congress participants is made possible through numerous formats for encounter.
The aim is to analytically accompany current social and cultural-policy discourses, to critically carry them forward, and to help shape them. The congress seeks to foster discussion, productive controversy, and the joint search for practical conclusions for action. The focus lies on communicating impulses relevant to cultural policy from academia, politics, society, and the arts, as well as on developing cultural-policy strategies in response to questions about the future.
Actors from the arts and culture, cultural policy and administration, cultural and political education, academia, journalism, and the interested public are warmly invited, all with different experiences and perspectives.
- Creative, interdisciplinary inspiration: meet numerous cultural policymakers, cultural facilitators, artists, and scholars from various disciplines Latest insights from academia and practice: gain firsthand information on current cultural and socio-political topics and discuss them with participants and speakers
- Opportunities for participation: Contribute ideas for formats or specific program items both before and during the congress, e.g., through one of our open calls for proposals or by helping to design a forum
- Exchange and networking: Connect with congress participants in a wide variety of formats and think outside the box
- Spaces for learning with and from one another: Collaboratively address political, structural, or personal challenges in everyday work life
