Dutch national cultural policy 2021-2024: public access and professional development

The current Dutch national cultural policy of the Ministry of Education, Culture and Science (OCW) is in line with its international cultural policy: “The Netherlands is home to some of the world’s best architects, artists, writers and designers. They show that our nation is a global cultural leader with a rich and varied output, open to international cooperation and a source of innovative solutions. But to retain this strong global position requires constant development and renewal.”

Aims

creative and artistic talents are given means and opportunities to flourish
everyone, regardless of age, cultural background, income and place of residence, has access to culture
the range of culture on offer is pluriform, with established forms cherished and new forms embraced
culture is assured of a safe haven within which to (critically) reflect on society and its citizens.

Dutch cultural policy system

In the Netherlands, cultural policy is based on the premise that the state should refrain from all judgements regarding the value of art. The government solely acts as a moderator of cultural activities and is the largest patron of public art and culture, while the Ministry of OCW safeguards the conditions conducive to maintaining, developing and disseminating cultural expressions. From 2011 onwards, Dutch cultural policy primarily focused on participation, entrepreneurship and philanthropy.

In the Netherlands, public governance is organised as a three-tier system consisting of a central, provincial and municipal government that pursue their own cultural policy with their own funding and advisory streams. The main role of the central government, through the Ministry of OCW, is to ensure the availability of high quality subsidised arts, cultural institutes and companies of (inter)national importance.

The regional and local authorities are responsible for the implementation of their own cultural policies and distribution of funds. Their role is to support amateur arts and to maintain cultural facilities. The cooperation between the three tiers is accomplished through consultation between the Association of Provinces of the Netherlands (IPO), the Association of Netherlands Municipalities (VNG) and the central government.

The Ministry of OCW is responsible for the conditions necessary for the preservation, development and (social and geographical) distribution of cultural expressions of national significance. Every four years, the Minister is required to present a policy memorandum intended to review the past policy cycle, to identify developments that impact the execution of cultural policy and to provide guidelines for cultural policy in the years to come, including the budget plan for public spending on the cultural sector.

Direct state funding is distributed based on the national basic infrastructure (BIS), i.e. the register of cultural organisations and funds receiving direct state subsidies. With the recommendations from the Council for Culture (Raad voor Cultuur), the BIS is redefined every four years to ensure support for high-quality art and culture.

Source: The Compendium of Cultural Policies & Trends

Ask yourself...

What is the local cultural policy system in comparison to the Netherlands and how does it (not) work? What are the possibilities for cooperation and exchange? Local policy makers are often eager to hear more about the Dutch situation and/or to share their own local experiences. You might meet someone suitable for a visitors’ programme to the Netherlands for knowledge exchange.

Dutch national cultural policy 2021-2024: public access and professional development