Context
Cultural education affects everyone in one way or another - whether in the form of customs, social interactions or everyday activities such as reading a book. The Kulturrat Thüringen and the State Chancellery of Thuringia have conducted a comprehensive evaluation to determine the needs, challenges and development areas of cultural education and participation in Thuringia. As part of a broad-based survey process, actori supported this process to strengthen cultural education and participation.
Approach
"How can cultural institutions, cultural initiatives and other cultural actors be strengthened as important participants in cultural education? What are the barriers to participation in cultural activities? What are the potentials and challenges for cultural development in the rural areas of Thüringen?"
These are the questions that actori addressed during the evaluation. The development process of the project combined analytical and various participatory formats. In particular, the inclusion of as many different perspectives as possible played a major role. In surveys, interviews and focus groups, as many actors as possible from cultural associations, institutions, associations and groups of the most diverse (non-)users were questioned. A total of well over 300 people were involved in the process. In the end, the central findings were summarised in eight fields of action.
Added Value
- The chosen form of questioning made it possible to collect different perspectives that make an important contribution to the assessment of challenges and fields of development of cultural education in Thuringia and support their prioritisation.
- The methods of resolution from the individual survey formats were outlined, "clustered" and further perspectives identified (for example, the assessment of commercial providers and a survey with regards to private media use).
- The understanding of cultural education was deepened among the participanting actoris.
- The final document now provides a foundation for further work by the State Chancellery of Thuringia.
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The project was implemented by Jessica Kirchner-Wagner, Consultant and Frank Schellenberg, Managing Director.