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ACP | ACP at EFA Diamond Jubilee in Bergen | 24 May 2012

Friday 13 April 2012

The Access to Culture Platform has been invited to shape and co-produce  one of the 3 sessions of EFA's (European Festivals Association) Diamond Jubilee: the session on “Festivals and the Citizen in Digital Times”.

The  ACP Working Group “Audience Participation is taking an active role in this joint production having the opportunity to present the ACP work to the over 170 participants from all over the world: EFA members are joined by high-level representatives of festivals, cultural networks, EFA sister networks from Asia, Africa, South America and the Arab region as well as political decision-makers.

Arts festivals are ideal occasions to “activate” citizens’ awareness and participation. Increasing evidenced-based research and policy recommendations underline the positive impact of artistic and cultural festivals in terms of revitalization of urban life. The additional opportunities offered for and by digital participation can enable festivals to reach a far higher and broader proportion of the population. New technologies offer citizens a way to use festivals as their digital meeting points; to increase the quality and depth of their engagement. Social and digital media can contribute to the reinforcement of festivals’ impact and, through them, to the reinforcement of local civil society. The EU is increasingly looking to define citizenship: 2013 will be promoted as the European Year for Citizens. But what kind of citizenship are we talking about? What does it mean beyond the simple words?

This session looks at the role of festivals as agents of participation and cohesion, at the implications and opportunities of new technologies, and asks whether (and if so, which) festivals are making the most of them. It looks at how festivals can use their influence during the European Year of Citizens in 2013 to activate citizens and help shaping policies for citizens in Europe. Read the background paper.

More information here.