Funders Task Force on Culture & Development

Funders Task Force on Culture and Development

Enhancing the role of arts and culture in international development cooperation

The creation of the Funders Task Force on Culture and Development, a multi-stakeholder platform of leading development donors, was based on the premise that culture is crucial to advancing sustainable development. It was officially established in December 2012 at a meeting at the European Investment Bank. With the aim of enhancing the role of arts and culture in development interventions, the Task Force’s objectives were to:

(1) share and communicate resources on mainstreaming arts & culture in sustainable development programs

(2) strengthen the capacity and role of institutions and actors involved in culturally sensitive development institutions and actors involved in arts within a development context

(3) develop and promote instruments to be used for these programs

“Cultural matters are integral parts of the lives we lead. If development can be seen as enhancement of our living standards, then efforts geared to development can hardly ignore the world of culture.”

Amartya Sen

The Task Force built on ongoing efforts to drive development through the use of culturally sensitive approaches as well as through the strengthening of the artistic and creative sectors. To this end, the Task Force proactively pursued a concerted and globally integrated approach to fostering knowledge-sharing, research and cross-sectoral collaboration in culture-based development funding. It explored the development of a Global Partnership for Culture with UNFPA, the World Bank and AU as Steering Committee Members.

Participating organizations: Inter-American Development Bank // European Bank for Reconstruction and Development // European Investment Bank // Organisation de la francophonie // European Union National Institutes for Culture // Spanish Agency for Development and Cooperation // Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Section for Cultural Affairs // Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Netherlands, International Cultural Policy Unit // Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Camoes Institute, Portugal // Danish Center for Culture and Development // U.S. Agency for International Development // Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation // Brazilian Development Bank // UNESCO // United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) // UNIDO // Anna Lindh Foundation // Open Society Foundations // Ford Foundation // HIVOS // Aga Khan Development Network // Stichting DOEN // Triodos Investment Management BV // Santander Bank

Its Working Groups included:

The Working Group on “Artistic Expressions and Productions” aimed to leverage the perspectives of development donors in order to increase the effectiveness of arts and culture and justify its positioning in development programs and policies. Focal Points: Cultural Identity and Innovation

The Working Group on “Mainstreaming Culture” aimed to build the capacity of development donors and related actors to support policy and program efforts in mainstreaming culture and cultural literacy across different sectors of development cooperation. Focal Points: Social and cultural analysis tools // Culture in the narrative of the post-2015 development agenda

It held the following meetings and conversations:

Meetings

Task Force / GPC Steering Committee Meeting, June 2016

Third Task Force Meeting: Culture(s), Identity and Innovation, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Oslo, Norway, February 2015 >> Summary Report

Second Task Force Meeting: Financing Arts and Culture for Development, EuropeAid, Brussels, February 2014 >> Summary Report

Inaugural Meeting, European Investment Bank, Luxembourg, December 2012 >> Summary Report

Conversations

15 June 2015, 2pm CET, Both Working Groups, Presentations and updates on activities and reports of member organizations

13 March 2015, 3pm CET, Both Working Groups, State of Play: What is the evidence currently available linking artistic and cultural creativity with economic and social innovation in developing countries? To address the call for more evidence-based policy making and in the context of the SDG debates, this session allowed participants to exchange information on existing data concerning the impact and spill-over effects of artistic and cultural forms of creativity on economic and social innovation. Specifically, what instruments and indicators do we have to map the effects of arts and culture on other domains of development cooperation? How is this evidence reflected in current organizational strategies (examples), and what information are we missing to move ahead?

30 October 2014, 4pm CET, Both Working Groups, How might a global partnership among organizations committed to nurturing cultural and creative economies through triangular and South-South cooperation function? With a focus on developing countries, this discussion brought different perspectives to bear on this question, looking in particular at what financing and investment-related actions aimed at strengthening cultural and creative assets locally would benefit from a more globally inclusive and collaborative approach, and which organizations play or could play a leading role in realizing collective actions to promote culture for economic growth, social justice and intercultural understanding.

22 September 2014, Working Group "Artistic Expressions and Productions", What does the currently ongoing rethinking or re-structuring of arts and culture programs of TF members mean for the marginalized field of international culture funding? Are we facing new trends in funding culture for development? Presentations by Task Force members provided insights into the rationale behind the new approaches: What were the questions and/or developments underpinning this, and what are the expected outcomes and benefits?

18 September 2014, Working Group "Artistic Expressions and Productions", Fine-tuning Guidelines for the TF Research Report on Encouraging Private Sector Investment in Culture

25 June 2014, Working Group "Artistic Expressions and Productions", Ensuring Sustainability of Funded Interventions: Where do we stand? This conversation built on a discussion held at the TF Brussels meeting and provided a space for members to share information about their efforts to identify and activate alternative sources of finance for the artistic and cultural projects and programs they support in different regions of the world. Alternative sources of finance here refers to domestic private sources, to domestic public sources and to external private sources of finance and relates to financial models, vehicles and trends as well as the related issue of measuring and communicating impact. Participants had the opportunity to discuss ongoing efforts, share lessons learnt and jointly develop ideas on how to move forward in increasing the capacity and sustainability of local organizations and assets.

02 June 2014, Working Group "Artistic Expressions and Productions", Research Study on Encouraging Private Sector Investment in Culture; This discussion assessed the aims, scope and process for conducting a TF study that collects and analyzes successful and innovative models and vehicles for funding culture with a view to creating a useful reference and advocacy tool.

15 May, 3pm CET, Working Group "Artistic Expressions and Productions", Alternative Financing Sources for the Arts in the MENA Region; This discussion looked at questions related to fostering private sector investment in the arts to diversify funding sources for the creative industries and/or the culture sector in the MENA region.

Friday, 07 March, 3:30pm CET, Working Group “Mainstreaming Culture”: Identity, Culture and Child Health; This discussion evolved around a WG meeting aimed at developing a set of recommendations on how to apply insights from current thinking in behavioral economics and cultural / medical anthropology to existing cultural analysis tools applicable or relevant to child and maternity health interventions.

13 March 2014, All members: TF Strategy Discussion

27 March 2014, All members: Discussion on the implementation of the TF “Strategic Initiatives Group”

14 May 2014, All members: “Making the Case for Arts and Culture at Home” An open information exchange among members on how cultural programming is being justified, integrated and evaluated within one’s organization and how this is communicated to the outside world. Chatham House Rule applied.

19 December 2013, Working Group "Artistic Expressions and Productions", Discussion (hosted by Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Netherlands), Presentation "Financing Arts and Culture in Today's Africa", Lupwishi Mbuyamba, Director, Observatory of Cultural Policies in Africa, followed by Q&A

25 October 2013, All Working Groups, Discussion (hosted by Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Netherlands), Culture in the Post-2015 Development Agenda: Report from the 2013 United Nations General Assembly (Marc-Andre Dorel, Senior Economic Affairs Officer, Department of Economic and Social Affairs, UN), followed by Q&A

18 October 2013, Working Group "Artistic Expressions and Productions", Discussion: Towards a study on "Developing the Funding Infrastructure of the African Arts and Culture Sectors": Outcomes and Methodology

09 October 2013, Working Group "Mainstreaming Culture", Discussion: Using empirical evidence on impact of cultural analysis in the area of child health interventions: Towards a Focus Group

27 June, 2013, Working Group "Artistic Expressions and Productions", Discussion points: Discussion of potential implications of UNESCO's Hangzhou Declaration on future strategies of members' organizations (UNESCO) // Presentation of the MDG Achievement Fund's Report: 'Review of Key Findings and Achievements: Culture and Development' (UNDP) // Discussion of concept note on "Alternative Financing Models for the Arts Sector in the Arab World" (Ford Foundation)

26 June, 2013, Working Group "Mainstreaming Culture in Development", Discussion points: Presentation and discussion: first draft of USAID's mapping exercise: ‘Tools for cultural analysis in development programming, (USAID) // Discussion of TF questionnaire on definition and use of "culture" within members' organizations

06 May 2013, Working Group "Mainstreaming Culture in Development", Discussion points: Cultural Analysis in Development Programming - Sector-Specific Analysis Tools // Advocacy - Making a Case for the Critical Intersections of Culture and Development

25 April 2013, Working Group "Artistic Expressions and Productions", Discussion points: Knowledge Management and Advocacy for Artistic Expressions within Development Funding Organizations - SDC Case Study // Mapping Exercise - Africa: Addressing funding gaps by coordinating efforts of funders // Financing Mechanisms for Arts in the Arab World

Compendium on Culture and Development / Archive

Global Report on Culture for Sustainable Urban Development

UNESCO, October 2016

Why must culture be at the heart of sustainableurban development?

Paper, UCLG, 2016

Post-2015 Dialogues on Culture and Development

UNESCO, UNFPA, UNDP, 2015

World Development Report 2015: Mind, Society, and Behavior

World Bank

The Road to Dignity by 2030: Ending Poverty, Transforming All Lives and Protecting the Planet

Report of the UN SG On the Post-2015 Agenda

Florence Declaration