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Culture Group

E B U C u l t u r e G r o u p

First Steps and Second Thoughts

The EBU Culture Group was set up on 20 October 2006 in Berlin. The first Specialized Meeting took place on 9 February 2007 in Vienna, followed by a plenary meeting on 19October 2007 in Berlin. Pierre-Yves Tribolet, Head of Euroradio/Classics, put a great deal of effort into starting the new group, which was initiated by Peter Leonhard Braun ( Prix Europa.)

The objective of the Group is to make optimal use of the EBU's resources to improve the quality of the cultural productions and programming of its Members and to develop new relations with European cultural institutions. Towards this end, the Group's activities will comprise the exchange of ideas and experiences at the level of the Professional Association, the realization of joint projects and joint cultural operations, in particular through the exchange of interviews via the Euroradio News System.

Projects to be discussed include drawing up a list of radio correspondents for better coverage of cultural events of international importance, and a joint calendar of cultural events being celebrated during the year, in order to coordinate productions among public radio broadcasters.

All documents, including reports, are available to EBU Members from the EBU Documentation Centre, via the EBU Lounge. Statistics and data about cultural programme grids, subjects covered in the area of culture by public radio broadcasters, the cultural mandate of EBU public service Radio Members and the audience for such programming are also available the EBU Documentation Centre.

The Culture Group's mandate:

To exchange ideas and information.
To make optimal use of the EBU resources.
To improve EBU Radio Members' culture programmes.
To help EBU Members become better acquainted with each other.
To develop new relations with cultural institutions at the international level.

For this reason the Chairmen of the following EBU Groups are invited as guests to all EBU Culture Group meetings: Music Group, Radio Drama Group, Documentary Group.

The first steps of the Group:

Ø Creating a contact list of persons in charge of culture at EBU Radio organizations

Ø Collecting a complete list of programme grids of EBU cultural radio programmes

Ø Collecting short documentations with the following subjects:

o Subjects covered in the area of culture

o Audience of cultural programme

o List of special cultural events

o Cultural mandate of the organization and its role in society

Furthermore, a mail group was created on the EBU Website, which makes it possible to send cultural information with international implications or important news to all relevant persons.

To increase the use of Euroradio News Tools for cultural subjects, the Group created three fields of international “collections”: poetry, sound postcards and a typical word or expression. These collections (except the poetry) will be continued. Exchange-Projects for 2008 are:

40th anniversary of May 68
China and the Beijing Olympic Games: a cultural approach
Liverpool: 2008 European Capital of Culture.

The next steps of the Group:

Ø To establish a database of cultural correspondents.

Ø To enhance the EBU tools concerning cultural subjects.

Ø To install a communication platform for the EBU cultural radio programmes.

Ø To increase the use of Euroradio News for the exchange of cultural topics.

Ø To support the Radio Day of European Cultures as a permanent project.

Ø To increase the exchange of programme ideas, marketing and branding successes.

Ø To establish a joint timetable of cultural activities observed throughout the year.

Ø To promote EBU as a worldwide network of public radio services.

Ø To strengthen the awareness of the relevance of public radio organisations and cultural programmes.

Future projects:

2008 In the Year of Intercultural Dialogue we should emphasize the role of culture journalism for public radio and for the public itself.

2008-2009-2010 EBU-Concerts from the European Cultural Capitals: Liverpool and Stavanger (2008), Linz and Vilnius (2009), Essen, Pecs and Istanbul (2010).

2009-2010-2011 European SoundART - connecting the European Cultural Capitals 2009, 2010 and 2011 with an Ars Acoustica Radio project and a SoundART exhibition.

I am Europe Blog - Collecting Voices from Europe
- Introductory Letter
- Information on I am Europe

The Following EBU Culture Group was elected for a 2011-2012 mandate:

Karl Karst, DEWDR, Chair
Chantal Pattyn, BEVRT, Vice-Chair
Bettina Roither, ATORF
Vincent Lemerre, FRSRF
Olga Buckley, IERTE
Michal Nogas, PLPR
Oltea Serban-Pârâu, ROROR