Supporting the Ukrainian cultural sector and strengthening collaborations between Ukraine and the EU
The war in Ukraine has affected all swaths of life, including the cultural sector in the country. In such exceptional circumstances, the Cultural Relations Platform (CRP) has been coordinating an activtiy in order to support the Ukrainian cultural sector. As its first step, the project experts Anna Karnaukh and Kateryna Kravchuk developed a document that presents a preliminary needs assessment of Ukrainian cultural actors and mapping of the context in the Ukrainian CCI sector.
Within this frame of reference, the CRP organised the workshop “Needs assessment of optimum support to the Ukrainian cultural sector and strengthening collaborations between Ukraine and the EU” in Warsaw, Poland, on 20-21 October 2022. The event aimed at supporting the Ukrainian cultural sector by providing a format for cultural actors from Ukraine to establish connections and engage in exchange to foster future activities. Therefore, the workshop provided a platform for key cultural actors to connect with each other and support a mapping exercise of networks.
Over the course of two days our practical workshop gathered around 25 representatives of Ukrainian cultural institutions and representatives of key EU programmes and networks, with participation of Directorate-General for Education and Culture (DG EAC) and The European Education and Culture Executive Agency (EACEA). Participants had the possibility to express their specific needs and expectations and contribute to the development of concrete steps to foster further activities of UA cultural actors in Europe and Ukraine. The idea was to enable exchange on formal and informal support schemes for displaced artists in Ukraine, as well as those located in Eastern Partnership countries and EU Member States. Moreover, it demonstrates solidarity with Ukrainian culture and attracts attention for the situation of Ukrainian artists in the country and beyond, stressing the need for deeper cooperation. The participants jointly worked on recommendations for the EU-Ukraine mutual integration, collaboration and support in the field of culture.