Compendium of Cultural Policies and Trends in Europe

The Council of Europe/ERICarts Compendium of Cultural Policies and Trends in Europe is a web-based and permanently updated information and monitoring system of national cultural policies in Europe. It is a long term project which aims to include all 50 member states co-operating within the context of the European Cultural Convention.

This transnational project was initiated by the Steering Committee for Culture of the Council of Europe and has been running as a joint venture with the European Institute for Comparative Cultural Research (ERICarts) since 1998. It is realised in partnership with a "community of practice" comprised of independent cultural policy researchers, NGOs and national governments.

The content of the Compendium cultural policy country profiles address the priority issues of the Council of Europe including those set by the Warsaw Summit of Heads of State (2005) and the Baku-Declaration (December 2008): cultural diversity, intercultural dialogue and social cohesion. The content of the Compendium includes also references to the emerging CultureWatchEurope - the Council of Europe's cultural governance observatory function - by generating and reviewing policy standards in areas of concern to governments and society by providing data, information, knowledge, comparative and trend analyses, expertise, advice, and case studies. The country profiles also provide information on the historical development, present structure, legal framework, financial aspects and ongoing debates in cultural policies and trends. New indicators are constantly introduced to regularly monitor policy developments in Europe.

The Compendium is targeted to a broad audience of policy makers and administrators, arts institutions and networks, researchers and documentation professionals, journalists and students.