Governance

The main government authority responsible for creativity and culture is the Ministry of Culture. Based on the P.D. 4/2018 (Government Gazette 7/A/22-01-2018), the mission of the Ministry of Culture is summarized in the following main axes: 

• The promotion of scientific research, the identification, safeguarding, protection, conservation, promotion and dissemination of cultural heritage (tangible and intangible, movable and immovable).

• The organization and supervision of the country’s museums, archaeological sites and monuments.

• The support and development of contemporary artistic creation across all fields of the arts.

• The strengthening of cultural decentralization and ensuring equal access of citizens to culture.

• The dissemination of cultural goods and the creative participation of citizens in contemporary artistic production.

• The international promotion of Greek culture and the development of cultural diplomacy and international cooperation.

Executive competent bodies are the General Secretariat of Culture and the General Secretariat of Modern Culture. The General Secretariat of Culture includes the Acropolis Monuments Maintenance Service, the General Directorate of Antiquities and Cultural Heritage and the General Directorate of Restoration, Museums and Technical Works. The General Directorate of Modern Culture is subordinate to the General Secretariat of Modern Culture. 

The central areas of the Ministry of Culture are Cultural Heritage and Contemporary Culture. The Foreign Archaeological Schools belong among others to Foreign Archaeological Schools and the competent Regional Ephorates of Antiquities: 

In the field of Contemporary Culture belong the following:

• Music 

o Conservatories 

• Theater 

o Municipal Regional Theatres 

o Higher Schools of Dramatic Art 

• Dance 

o Higher Professional Private Dance Schools 

• Cinema & Audiovisual media 

o Hellenic Film, Audiovisual Media and Creative Centre – Creative Greece (EKKOMED)

• Visual arts 

o Municipal Art Workshops

The supervised entities in the field of Cultural Heritage are: 

• The European Center of Byzantine and Post-Byzantine Monuments 

• The European Cultural Center of Delphi 

• The Folklore & Ethnological Museum of Macedonia - Thrace 

• The Acropolis Museum (Public Entity/Legal Person Governed by Public Law) 

• Paul & Alexandra Kanellopoulou Museum 

• The Museum of Natural History of the Petrified Forest of Lesbos (M.N.H.P.F.L.) 

• The Organisation for the Management and Development of Cultural Resources (ODAP)

Furthermore, based on the Law 5021/2023 (“Modernisation of Museum Policy and Management Issues of Cultural Heritage”), five major public archaeological museums were transformed into Legal Entities under Public Law (NPDD) and are directly supervised by the Ministry of Culture, increasing their institutional status and operational autonomy:

• National Archaeological Museum
• Byzantine and Christian Museum
• Archaeological Museum of Thessaloniki
• Heraklion Archaeological Museum
• Museum of Byzantine Culture

The supervised bodies in the field of Contemporary Culture are: 

• The Higher Schools of Dramatic Art 

• The Higher School of Dance of the National Opera 

• The Municipal Regional Theaters (DI.PE.THE.) 

• The National Opera 

• The National Theatre 

• The National Gallery, Alexandros Soutsos Museum 

• The Hellenic Festival S.A. 

• The State School of Orchestral Art 

• The National Museum of Contemporary Art, etc. 

• Hellenic Film, Audiovisual Media and Creative Centre – Creative Greece (EKKOMED)

Policies are formulated at the national level, as decision-making responsibility lies with the central government through the Ministry of Culture. Local authorities participate in the implementation of cultural initiatives and in the operation of cultural institutions (such as Municipal and Regional Theatres (DI.PE.THE.) and municipal cultural infrastructures), through funding from the state budget or co-financed programmes.

Cross-sectoral cooperation

Within the framework of cross-sectoral coordination, an interministerial working group has been established, based on Ministerial Decision 30964/2022, with the responsibility for the planning, coordination and monitoring of policies concerning young people aged 15–29. 

The working group aims to map the existing policies of each Ministry related to youth, to continuously monitor their implementation and to link them with the Sustainable Development Goals. Its composition includes representatives of the competent Ministries, including the Ministry of Culture, and in particular the Directorate for the Development of Contemporary Creation of the General Directorate of Contemporary Culture.

An important initiative of cross-sectoral cooperation is the implementation of Cultural Prescribing, which is carried out through collaboration between the Ministry of Culture and the Ministry of Health. This initiative forms part of the National Recovery and Resilience Plan “Greece 2.0” and is funded by the European Union Recovery and Resilience Facility. 

Cultural Prescribing uses arts and culture as a means of prevention and supportive intervention for the promotion of mental health and well-being, building on the internationally recognised contribution of artistic participation to improving quality of life and strengthening social cohesion.

Policies are designed at the national level, while the implementation of actions takes place in cooperation with supervised cultural institutions, local government organisations and health structures, ensuring the linkage between culture, social policy and public health.