Promoting equality and youth participation through cultural activities

The 2022 Action Plan of the Ministry of Culture and Sports sets goals linked to strategic choices. One of the basic options of national planning concerns the assurance of social cohesion and solidarity.

One of the most important horizontal objectives of the Ministry of Culture and Sports is the protection of the rights of people with disabilities, which is directly linked to the strategic choice of the government work on social cohesion and solidarity. The specific objective is implemented through actions such as for example "Promoting measures of equal access and participation in culture for all categories of citizens and especially the disabled".

The project includes:

• Reinforcement of actions that encourage the participation of people with disabilities in the cultural process

• Creation of a Digital Discount Card (disabled, vulnerable groups, unemployed, young people, etc.)

• Legislative regulations (measures for PWD access to audiovisual cultural productions, e.g. sign language, subtitling, audio description)

• Awareness-raising information days and trainings of staff of cultural institutions and teachers of higher artistic education

• Development of social inclusion and multiculturalism actions

• Cultural Prescription

o Utilization of culture as a therapeutic as well as preventive treatment for mental illnesses. It envisages the development of bridges between culture, health sector and social welfare, the creation of interconnections between health and social care programs and the arts, the training of health professionals to include in their approach cultural actions as an alternative or complementary therapeutic method with corresponding training of employees in the structures of culture

• Subsidizing cultural initiatives, as well as implementing workshops that promote artistic expression and the inclusion of people with disabilities in all cultural disciplines

• Design of accessible digital material utilizing the use of new Technologies and means of Communication for disabled visitors to the supervised institutions of Modern Culture. Pilot application of guided tours for the disabled at the National Museum of Contemporary Art, MOMus and the National Opera

• Modification of the institutional framework for equal access to higher artistic education. Curriculum amendment and legislative regulations

Fighting discrimination and poverty through cultural activities

There are no national policies to combat discrimination through cultural activities. However, according to article 5 of the Greek Constitution, every person has the right to participate in the social, economic and political life of the country, which is completely consistent with the right to participate in cultural life.