8.3 National strategy on creativity and culture for young people
On this page
On this page
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Existence of a national strategy
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Scope and contents
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Responsible authority for the implementation of the strategy
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Revisions/updates
Existence of a national strategy
In 2022 Arts Council Malta launched Strategy25 intended to contribute to the implementation of the National Cultural Policy 2021 by embracing culture for the well-being of all, highlighting the importance of cultural rights within the context of the Sustainable Development Goals and addressing the Status of the Artist head on – something which has become ever more pertinent given the recent challenging global context through its mantra of Care, Create and Flourish.
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Scope and contents
Strategy25 is built upon 10 principles:
- Champion the advancement of the status of the artists, and cultural and creative practitioners.
- Value and position the diversity of artistic and cultural expression, access and participation as integral to Malta’s wider cultural and creative ecology.
- Nurture cross-sectoral synergies at local, national and international levels to recognise arts and culture as essential for the well-being of all.
- Integrate active and participatory citizenship to ensure sectoral and public representation in our decision- making processes.
- Support education, capacity building, professional development and knowledge exchange to empower people to flourish in their cultural and creative practice.
- Build and strengthen strategic partnerships, collaborations and networks nationally and internationally to enable further opportunities for artists and practitioners.
- Support sectors through proactive public engagement that is accessible, efficient and informed, using minimal bureaucracy
- Foster an evidence-based approach to have research, evaluation and debate inform our decisions and actions.
- Embrace culture as a pillar of sustainable development in terms of its sustainability and interlinkages with the social, economic and environmental dimensions of well-being.
- Recognise cultural infrastructure and international cultural relations as integral to the long-term advancement of Malta’s cultural and creative sectors.
Guided by these principles Strategy25 sets a number of goals:
- To invest in and foster diverse artistic and cultural expression.
- To support and promote the conditions in which Malta’s cultural and creative sectors can flourish.
- To advocate and provide for community-led opportunities to engage in arts and culture.
- To strengthen Malta’s international cultural relations to continue developing international artistic exchanges and collaborations.
- To nurture cross-sectoral collaborations that contribute to Malta’s sustainable development.
- To enable cultural partners, including Public Cultural Organisations, to build and strengthen organisational capacity.
Strategy25 focuses on 6 strategic areas:
Public investment: To direct structured public investment towards sustainable cultural and artistic practices that contribute to the development of Malta’s cultural and creative sectors as well as overall well-being. The aim is to advocate for increases in public expenditure in arts and culture through evidence-based and participatory approaches.
Diversity and Communities: To enable the arts and culture to reach people more deeply in every aspect of their life, instilling a more diverse and innovative cultural and creative ecology, valued by – and aligned with – the communities it serves.
Education and Development: To direct public investment towards education programmes that ensure accessible, equitable and high-standard arts education and participation from early childhood to lifelong learning, while facilitating collaboration between cultural operators and educational institutions. In addition, continuous career development in the cultural and creative sectors within various settings shall also be prioritised and facilitated.
Internationalisation: To strengthen Malta’s international cultural relations by building trust and understanding through diverse artistic and cultural expressions that foster international networking, collaboration and exchanges.
Creative entrepreneurship: To promote creative entrepreneurship as a mindset so as to foster an empowered, resilient and collaborative artistic community.
Research and Evaluation: To develop a comprehensive knowledge base that will guide the future growth of Malta’s cultural and creative sectors, advocate for and support evidence-based policy development, and evaluate ACM’s funding programmes, strategy and general operations to ensure we adhere to our core principles of cultural rights.
Responsible authority for the implementation of the strategy
The responsible authority is the Arts Council Malta (ACM). ACM was set up in 2015 to develop and promote Malta’s cultural and creative sectors nationally and internationally via all forms of creative expression, as well as to increase public access to arts and culture.
Arts Council Malta’s objectives are to:
- Advocate and be a strategic leader and catalyst for Malta’s cultural and creative sectors by implementing strategies that focus on:
a. Knowledge-based cultural and creative development,
b. Education and training,
c. Intelligence and data building,
d. Business development, funding and investment,
e. Diversity and communities, and
f. Internationalisation.
- Promote innovation in the cultural and creative sectors and stimulate a creative ecosystem for the generation of contemporary creative content.
- Initiate, develop and promote strategies, programmes and initiatives to enhance sectoral performance.
- Act as a broker for the cultural and creative sectors and a bridge with other sectors.
- Promote intellectual property in the cultural and creative sectors.
- Ensure the development of a sustainable creative economy.
- Enable and promote the sustainable development of creative individuals and organisations.
- Facilitate participation in and access to cultural and creative activity.
- Foster active and participatory citizenship in culture and promote cultural inclusion, equality, diversity and the freedom of creative expression.
- Increase the understanding, appreciation, enjoyment and expression of culture.
- Safeguard the dynamic development of those cultural characteristics, including intellectual, linguistic, traditional and folkloric, that identify the Maltese people.
Revisions/updates
Strategy25 follows Create2020, the five-year strategy launched by Arts Council Malta for the timeframe of 2016-2020, with the vision of placing culture and creativity at the heart of Malta’s future.